Royal Marines Concert Sage Gateshead

 

Sage Gateshead

Newcastle Millennium Bridge

Massed Bands of the Royal Marines in concert at the Sage Gateshead Saturday 30th Novemeber. 

Royal Marines Massed Bands

The Royal Marines Band Service provides musical and ceremonial support to the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. As well as providing military bands, they can provide a range of activities from a small ensemble to a full orchestra. In addition to their rendering of military tunes, thier repertoire includes modern and popular music.

The Royal Marine Corps of Drum consists of military side drummers, buglers and fanfare trumpeters.

The musicians and bandsmen have an operational role providing medical support to the Royal Navy on board a casualty receiving facility or supporting 3 Commando Brigade Royal Marines.

The concert at the Sage consisted of an orchestra drawn from three Royal Marines Bands, Corps of Drums, RM fanfare trumpeters and vocalists. The concert also featured participants from the 'Music is Magic' Project which helps people with learning disabilities. 

Royal Marine Orchestra and Drummers

Royal Marines Corps of Drums

Royal Marine Fanfare Trumpeters

Royal Marine Orchestra and Singers

Royal Marines Band Concert Finale

Newcastle War Memorial Centenary

 On the 26th of September 2023 the Lady Mayoress of Newcastle, the City Councils' Armed Forces Champion, representatives from 5th Battalion Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, and Armed Forces Veterans gathered to commemorate the centenary of the unveiling of the Newcastle War Memorial in Eldon Square.

Centenary Eldon Square War Memorial

At the end of the First World War, communities around the British Empire began to think about how best to remember the casualties of the conflict. The resting place for many of those who lost their lives was "a corner of a foreign field that was forever England", for thousands there was no known grave.  A focus was needed where people had the opportunity to visit and remember, resulting in the building of memorials in villages, towns and cities around the United Kingdom and the world.

In Newcastle thoughts of a memorial began in December 1920 when the 'Shilling Fund' was instituted that encouraged Newcastle residents to donate 1 shilling (5 pence), worth around £1.85 today, to pay for the memorial. The memorial cost of £12,910 (£476,722 today) was raised by mid January 1921, testament to the support for the project by the people of Newcastle. In total £16,374 (£605,000 today) was raised, the surplus funds being donated to the Newcastle Royal Victorian Hospital (RVI) to provide additional beds.

The site chosen for the memorial was Eldon Square in the centre of Newcastle which was laid out in 1825-31 as an early part of Richard Grainger’s ambitious redevelopment plan for Newcastle

Eldon Square prior to WW1

The Newcastle memorial consists of a Portland stone pedestal 9.75 metres (32 feet) high on which a 3.36 m (11 feet 6 inches) tall bronze statue of St George and the Dragon rests. Carved into the south face would be feature the date of the conflict 1914 - 1918.

Eldon Square War Memorial post WW1

An inscription reads

A TRIBUTE OF AFFECTION/ TO THE MEN OF/ NEWCASTLE AND DISTRICT/ WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES/ IN THE CAUSE OF FREEDOM/ THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR EVERMORE.

Field Marshall Earl Haig unveiled the Newcastle upon Tyne City War Memorial at Eldon Square on Wednesday 26th September 1923 at 3 pm. 

On parade were contingents from the Tyne Division of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR), the 6th (The City) Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers (6th N.F.) and veterans from the British Legion. The bands of the Northumberland Fusiliers Depot and the 6th Battalion N.F. supported the occasion. On each corner of the memorial were sentries from representatives of the Royal Navy, Northumberland Hussars, the Northumbrian Brigade RFA and the Northumberland Fusiliers. 

Following the memorials unveiling by Field Marshall Earl Haig, there was a minutes silence, followed by the playing of the 'Last Post' and 'Revile'. The Lady Mayoress then laid a wreath of red and cream roses that bore the inscription “In token of affectionate remembrance from the citizens of Newcastle upon Tyne” . Wreaths were then laid by representatives of military units followed by relatives of those who had lost their lives who came forward to pay their own tributes. 

Unveiling of Newcastle War Memorial
26th September 1923

Unveiling of Newcastle War Memorial
26th September 1923

------O------

NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE WAR MEMORIAL

UNVEILLING

26th SEPTEMBER 1923

New York - Tick Tock Diner

 

Tick Tock Diner VM

Tick Tock Diner

New York - FDNY

 FDNY Engine 54 / Ladder 4 / Battalion 9 8th Avenue and 47th Street.

FDNY Engine 54 / Ladder 4 / Battalion 9

FDNY 8th Avenue and 47th Street

FDNY 8th Avenue and 47th Street

FDNY Engine 54 

FDNY Engine 54

FDNY Engine 54 

FDNY Engine 54 

FDNY Ambulance

New York - NYPD

 The TV series Blue Bloods features a law enforcement family, the Reagans, who serve with the New York Police Department (NYPD.  Police Commissioner Frank, Detective Danny and uniformed cop Jamie are the main NYPD characters.

Detective Danny | Commissioner Frank | Cop Jamie

A central theme in Blue Bloods is the perspective of Police Commissioner Frank Reagan based in the NYPD Headquarters, 1 Police Plazza, in downtown Manhattan at the end of Brooklyn Bridge

1 Police Plaza

1 Police Plaza IJ

1 Police Plaza Entrance IJ

The New York Police Department operates across the five boroughs of New York (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx and Staten Island) through 77 precincts. The NYPD's visible presence is the department's uniformed officers law enforcement patrol operations. 

NYPD Cruiser

NYPD SUV

NYPD Westward Go-4 Interceptor 

NYPD Westward Go-4 Interceptor VM

New York - 107th Infantry Regiment Memorial

107th Infantry Regiment WW1 Memorial

 Located at intersection of East 67th Street and Fifth Avenue on the edge of Central Park is a memorial that honours members of the 107th Infantry Regiment who died during World War I. 

It was dedicated September 29, 1927, the 9th anniversary of the Battle of St. Quentin Canal during which the regiment attacked the Hindenburg Line.

The 107th Infantry Regiment was a New York State National Guard unit. 

Its origins are the Seventh Regiment which was formed in April 1806 to defend New York Harbour against the British. The Regiment was mobilised during the American Civil War, but did not engage in battle. In 1916 it was called into Federal Service on the Mexican Border.

Seventh Regiment Armory Park Lane NYC

On April 6th 1917 the United States of America declared war on Germany.

The War Department issued General Order No. 90 on July 12, 1917 calling into service the New York National Guard.

"Whereas the United States of America and the Imperial German Government are now at war...I, Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States...call into service...all members of the National Guard...of the following states...

I. On July 15, 1917, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio..."

The Regiment mobilised to the Armory on Park Avenue (between East 66 and East 67th streets). They marched daily to Central Park for drill. and manoeuvres. On August 5th 1917 a proclamation drafted the National Guard into Federal service.  They joined the 54th Brigade of the 27th Division (The New York Division) and redesignated the 107th Infantry Regiment.

On 30th August 1917 the 27th Division marched down 5th Avenue in a farewell parade. The five mile route from 110th Street to the Washington Square Arch was lined by hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers. The parade would take five hours to pass by. 

27th Division march past New York Library
Farewell Parade 30th August 1917

The 107th Seventh Regiment left New York on September 11 entraining for Camp Wadsworth, Spartanburg, South Carolina. They remained at Camp Wandsworth until April 28, 1918 before moving to Camp Stuart in Virginia ready for deployment to Europe 

The Regiment embarked on the S.S. Susquehanna and the S.S. Antigone 9th/10th May 1918 arriving at the French port of Brest on 24th/25th May. Two days later they entrained and moved to Noyelles near St Omer. There they undertook several weeks of training before moving to the  Ypres Salient Reserve Area northeast of Cassel.

On July 25th 1918 the 27th Division was rotated into the front line in relief of the British 6th Division around Dickebusch. On 1st/2nd 1918 the Second American Army Corps, which consisted of the 27th Division and 30th, took part in attacks around the German strongpoints at Mount Kemmel. They succeeded in forcing the Germans to withdraw. After that action the 27th Division was withdrawn and moved south for rest and more training. 

They returned to the frontline on September 25th 1918 occupying positions in front of the St. Quentin Canal tunnel, part of the Hindenburg Line. The Division would participate in the Somme Offensive which succeeded in breaking through the German’s Hindenburg defensive line. 

Four men of the 107th Regiment would earn the Medal of Honor for actions on the 29th September.

27th Division Breaking the Hindenburg Line

The Division would be relieved on October 21st 1918 and moved to Amiens. 

That would be the last action for the 27th Division. On 11th November 1918 the Armistice was signed ending hostilities on the Western Front. 

 The 107th Regiment returned to New York in March 1919. A Victory Parade was held on the 25th March with the Regiment marching up 5th Avenue. The regiment was mustered out of Federal Service at Camp Upton, Long Island on April 2, 1919.

27th Division - New Yorks Own
Breakers of the Hindenberg Line

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During its service in World War I, the 107th Infantry Regiment sustained 1,918 casualties including 1,383 wounded, 437 killed, and 98 who later died of their wounds.