Sunday, 25 September 2022

Op Piper - Dunkirk

On 20th May 1940, the men of the 1st Battalion Tyneside Scottish (Black Watch) engaged the XV Panzer Corps in the area of Ficheux.

The Germans were highly trained soldiers equipped with tanks and armoured vehicles. The Tyneside Jocks were in the main, trainee troops with no combat experience, and lightly equipped. 

Despite the lack of experience and equipment, over the course of five hours, the Tyneside Scottish successfully blocked the German progress until eventually they were overcome.

The action would cost the Tyneside Scottish 100 casualties, with many more captured and spending the war as Prisoners of War.

The remnants of 1TS would make their way to Dunkirk and evacuated to the UK.

Dunkirk Harbour
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TS RAA Dunkirk

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The Dunkirk Memorial commemorates 4,505 casualties of the British Expeditionary Force who have no known grave, most of whom were lost during the Battle of Dunkirk.

Amongst those commemorated are men from  1st Battalion Tyneside Scottish (Black Watch)


Dunkirk Memorial

Dunkirk Memorial window

Dunkirk Memorial 

The Dunkirk Town Cemetery contains 1,042 graves from both World Wars. There are 460 casualties from the First World War. The town was shelled throughout WW1 and was a hospital centre.  The 792 graves from the Second World War include 213 unidentified casualties. As well as those killed during the Battle of Dunkirk, the cemetery contains graves of bodies washed up on the beaches in the aftermath of the evacuation.


Dunkirk Town Cemetery
Cross of 
Sacrifice

Dunkirk Town Cemetery
Unkown Gunner

Dunkirk Town Cemetery
Unkown Soldiers