Newcastle Commercials - Commemoration

 

To remember the part played by the 16th Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers (Newcastle Commercials) in the Battle of the Somme an evensong was held at Newcastle St Nicholas Cathedral 15th September 2016.

The origins of the Newcastle Commercials lie in Kitchener's Call To Arms in 1914 and the formation of the Pal's Battalions. The Newcastle and Gateshead Chamber of Commerce sought to raise a Newcastle Battalion of the Northumberland Fusiliers and received War Office approval to do so 0n 8th September 1914.

Recruiting began for what would become the first Battalion to be raised in Newcastle in World War One.

The first parade of the Newcastle Commercials was held on 15th September 1914 in St Nicholas Square next the Cathedral in Newcastle.

Many of the recruits came from the commercial business in Newcastle and Gateshead. Bainbridge's store supplied 60 men, officers were drawn from the Royal Grammar School in Newcastle. Players from Newcastle United volunteered. Three would alter loose their lives on the first day of the Somme.



Just before Christmas 1914 the Battalion moved to Alnwick. Arrangements were however made for the Rugby team to paly at the Northumberland County Ground in Gosforth to allow the team to pay against teams unable to travel to Alnwick.

16th NF Rugby Team 1914

The Battalion came under War Office control in April 1915 and in June 1915, Battalion was assigned to the  96th Brigade of the 32nd Division.

The Growler
Magazine of 16th Northumberland Fusiliers

After training at Alnwick, the Battalion moved to Salisbury Plain, consolidating with the rest of the Division. On the 22 November 1915 the Division deployed to the Western Front and landed at Boulogne.  The Battalion moved to the Somme Sector, near Amiens in preparation for the 'Big Push', the allied offensive on the Somme which intended to break through the German lines.

On the first day of the Battle of the Somme the 32nd Division. part of X Corps was tasked with assaulting the fortified village of Thiepval. The 16th were located in the area of the village of Authuille.

X Corps Attack 1st July 1916

 On the 1st July the Battalion would lead the assault of the 96th brigade on the right flank of the Division.



16th Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers
1st July 1916
 

The men were confident that the preliminary bombardment would be successful......



Extract from letter Private Jas Harle 16 NF

At 07:30 am on 1st July 1916 the men of the Newcastle Commercials went over the top...

War Diary 16th Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers
1st July 1916

As the Battalion war diary recorded, Jas Harles "straight walk over" did not happen. The first day of the Somme resulted in over 60,000 casualties. On the 3rd July the Battalion War Dairy records the losses from the Newcastle Commercials...

"A roll call was held to which 8 Officers and 300 OR's answered their names, which made the casualties, killed wounded+missing, 13 officers + 365 OR's"

War Diary 16th Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers
3rd July 1916

 Amongst those killed was 16/1357 Private James Harle from Tow Law who went over the top with no 1 Platoon A Coy 16 NFwho had hoped that it would be a "straight walk over". Jas Harle is recorded on the Thiepval Memorial .

CWGC Private James Harle

 

Thiepval Memorial

 

Newcastle St Nicholas Cathedral

15th September 2016

Special Evensong to Commemorate the Newcastle Commercials

16th Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers

St Nicholas Cathedral
Newcastle Commercial Battalion Commemoration

At the Commemoration a replica Colour of the 16th Battalion was paraded. The  original Colour was presented on Newcastle Town Moor on 26th July 1920. This was part of a service where 25 of the Northumberland Fusiliers Service Battalions received their Colours by the Lord Lieutenant.


Presentation of Colours
Newcastle Town Moor 26th July 1920

The ravages of time have taken their toll on the colours and over the preceding century they have deteriorated and crumbled away. To ensure that the memory of the 16th Battalion carries on, a replica colour has been created.







VM Granddaughter of Nathaniel Caine
16th (Newcastle Commercials) Battalion
Northumberland Fusiliers  

And afterwards..... an opportunity to enjoy Newcastle Commercials Brown Ale .  

The evening also saw the launch of the Newcastle Heroes Project which is aimed remembering the 11 Battalions of the Northumberland Fusiliers who went over the top on the 1st July 1916. The 16th Battalion at Thiepval, and at La Boisselle, the Tyneside Irish (24th - 27th Battalions NF) and the Tyneside Scottish (20th -23rd Battalions NF).

IJ Tyneside Scottish

Eden Camp - Escape Lines

Located at the Eden Camp Museum is the WW2 Escape Lines Memorial.

WW2 Escape Lines Memorial
Eden Camp Museum

The memorial is dedicated to those who helped escaped POW's and airmen avoiding capture in enemy occupied territory during the Second World War.

The German Blitzkrieg of 1940 quickly overwhelmed British and French Allied forces and as they withdrew many men were taken prisoner. Those unable to be evacuated from the beaches at Dunkirk, and many left at St Valet were taken also prisoner. Later many POW's were taken by the Germans and Italians in North Africa.

British Prisoners of War Dunkirk
Source: Third Reich Color Pictures

The Allied Bomber Offensive resulted in aircraft being downed. Aircrew sought to evade capture, and those who were not successful became Prisoners of War.

For some in POW camps there was a desire to escape, and many ingenious and audacious methods occurred.

For both evaders and escapees, avoiding capture was helped by members of the Resistance, as well as ordinary people and lead to the development of escape lines.  To aid escapes MI9 supplied various escape aids which were sent to POW's hidden in parcels, as well as coded messages in letters.

WW2 Escape Lines

For those aiding the Allied Escapers along the Escape Lines it was very dangerous activity. Discovery of their efforts could lead to them being  tortured and either executed or sent to Concentration Camps.  The memorial is a reminder of the courage of the Helpers.

WW2 Escape Lines Memorial
Eden Camp Museum

 One of the most famous escapes in WW2 was a mass escape from Stalag Luft III - the Great Escape. Eden Camp Museum contains a vignette of the events around the Escape.

Stalag Luft III POW Camp

In the Spring of 1943 a plan was conceived by  Squadron Leader Roger Bushell RAF for a mass escape of 200 POW's from Stalag Luft III. His idea was to construct 3 tunnels, should one be discovered the Germans would hardly think another two would also be in progress. The tunnels were nicknamed Tom, Dick and Harry. There would also be an emergency tunnel, George,

The tunnels were dug 9 metres (30 feet) below the surface. Over 600 personal were involved in their construction. Tools were fashioned from food tins, bed boards and other wooden furniture were used to shore up the tunnels. A miniature rail track was constructed to move the men and material through the narrow tunnel.

The expansion of the Camp covered the planned exit  of Dick. It was decided to stop work on that tunnel , and to start filling  it in the tunnel with soil from the other two.  Dick was also used to store escape material, clothing, forged papers and maps. Tom was discovered in September 1943 and work was suspended on Harry, resuming again in January 1944.

On the night of the 26th March 1944 the Great Escape began.....

The entrance to Harry was located underneath a stove which was moved to let the men to start entering the tunnel......

Prisoner enters Harry
Eden Camp Museum

Moving through Harry towards the entrance.

German Guard Dogs on Patrol

At 10:30 the first man emerged from the tunnel into the forest near the camp wire perimeter .......

Emerging from Harry

Assisting those emerging from the tunnel

 

At 04:55 the 77th man to emerge from the tunnel, Squadron Leader Leonard Henry Trent VC was spotted, and the Great Escape was over.

Of the 76 men who escaped, 73 were recaptured. On the orders of Hitler, 50 of those recaptured were executed.

Allied airmen from the Great Escape

 

 

  

 



Eden Camp

Eden Camp Museum is housed in a former Prisoner of War Camp near Malton in Yorkshire. It was constructed between 1942 and 1943 and initially held Italian POWs. From mid 1943 the prisoners were moved out and Polish forces were billeted there in preparation for the Allied invasion of Europe. It reverted back to being a POW mid 1944 and held German prisoners of war till early 1949.

It now houses a museum within the former POW huts which tells the story of World War Two.

Eden Camp Museum
Malton North Yorkshire

EDEN CAMP MUSEUM

Eden Camp Museum
Spitfire

Eden Camp Museum
Hurricane

Eden Camp Museum
Russian T 34 Tank

Eden Camp Museum
Watch Tower

Eden Camp Museum
POW Huts and Wire

Eden Camp Museum
POW Hut

Eden Camp
Memorial

The Eden Camp memorial records that the Camp was created to honour, fortitude, and courage of the people who served in all works of life during the Second World War 1939-45.

Glasgow - Big Yin

Estonian Lager in Glasgow......

And remembering the Big Yin....

Glasgow - Central Station

The main entrance to the Glasgow Central Station is on Gordon Street in Glasgow.

Glasgow Central Station

In the entrance way is a memorial to the those who served the Caledonian Railway during World War One, and remembers 706 men who lost their lives.

Caledonian Railway Memorial
Glasgow Central Station

Caledonian Railway Memorial
Glasgow Central Station

 

The Caledonian Railway was formed on 31 July 1845, its main objective being to provide main line links to the English rail network. In 1848 the first main lines opened. The Caledonia Railway (CR) connected with the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) at Carlisle, proceeding north to Carstairs. The line then split, north west to Glasgow and north east to
Edinburgh.

Dining Car Express c.1914

 The network expanded into north and south Lanarkshire to meet the demands of the coal and iron industries. The growth of Glasgow and the rise of new conurbations led to demand for suburban passenger lines. Other expansion took place in the central Scottish belt and around Edinburgh.

 In 1865 the Caledonian absorbed the Scottish Central Railway (SCR), in doing so it extended to Stirling, Perth, Callander and Crieff. Another absorption in 1865, the Scottish Central railway, extended the CR to Dundee and Aberdeen. The absorption of SCR also brought with it a link to Oban.


Caledonian Locomotive & Train near Oban

 Until 1879 the CR was working out of 3 terminus in Glasgow, two termini south of the Clyde, Buchanan Street north of the Clyde.  The latter required a circuitous route to connect southward due to lack of bridges over the Clyde. A four track bridge was over the Clyde was completed in 1878 giving access to a new station, Glasgow Central which opened in 1879.

The CR operated the Greenock and Wemys Bay Railway which provided connections to steamers on the Clyde which prided links to Scottish Islands and Argyll. It became part of the Caledonian in 1893. In 1889, the nominally independent Caledonian Steam Packet Company was formed to operate ferries from the Clyde, eventually providing a service from Gourock to Rothesay, Largs and Millport. In 1890 a service from Androssan to Arran was established.



Caledonian Railway
1913 Map

Glasgow Central station was extended between 1901 and 1906 and another railway bridge constructed. The Glasgow Central Hotel, originally built in 1813 was also extended as part of the construction.

 

Caledonian Railway
Glasgow Central Station and Hotel

 

Caledonian Railway in World War One

Caledonian Railway
Perth Railway Station

On the outbreak if WW1 the Caledonian Railway had traffic from thirty large engineering works, forty three iron and steel works, thirty five shipyards and many smaller enterprises. The necessities of war saw large increases in output from these industrial locations. To supply the Royal Navy there was a requirement to move Welsh Coal to Scapa Flow. The West Coast Main Line provided better security (the East coast main line running along the coastal areas north of Newcastle), so large volume of coal trains and return empties increased traffic on the Caledonian. Over the course of the war traffic at Carlisle increased 91% north bound and 162% southbound. 

 

The demand for munitions led to the establishment of National Filling Factories. On the CR this included the NFF Grangetown , near Glasgow (prodution commenced January 1916) and NFF Gretna (which started production in April 1916). Six timber camps were established on the CR network, new military camps, airbases added more goods to move, and in some cases necessitated new works to handle the volumes.

Gretna Railway Station
World War One

 Passenger traffic increased due to movement of military personnel, over 7,600,000 additional passengers were carried throughout the war. Troop trains moved soldiers from barracks in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and other large towns. One movement resulted in the worst railway disaster in British history at Quintinshill, near Gretna, May 2nd 1915.

 

Quintinshill Rail Disaster 1915

 

As with many other Railway Companies, the CR locomotive and carriage works included ammunition, guns, horse drawn vehicles and defence stores.

Four paddle steamers from the Caledonian Steam Packet Company were requisitioned by the Admiralty to operate as auxiliary minesweepers, two being sunk by mines whilst in service.

 

The Caledonia Railway released 5,229 staff to join Her Majesty's forces, representing 22% of the total staff employed on 4th August 1914.