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| Veterans prepare to lay wreaths Eldon Square 2012 Source: ChronicleLive.co.uk |
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| QM and CO 101 Regiment RA (V) "Raspberry ripple please" |
Friday, 16 November 2012
Remembrance Sunday 2012
Thursday, 15 November 2012
Remembrance - TS Earsdon
Small ceremony at the graves of two fallen Tyneside Scots burried in Earsdon St Alban Churchyard with the Tyneside Scottish Association.
Private Peter Lockey died siddenly 30th January 1915, and is recorded as the first casualty of the Tyneside Scottish in the Great War.
Private Dannie Bell was wounded on the Somme, probably on 1st July. He sirvived World War One, but finally sucumbed to his wounds in May 1919.
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| Earsdon St Alban |
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| Tyneside Scottish Association Earsdon (St Alban) Churchyard |
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| Private Peter Lockey |
Private Peter Lockey died siddenly 30th January 1915, and is recorded as the first casualty of the Tyneside Scottish in the Great War.
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| Private Dannie Bell |
Monday, 5 November 2012
Saltwell Park 2012 - Field of Remembrance
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| Saltwell Towers Gateshead |
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| Saltwell Park Gateshead Field of Remembrance |
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| Saltwell Park Gateshead Field of Remembrance |
Saltwell Park Gateshead
6th / 8th / 9th DLI Memorial
#
Saltwell Park Gateshead
6th / 8th / 9th DLI Memorial
In Memory of Private Matthew Stephenson
8th Battalion Durham Light Infantry
Lost as a POW on SS Scillin
14th November 1942
Commemorated on the Alamein Memorial
Saturday, 20 October 2012
Op Drum - Tyne Cot
Tyne Cot as ever very moving.
The CWGC records 3,587 graves and 34,952 names on the memorial. It is always so peaceful and tranquil, in stark contrast to those who fought and died in the shell torn, gas filled, quagmire that was On th Raod Passchendaele.
The silence as we held a small parade at the Cross of sacrifice and at the memorial wall of the Northumberland Fusiliers (remembering 77 Tyneside Scottish commemorated there) was an opportunity to reflect on the sacrifices made.
There’s a light that shines in Flanders
As a beacon for the brave
From the distant past it wanders
To recall the lives they gave
And it tells each generation
To be wise and never fail
On the road to Passchendaele
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| Tyne Cot Cemetery |
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| Tyne Cot Cemetery |
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| Tyne Cot Cross of Sacrifice |
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| Observing two minures silence Cross of Sacrifice |
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| Tyne Cot Cemetery |
Come with me and I will show you
Why all wars should ever cease
Take a walk among the gravestones
And your tears will cry for peace
For their spirits walk in Flanders
You can hear the grieving wail
For the brave who laid their lives down
On the road to Passchendaele
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| Tyne Cot Cemetery |
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| Tyneside Scottish Casualties Tyne Cot |
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| Tyne Cot Laying wreath on the Memorial Wall |
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| Tyne Cot In memorium of 77 Tyneside Scots |
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| Tyne Cot October 2012 |
On the Road to Passchendaele
© Alan G Brydon/Major Gavin Stoddart MBE BEM
There’s a light that shines in Flanders
As a beacon for the brave
From the distant past it wanders
To recall the lives they gave
And it tells each generation
To be wise and never fail
On the road to Passchendaele
On the road to Passchendaele
On the road to Passchendaele
Where the brave will live forever
On the road to Passchendaele
Come with me and I will show you
Why all wars should ever cease
Take a walk among the gravestones
And your tears will cry for peace
For their spirits walk in Flanders
You can hear the grieving wail
For the brave who laid their lives down
On the road to Passchendaele
On the road to Passchendaele
On the road to Passchendaele
Where the brave will live forever
On the road to Passchendaele
Op Drum - Sanctuary Wood Trenches
Great opportunity to get into the trenches and tell the cadets about how the soldiers lived and died in those surroundings. leading the whole contingent through the long tunnel in total darkness was an interesting experience.
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| Sanctuary Wood Northumbria ACF in the trenches |
Though less than convinced with the group photo on the Colours.....................
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| Sanctuary Wood Trenches Heaton Manor (Tyneside Scottish) Detachement ACF |
Friday, 19 October 2012
Op Drum - Essex Farm
A visit to Essex Farm Cemetery. The CWGC lists 1,097 casualties, and given it's location adjacent to a dressing station many would have died from wounds.
It was in Essex Farm Cemetery that Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae of the Canadian Army Medical Corps wrote the poem ' In Flanders Fields' in May 1915.
There is the too familiar site of the graves of Royal Artillery all together, that died on the same date or near.
The counter battery fire on the Salient could result in an entire gun detachment being killed in a single incident. With in the cemetery 5 Gunners from 261 Siege Battery are buried together, four lost on 10th August 1917, the remaining casualty recorded as 12th August 1917. The Battery was equipped with 6 inch Howitzers and in August 1917 was part of the 65th HAG.
It was in Essex Farm Cemetery that Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae of the Canadian Army Medical Corps wrote the poem ' In Flanders Fields' in May 1915.
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| Essex Farm Cemetery Cross of Sacrifice |
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| Essex Farm Cemetery |
There is the too familiar site of the graves of Royal Artillery all together, that died on the same date or near.
The counter battery fire on the Salient could result in an entire gun detachment being killed in a single incident. With in the cemetery 5 Gunners from 261 Siege Battery are buried together, four lost on 10th August 1917, the remaining casualty recorded as 12th August 1917. The Battery was equipped with 6 inch Howitzers and in August 1917 was part of the 65th HAG.
Royal Garrison Artillery
261st Siege Battery
Gnr GA Moore Cpl T Teague Gnr D Marnock Gnr AW Dodd Gnr LJ Drury
| Rank | Initials | Surname | Age | Date of Death | Service No. | Grave Ref |
| Gunner | G A | MOORE | 19 | 10/08/1917 | 296660 | I. Q. 24. |
| Corporal | T | TEAGUE | 24 | 10/08/1917 | 43943 | I. Q. 25. |
| Gunner | D | MARNOCK | 19 | 10/08/1917 | 344204 | I. Q. 26. |
| Gunner | AW | DODD | 31 | 10/08/1917 | 147759 | I. Q. 27. |
| Gunner | L J | DRURY | 12/08/1917 | 147756 | I. Q. 28. |
Op Drum - Menin Gate Ceremony
Recently paraded at the Menin Gate with the Royal Artillery Association Tyneside Scottish Branch. Lead by the Somme Battlefield Pipe Band, who included the Flanders Jocks in their ranks, we marched from the Grote Market upto the Gate. Heaton Manor (Tyneside Scottish) Detachment ACF.
The ceremony was as ever very moving. The exhortation 'For the Fallen' by L.Binyon being read by Colonel David Middleton Commandant Northumbria ACF.
Hearing Highland Cathederal echoing around the arches was excellent.
The march off entailed a counter march under the Menin Gate before marching back down the Meninstraat with the skirl of the pipes from Somme Battlefield Pipe Band playing on the road to Paschendaele.
A momentous occasion.
Last Post Association - 6th October 2012
The ceremony was as ever very moving. The exhortation 'For the Fallen' by L.Binyon being read by Colonel David Middleton Commandant Northumbria ACF.
Hearing Highland Cathederal echoing around the arches was excellent.
The march off entailed a counter march under the Menin Gate before marching back down the Meninstraat with the skirl of the pipes from Somme Battlefield Pipe Band playing on the road to Paschendaele.
A momentous occasion.
Last Post Association - 6th October 2012
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| Somme Battlefield Pipe Band lead the narch from the Grote Market |
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| Menin Gate 6th October 2012 |
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| Somme Battlefield Pipe Band lead the march off |
Op Drum - Drum Ceremony
In 2010 the President of the of the Royal Artillery
Association Tyneside Scottish Branch, Colonel Tony Glenton, was contacted by Yves Holbecq, Pipe Major of the Somme Battle Field
Pipe Band about a drum he had purchased from a French lady. The drum had been
found by her father in law in May 1940 near Fervant in Northern France during
the British retreat to Dunkirk. He hid it away in his attic fearing the Germans
would not look too kindly on the holding of British Army equipment, and there
it remained, forgotten, until 2010.
On the drum, a small plaque was dedicated to 2/Lt William
Basil Catto, 4th Battalion Tyneside Scottish. Yves recognised the historical
importance of the drum and began a quest to repatriate the drum back to the
Tyneside Scottish.
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| Memorial Plaque on the Drum |
Decimated on the opening day of the Somme, they were withdrawn to
regenerate in the area of Armentieres. It was during this period that 2/Lt William
Basil Catto was killed on the 11th September 1916 whilst commanding
a working party. He was buried in the church yard at Erquninghem-Lys the
following day.
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| 2/ Lt William Basil Catto Tyneside Scottish |
The Tyneside Scottish went
on to fight at Arras and Paschendaele, going into suspended animation in 1919.
As the war clouds gathered over Europe in 1939, the Territorial
Army was doubled in size and units were required to form duplicates. The 9th
Battalion Durham Light Infantry based at Alexander Road, Gateshead, formed the
12th Battalion Durham Light Infantry and adopted the honour title
Tyneside Scottish. Their intelligence officer, Lt. Archie Catto would be a
second generation of Catto’s to serve in the TS. The battalion sought to
strengthen its Scottish links, and in February 1940 became 1st
Battalion Tyneside Scottish (Black Watch).
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| Officers of the Tyneside Scottish 1940 Lt Archie Catto in glengarry - 2nd row left |
They deployed to France as part of
the British Expeditionary Force, complete with pipe band. The battalion were tasked with the construction of airfields,
their pipe band entertaining the local population. As the panzers rolled across
France, the battalion formed a blocking position at Fichieux, near Arras. They
held the advancing German armour for vital hours, sustaining heavy casualties,
before withdrawing to Dunkirk. Amongst the equipment left behind was the drum
dedicated to 2/Lt Catto. The battalion would return to France in 1944, before
going into suspended animation.
On the reforming of the Territorial Army in 1947, the honour
title was resurrected in the Royal Artillery. Today the title is held by 204
(Tyneside Scottish) Battery RA (V), former serving members having formed their
own branch of the Royal Artillery Association.
In 2010, the Tyneside Scottish Association began their planning for the repatriation of the Catto drum back to Tyneside under the leadership of Major Ian Jones.
An initial meeting was held with Yves Holbecq in Albert during
the Northumberland Volunteer Artillery Association’s Somme Battlefield tour in
2011.
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| Meeting with Yves Holbecq Albert 2011 |
At this point the history of the drum took an interesting turn of fate.
Amongst those on the tour was an officer from 204 (Tyneside Scottish) Battery RA
(V) who had served with Major (now Lt. Col) John Catto in Afghanistan. It
transpired that a third generation of Cattos had commanded Tyneside Scottish
soldiers. 204 Battery RA (V) provide reinforcements to 5th Regiment Royal Artillery on Op
Herrick.
The initial part of the drum’s journey back to Tyneside was a
ceremonial handover at the grave of 2/Lt Catto at Erquinghem-Lys in France.
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| 2 /Lt Catto's Grave Equinghem-Lys Churchyard Extension Cemetery |
On parade were the members of Royal Artillery Association
Tyneside Scottish Branch and Heaton Manor (Tyneside Scottish) Detachment
Northumbria ACF, a fine representation of veterans and youth.
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| Royal Artillery Association Tyneside Scottish Branch on parade |
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| Heaton Manor (Tyneside Scottish) Detachment Northumbria ACF on parade |
The Somme Battlefield
Pipe Band provided the skirl of the pipes, and a Belgian re-enactment group,
the Flanders Jocks, formed an honour guard.
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| Flanders Jocks and Somme Battlefield Pipe Band on parade |
Amongst the guests were Catto family members,
Lt Col Ian Vere Nichol and Allan Solly of the Royal Artillery Association, as
well as representatives from the Royal British Legion.
On the 6th October 2012, Yves Holbecq and Madame
Peitie, daughter in law of the gentleman who found the drum, handed it to Lt
Col. John Catto who accepted it on behalf of the Tyneside Scottish. |
| Yves Holbecq & Madame Petite handover the drum to Lt Col. John Catto RA |
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| Lt Col. John Catto hands over the drum to Tyneside Scottish Cadets for it's onward journey to Tyneside |
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| Catto Drum at the grave of 2/Lt William Basil Catto |
The final part of its
journey will be a handover to the Regimental Museum of 101 (Northumbrian)
Regiment RA (V). The location of the
museum…..Alexander Road, Gateshead, from where the Tyneside Scottish was
resurrected in World War 2 and where the drum probably commenced its journey
over 70 years ago.
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| Flanders Jocks / Lt Col. John Catto and Yves Holbecq ------------ o ------------   |
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