Northumbrian Gunner: October 2012

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

Tyne Cot Cemetery

Tyne Cot
Cross of Sacrifice

Observing two minures silence Cross of Sacrifice

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

Tyne Cot Cemetery

Tyneside Scottish Casualties Tyne Cot

Tyne Cot
Laying wreath on the Memorial Wall

Tyne Cot
In memorium of 77 Tyneside Scots

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

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

Where the brave will live forever

On the road to Passchendaele

Op Drum - Sanctuary Wood Trenches

Visited Sanctuary Wood trenches with Heaton Manor (Tyneside Scottish) Detachment Northumbria ACF.

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.

Sanctuary Wood
Northumbria ACF in the trenches

Though less than convinced with the group photo on the Colours.....................

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.

CWGC Essex Farm Cemetery

Essex Farm Cemetery
Cross of Sacrifice

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

Somme Battlefield Pipe Band lead the narch from the Grote Market

Menin Gate 6th October 2012

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.

Memorial Plaque on the Drum

The Tyneside Scottish were formed as part of Kitchener’s’ call to arms in 1914. The response for volunteers was so overwhelming that four service battalions of the Northumberland Fusiliers formed the Tyneside Scottish Brigade.

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 11^th September 1916 whilst commanding a working party. He was buried in the church yard at Erquninghem-Lys the following day.

2/ Lt William Basil Catto
Tyneside Scottish

2/Lt William Basil Catto

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 9^th Battalion Durham Light Infantry based at Alexander Road, Gateshead, formed the 12^th 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 1^st Battalion Tyneside Scottish (Black Watch).

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.

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 5^th 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.

2 /Lt Catto's Grave
Equinghem-Lys Churchyard Extension Cemetery

CWGG Erquinghem-Lys 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.

Royal Artillery Association Tyneside Scottish Branch on parade

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.

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 6^th 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

Lt Col. John Catto hands over the drum to
Tyneside Scottish Cadets
for it's onward journey to Tyneside

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.

Flanders Jocks / Lt Col. John Catto and Yves Holbecq

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Somme Battlefield Pipe Band

Retrouvez les photos de la cérémonie sur la page photo/video du site

Flanders Jocks

Thursday 18 October 2012

Op Drum - St Georges Ypres RA Window

Another visit to St Georges in Ypres and I just realised on this trip there was a window dedicated to the Royal Regiment of Artillery.

ERECTED BY ALL RANKS OF THE ROYAL REGIMENT OF ARTILLERY IN PROUD REMEMBRANCE OF THEIR COMRADES WHO FELL IN THE BATTLES OF YPRES 1914 - 1918

St Georges Ypres
Royal Artillery window

Op Drum - In Flanders Fields Museum

In Flanders Fields Museum

First visit to "In Flanders Field Museum"

The map display is very informative as the battles unfold in the display screens and the locations are superimposed on the ground of today.

In Flanders fields Museum
Battles of Ypres diplay

Battles of Ypres 1914 - 1918

Trench Model

During the Third Battle of Ypres the weather conditions turned the entire Salient into a “porridge of mud”. As a consequence the Royal Engineers were unable to construct the plank roads for the forward move of the guns. The guns therefore remained in place unable to take advantage of any ground gained. They were also operating at extreme range, just being able to hit the German front line. Consequently any targets in depth, and counter battery fire were not achievable. In addition it was not possible for many guns to find secure platforms, causing inaccurate fire. The 18 pounder guns required a foundation of fascines and road metal with two layers of thick planks to provide a platform. Even then it might only last for 24 hours. Some batteries resorted to building platforms out of shell cases.

Many bombardments were largely ineffective. The wire was not cut; HE shells buried in the mud had little effect. The creeping barrage was ragged or nonexistent in some areas and the infantry were unable to keep pace with the it as the floundered in deep liquid mud.

Ammunition supply was a problem in the quagmire. Ammunition limbers and wagons could not bring ammunition direct to the guns necessitating movement by hand or by mule.