Tyneside Scottish: A History of the Tyneside Scottish Brigade Raised in the North East in World War One

By Graham Stewart and John Sheen

The exploits of the twentieth, twenty-first, twenty-second, and twenty-third (Service) Battalions of the Northumberland Fusiliers during the Great War—“Harder Than Hammers.”
 
Although called the Tyneside Scottish, very few of the men who made up this Brigade were of Scottish descent. Many came from local villages or were from the Northumberland pits. They saw action at the Battle of the Somme and after it were allowed to put tartan behind their cap badges because of their bravery.
 
“This remarkable product of much research includes lists of those who received gallantry awards and of officers and other ranks. It is an informative book which will be of great help to anyone researching the Tyneside Scottish during WWI and which will also act as a keepsake for those who have a particular interest in the regiments.” —Northumberland & Durham Family History Society

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Jan 12, 1998
• ISBN: 9781473819986

Graham Stewart

Graham G. Stewart has been Emeritus Professor in Brewing and Distilling at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland since he retired in 2007. From 1994-2007 he was Professor of Brewing and Distilling and Director of the International Centre for Brewing and Distilling (ICBD), Heriot-Watt University. For 25 years prior to this he was employed by the Labatt Brewing Company in Canada, holding a number of scientific/technical positions and from 1986-1994 was its Technical Director. He holds a PhD and DSc from Bath University and is a Fellow of the Institute of Brewing. He was President of the Institute of Brewing and Distilling in 1999 and 2000. He has over 300 publications (books, patents, review papers, articles and peer reviewed papers) to his name and is a co-founder and co-editor of the journal “Critical Reviews in Biotechnology”. Dr. Graham G. Stewart has been Emeritus Professor in Brewing and Distilling at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland. Previously he was Professor of Brewing and Distilling and Director of the International Centre for Brewing and Distilling (ICBD), Heriot-Watt University. He’s held many scientific/technical positions in such companies as Labatt Brewing Company in Canada, and was the President of the Institute of Brewing. He has over 300 publications (books, patents, review papers, articles and peer review

Book preview

Chapter One

Origins of the Tyneside Scottish

Number 4 (Highland) Company 1860

Tyneside Scottish Volunteer Rifle Corps 1900

‘He’s a braw, bravo Heilan’ lad is Private Jock McDade,

There’s no another like him in a’ the Scots Brigade’

ANON

THE TYNESIDE SCOTTISH are probably unique among all of the Kitchener battalions raised during the Great War of 1914–1918, because unlike most of those battalions raised during the war the Tyneside Scottish came into being some fifty-four years earlier in 1860.

At that time Europe was again in turmoil, once again France, under Napoleon III, and Great Britain, under Queen Victoria, were at the brink of war. The danger was so great that the outbreak of a second Napoleonic War seemed imminent. Prominent men throughout Britain began to petition Parliament and the War Office for the raising of a volunteer force for the defence of the nation should a French invasion ever take place.

The man who saw the need for a home defence force was in fact the Duke of Wellington, who began campaigning for such a force as early as 1847, but it was not until 1852 that the first Corps to be sanctioned by the War Office was raised in Exeter. By 1855 a second formation was well under way in Liverpool, but it was not until 1859 that the main recruiting effort of volunteers was to be seen up and down the country.

The North East of England was not slow in taking up the challenge of raising such rifle volunteer corps, because the east coast of Great Britain had always been seen as the natural route for invaders from the continent. One of the first towns in the region to approve of the raising of a rifle corps was Tynemouth, in May 1859.

Towards the end of May the city of Newcastle was to follow with an initial meeting being held in the Chamber of Commerce, Guildhall, Newcastle. Mr E Glynn chaired this first meeting with another twenty gentlemen in attendance. Letters were read to them by the Hon Secretary Mr R T Green, from those corps which had already been sanctioned and were proving successful in other parts of the country. With this in mind it was decided that should a Corps be raised in Newcastle, that the expense for each volunteer should not exceed ten pounds, for uniforms, arms and equipment and that an annual subscription of two guineas be paid which would be sufficient to defray such costs.

On adjournment it was decided that lists would be placed in Mr M S Dodds bookshop on the quayside as well as the newsrooms at Central Exchange and Sandhill, with the view of obtaining the names of one hundred would-be volunteers. Sadly the citizens of Newcastle seemed loath to join such a Corps and at the next meeting it was announced that the lists had produced only thirty-one signatures. This caused some consternation among the committee members and Mr R T Green and M L Jobling proposed that meetings be adjourned until it was seen what Parliament would do to aid Rifle Volunteer Corps.

Other committee members Mr R L Watson, Mr Kelly, Sir John Fife and Mr E Glynn were all in favour of the formation of a Corps in the city, with Mr Watson suggesting that Sir M W Ridley be invited to act as officer of the Corps. The next meeting was to take place a fortnight later and it was hoped that better times lay ahead and by 3 June, 1859, another nineteen names had been added to the lists on public display.

What happened next will remain a mystery as there appears to be no further references to the raising of a rifle corps in Newcastle after 3 June, 1859. Indeed it would appear that Sir John Fife took matters into his own hands over the raising of the Corps. As chairman of the Newcastle Rifle Club he summoned a meeting of its members, with the view to forming themselves into a Rifle Corps. The club had only been in existence since the summer of 1859 and had many leading citizens of Newcastle as members, including those who were advanced in years and some who were described as infirm, but who were enrolled as honorary members. A contemporary member of the club said:

It may be well to observe that the club remains totally independent of Government, but should such encouragement be given as the club deems satisfactory there can be little doubt but that it would most willingly enrol itself as a Rifle Volunteer Corps.

Lieutenant Colonel Sir John Fife, 1st Newcastle-Upon-Tyne Rifle Volunteer Corps.

These assurances were apparently forthcoming and the 1st Newcastle-Upon-Tyne Rifle Volunteer Corps appears to have been sanctioned on 22 February, 1860, with Sir John Fife as Lieutenant Colonel and a Sergeant Smillie as ‘Drill Master’. The official number of the Newcastle Rifle Volunteer Corps in the Volunteer Force List was 81, because as each Corps was sanctioned by the War Office it received a number in the order of precedence in which it was raised. Within the Corps itself, No 1 and No 2 Companies consisted of gentlemen from the City Rifle Club, who supplied their own arms and accoutrements, while the Government supplied some fifty percent of the unit’s rifles. Number 3 Company was termed the ‘Quaysiders’ Company as it was formed from the white-collar workers of businesses located on Newcastle Quayside.

On 30 March, 1860, a fourth company was added to the Corps. Number 4 (Highland) Company, 1st Newcastle Rifle Volunteer Corps was enrolled on a Monday evening at the Riding School, Newcastle before Lieutenant Colonel Sir John Fife. From the very beginning this was a kilted company and it was more popularly known as ‘The Newcastle Scottish’. This small company was so popular amongst the citizens of Newcastle that a proposition was made to form another independent corps to be known as ‘The Northern Counties Scottish Rifle Brigade’. It was hoped this new corps could drill in Newcastle but would be composed of volunteers not only from Newcastle and Gateshead, but also the outlying districts.

Archibald N Fraser No.4 (Highland) Company, 1st Newcastle Royal Volunteer Corps.

The uniform of No 4(Highland) Company, 1st Newcastle Rifle Volunteer Corps is of particular interest since only one photograph seems to exist from that particular period. The photograph is of Archibald N Fraser, who was a former member of the company. In the photograph he is wearing a rifle grey doublet which is edged and braided with black material. A black glengarry is worn with possibly a single red feather behind a badge of unknown design. Both the crossbelt (bearing a badge of unknown design) and the waistbelt are of brown leather, whist grey spats are worn over boots of an unknown colour. Three white tassels are noted on the sporran, which bears a similar badge to that worn in the glengarry. Both the plaid and the kilt are the sett of the 42nd Foot, The Black Watch. Mr Fraser records the company as being about 170 strong with its armoury in Hood Street, Newcastle and drills held at the Corn Exchange in Newcastle. Captain Hugh L Pattinson of Scotts House, Boldon, County Durham, who was assisted by Lieutenant Alexander Laing and Ensign Adamson, of the Howdon-on-Tyne shipbuilding family, commanded the company. The company’s senior NCOs’ were Colour Sergeant Rougier and Sergeant G G Taylor. On 6 April 1860 resolutions were finally adopted for the formation of an independent corps which was to be known as ‘The Northern Counties Scottish Rifle Brigade’. A governing body was elected which included the Lord Mayors’ of Newcastle and Gateshead and the Corps first drill took place at the Guildhall, Newcastle on the following Monday, which was attended by seventy members. Sadly no further records of this corps can be found and it is presumed that its existence was short lived – possibly its formation did not meet with the approval of the War Office.

The demise of the Northern Counties Scottish Rifle Brigade as an independent movement had no effect on No 4(Highland) Company, NRVC or on the Corps as a whole, which went from strength to strength and which eventually was to have thirteen companies under its control. Like No 4 (Highland) Company others were also to have sub-titles; No 8 Company was designated ‘Oddfellows’ Company and No 12 Company which consisted of men who were no less than six feet in height was known as the ‘Guards’ Company.

On 7 August, 1860, the 1st Newcastle-upon-Tyne Rifle Volunteer Corps took part in the great Volunteer Review held at Edinburgh which was reviewed by Queen Victoria. It is recorded that No 4 (Highland) Company took part in this review and a subsequent review held at York in 1866 and the company possibly took part in the great ‘Sham Fight’ on Newcastle Town Moor in 1868 in which some 5,000 troops took part. Sadly the days of No 4 (Highland) Company appear to have been numbered, as were many other companies up and down the country. The decreasing likelihood of war with France and a possible invasion of Great Britain resulted in a lack of interest and decline in the Volunteer movement. The end result was a scaling down in the number of companies in the larger urban corps and the disbandment of some of the smaller rural corps. In the case of the NRVC it was reduced to eight companies, four of which amalgamated with other companies while Number 13 Company left as a whole and joined a neighbouring Volunteer Artillery Corps. One of those which appears to have disbanded totally was Number 4(Highland) Company of which there is no record after 1868.

There was no further attempt to raise a kilted company or an Independent Scottish Corps in Newcastle until the end of the century, when another war in another land once again prompted the leading Anglo-Scottish citizens of Newcastle to press for a Scottish Volunteer Rifle Corps.

The war which began this new movement, had begun in South Africa in 1899. It was principally a war of independence fought between South Africa’s Dutch settlers, the Boers, led by Paul Kruger, and Great Britain. As Great Britain’s regular army was mobilized and began embarking for South Africa, the average Briton was under the impression that the up-start Boers would soon be put in their place by an army which had carved for Great Britain the largest empire the world had ever seen.

Sadly it was an illusion, as the army had been neglected for many years and, although successful in many minor wars against natives, they had not fought a major campaign since the Crimean War in 1854. The Boers were to be a difficult adversary, because they fought a guerrilla war, mostly on horseback. The Boers were both excellent shots and horsemen, being used to the hardships of farming and settling in a foreign land. Poor leadership and tactics, as well as being tied to a vast logistic train, which kept it in the field of battle, encumbered the British Army.

The initial stages of this war were to see numerous reverses for the British forces in the field with some extremely embarrassing defeats, showing neglect and poor leadership. These defeats also began to show up a manpower shortage back home once Army Reservists had been called forward, this in turn led to the call up of men in the Militia Reserve and in January 1900 the war Office prepared for the embodiment of the nation’s Militia battalions in order to free regular battalions from overseas garrison duty.

As with the scares in Europe some fifty years earlier, so Great Britain once again saw an outbreak of patriotic fervour with the prominent of the land pursuing the War Office for permission to raise new Volunteer units. One such unit was the Liverpool Scottish, formed by Scotsmen resident in the City of Liverpool, sanctioned on 4 October, 1900, and officially known as the 8th (Scottish) Volunteer Battalion King’s (Liverpool) Regiment. Another unit was the City Imperial Volunteers formed by gentlemen for gentlemen in London towards the end of 1899 and which eventually served in South Africa.

To those Anglo-Scots based on Tyneside the opportunity for raising a kilted Volunteer Rifle Corps was not to be missed and the campaigning for the raising of a Corps began in January 1900 with the appearance of a letter in the ‘Newcastle Daily Chronicle’ proposing the formation of a Tyneside Scottish Volunteer Corps and signed by J Graham Duff. Apparently this was not his first proposal for such a corps to be raised and he had made a similar suggestion long before this, but the idea never caught on. Mr Duff’s letter caught the imagination of many fellow Scots on Tyneside and within a short time there were enough willing applicants to join that the formation of a proper committee and an approach to the War Office for sanction was considered. Towards the end of February 1900 a meeting was held in the Eldon Hotel, Grey Street, Newcastle which was to put forward proposals to approach the War Office for the sanctioning of the Tyneside Scottish Rifle Volunteer Corps. Mr Farquahar M Laing presided and among those present were: – Councillor Hugh Morton, Mr Farquahar A Ogilvie Laing, Mr H Cuthbertson, Mr Johnstone Wallace, Mr R J D Brown, Mr John M Campbell, Dr Dougall, Mr A T Martin, Mr Dougald McPherson, Prof Thomas Oliver MD, Mr John M McGregor with Mr James Lawrence and Mr J Graham Duff acting as joint secretaries.

The meeting was full of Scottish patriotism with Mr F M Laing pointing out that he had been a member of the original Highland Company in 1859. Mr J Graham Duff said that he reckoned, ‘that they had over 700 names for the Corps and that the great majority of them had already seen some discipline in the Volunteers.’ It was intimated that the corps would require at least thirty-five officers and 1,000 other ranks and the chairman proposed that a Corps fund of about £4000 to £5000 would put the Corps on a sound basis. They had also secured the services of Mr Walter Smith as a bandmaster and thirty bandsmen plus a pipe band numbering sixteen. Uniforms were also discussed and they were unanimous in their choice – that the kilt should be worn.

So ended the first meeting of the Tyneside Scottish Rifle Volunteer Corps whose next step was to approach the War Office for official sanctioning. For some unknown reason this did not take place until the end of May 1900.

31 Malvern Street

Newcastle upon Tyne

30/5/1900

To The Most Noble, The Marquis of

Lansdowne

Secretary of State for War

My Lord,

Trooper William George Wright, joined the South African Constabulary and served throughout the Boer War after which he returned to England and managed a public House in Stanley. On the outbreak of the Great War he joined the Tyneside Scottish.

PROPOSED SCOTTISH RIFLE VOLUNTEER CORPS FOR NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE & DISTRICT.

I am instructed by the Committee of the above movement to approach your Lordship and ask your sanction for the formation of the above Corps.

As your Lordship will perceive by the accompanying lists, 900 men have appended their names as being desirous of joining, the minimum height as fixed by the committee is five feet six inches, they are all of Scotch nationality or of Scotch parentage: the majority have at one time been local volunteers and in no instance has a member of any other local Volunteer Corps been accepted.

As you will also perceive twenty-five gentlemen have signed their names as being wishful of holding commissions and many others have signified a similar intention on the formation of the Corps.

With regard to finance, the committee has the support of several influential gentlemen in the district in guaranteeing the necessary funds.

The Committee has been successful in securing the use of a large hall in every way suited for the purpose of drill and is also negotiating for a suitable Rifle Range. In addition to the services of a full Military Band a Highland Pipe Band of sixteen members is already enrolled.

It is the unanimous desire of all concerned in the movement that the highland dress is adopted and a decided preference has been expressed for the tartan of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. The movement has the hearty support of Earl Grey, The Lord Lieutenant of the County of Northumberland; the Members of Parliament for the City; the Mayor and members of the City Council; the Commanding Officer of the District and many prominent citizens.

It is earnestly hoped your Lordship will grant the petition, I have

The honour to be

Your Lordships most obedient servant

Mr J G Duff

Secretary to the Committee.

The War Office made no immediate reply to the committee and so a further letter was sent on 14 June 1900. On 22 June the War Office sent a reply, which read:

V/Northumb/695

War Office

London SW 22

June 1900

Sir

With reference to your letters of 30th and 14th instant, I am directed by the Secretary of State for War to acquaint you that the application for authority to raise a Scottish Battalion of Volunteer Rifles at Newcastle on Tyne is under consideration and that a further communication will be made to you on the subject. I am

Sir

Your Obedient Servant

Evelyn Wood

Adjutant General

Captain Vaux and his Maxim gun sections of the Northumberland and Durham Yeomanry in South Africa. Some of them would serve again in the Tyneside Brigades during the Great War.

There was a genuine reason for the delay by the War Office to reply, it was because opposition was being voiced by the Lieutenant Colonels of some of the Volunteer units in both Northumberland and Durham. Their objections were, firstly that there were already sufficient Volunteer Battalions in the area with vacancies to fill and, secondly that the attraction of a kilted battalion would possibly cause some men to leave their present units for the new battalion and the kilt would prove irresistible to men who might have otherwise joined other units.

Against this argument the supporters of the Tyneside Scottish Volunteer Corps pointed out that the increased population of Tyneside would be able to support all the current volunteer units and the Tyneside Scottish which was eventually to have 970 members enrolled, none of whom had resigned from other units to enlist with them. Those that had enrolled into the Tyneside Scottish Volunteer Corps had come from the following areas, Newcastle-upon-Tyne 600, Gateshead 100, South Shields 100, Tyneside in general 150 and twenty-five gentlemen from various areas who wished to be considered for a commission in the Corps.

In the meantime the committee had already approached Isaac Walton, tailors of Grainger Street, Newcastle, for a quote regarding the fitting of uniforms for the Corps. The uniform chosen to clothe the Corps was that of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and although quotes were given for kilts and trews, no overall cost was given.

Colonel F C Meyrick, Officer Commanding 5th Battalion Imperial Yeomanry.

The enemy! Boer Heliograph under the command of General Lemmer.

The committee sent a further letter to the War Office on 18 August, 1900, but the reply from the War Office on the 21st wasn’t exactly what was expected.

V/Northumb/698

War Office

London SW

21 August 1900

Sir,

With reference to your letter of the 18th instant I am directed by the Secretary of State for War to acquaint you that the proposal for the establishment of a Scottish battalion of Volunteer Rifles for Newcastle-upon-Tyne has received full and careful consideration, that in view of the strong objections which have been raised on recruiting grounds by corps in the locality, Lord Lansdowne much regrets that he cannot advise Her Majesty to accept the services offered by those who have interested themselves in the project – I have the honour to be Sir your obedient servant.

J W Laye

Deputy Adjutant General

By September 1900 tension between the Tyneside Scottish Volunteer Corps and the dissenting Colonels had grown so much that Mr J R Hall wrote to the ‘Newcastle Daily Journal’ asking Lieutenant Colonel A Angus, commanding the 1st Newcastle Artillery Volunteers, Lieutenant Colonel Downing, commanding 3rd Volunteer Battalion Northumland Fusiliers and Lieutenant Colonel Proctor, commanding 5th Volunteer Battalion Durham Light Infantry to resign from their units. Earl Grey the Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland tried desperately to mediate with the Lieutenant Colonels in question, but their replies ‘did not encourage me to be very hopeful of success’. Despite Earl Grey’s doubts as to what mediation would bring, there was no doubt about the unanimous support that the corps was receiving from various quarters within the region. Encouraged by this support the Committee once again petitioned the War Office for official sanction with a further letter on 5 October. The reply was as uncompromising as that of August,

V/Northumb/703

War Office

London SW

8 October 1900

Sir,

With reference to your letter of 5th ultim and former correspondence upon the subject of a proposed Scottish Battalion of Volunteer Rifles at Newcastle upon Tyne. I am directed by the Secretary of State for War to acquaint you that the question has again been under consideration and the local military authorities have been further consulted, but that the objections on recruiting grounds still exist and that in the circumstances Lord Lansdowne regrets that he must adhere to his former decision that a new battalion in Newcastle cannot be approved.

I have the honour to be

Sir

Your Obedient Servant

E Fleetwood Wilson

Undeterred by this further rejection the committee of the Tyneside Scottish movement, supported by the Lord Lieutenant, the local City Council, Members of Parliament and many members of the public began to petition all of the commanding officers of Volunteer Units in the area, asking for their objections to the Tyneside Scottish Volunteer Corps. The surprise was that Lieutenant Colonel Angus withdrew his objections, while the Officer Commanding 1st Newcastle Engineer Volunteers raised his objections for the first time, but said he would withdraw them once his new companies had been raised. The bulk had no objection as long as the new Corps did not encroach upon their recruiting boundaries and it was with high hopes that a letter was sent to the Secretary of State for War on 20 February, 1901.

Also in late February 1901 Colonel C S Gordon commanding 5/68 Regimental District wrote to the Chief Staff Officer North Eastern District advising support for the Tyneside Scottish Volunteer Corps, as he believed that, ‘the men exist and that once started the corps will not suffer from want of recruits.’ However there was added caution to his letter, ‘But I express the same opinion now as then, That it will directly affect the welfare of corps located in Newcastle, I do not possibly see how it can be otherwise.’ The battle for the formation of the Tyneside Scottish Volunteer Corps was to continue throughout 1901 to the point of even a deputation from the committee travelling to the War Office. The Secretary of State for War was adamant that no sanction would be given to a Tyneside Scottish Volunteer Corps despite active lobbying for the formation of the Tyneside Scottish Volunteers. The final nail in the coffin was driven home by a War Office letter on 1 August, 1901,

War Office

London SW

1 August, 1901

With reference to the proposed formation of a Newcastle upon Tyne and Tyneside Scottish Infantry Volunteer Corps which was the subject of previous correspondence and the desirability of which was subsequently urged upon the Secretary of State by a deputation of those interested in the scheme, I am directed by Mr Broderick to express his deep regret that he is unable after further consideration to give the affirmative reply for which the deputation pressed. While fully appreciating the patriotic moves which are inducing those who were represented by the deputation he is unable to add further to the inequality that exists in the proportion of the three arms in the forces available for home defence – an inequality which is especially marked in Newcastle where the infantry arm so largely predominates. The C-in-C has most strongly urged upon him the necessity of supplementing the present great mass of infantry in the Volunteer Force by the increased body of mounted troops which is required for the proper defence of the country. Under these circumstances Mr Broderick most sincerely trusts that the same patriotic motives which induced the council and the committee to propose the establishment of the infantry corps will cause them to organise an Imperial Yeomanry Corps of Scottish Horse.’

Yours etc E C Ward.

Following the letter the committee held a meeting at the Royal Exchange Hotel, Newcastle on 9 October, 1901. It was with heavy hearts that they decided to abandon the movement for the formation of the Tyneside Scottish Volunteer Corps both the corps and the committee were to be dissolved on 1 November, 1901. One final letter was written to the Officer Commanding 5/68 Regimental District and the following was inserted into the local press:

The Committee having decided after consideration of the reply received by the Town Clerk from the Secretary of State for War to abandon the movement, beg most heartily to tender their warmest thanks to all those who have fostered the scheme so strenuously; to the men who eagerly volunteered to join the corps, to the band and pipers, who for two years have kept themselves efficient and to the local press for all their support.

The Tyneside Scottish Volunteer Corps had faded into history. The Boer War was to last a further year before it to came to a close and it was won by the British army who had adopted tactics not unlike the Boers, using masses of mounted infantry and mobile columns. Other innovations such as the machine gun, barbed wire, block houses and better marksmanship were to play a more prominent roll in later years, while the use of colonial troops, the Militia and Volunteer Service Companies on active service overseas was to be a sign of the times ahead. Queen Victoria died in 1901 and King Edward VII came to the throne but by May 1910 he too was dead and his son King George V led Great Britain and her Empire as dark war clouds once again gathered over Europe.

The Consett Iron Company’s works. Consett provided Iron and steel for the ship builders on the Tyne.

The Emma Pit at Ryton. Many miners from this colliery enlisted in the Tyneside Scottish.

Many famous warships were constructed at yards on the Tyne. Here the Yashima of the Imperial Japanese Navy passes through the Swing Bridge at Newcastle on her way to the sea (with a slight list to port). High above, crowds line the High Level Bridge. The Yashima went on to fight in the Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War.

A coalminer typical of many of the Northumberland and Durham men who joined the Tyneside Scottish.

Chapter Two

The North East at the Outbreak of War

‘Now Geordie and Bob Johnson both lay in the shem bed,

In a little lodgin’ hoos doon by the shore,’

KEEP YER FEET STILL GEORDIE HINNIE.

TO TELL THE STORY of the north east at the time of the outbreak of the First World War could fill many volumes. The region, in particular County Durham and Northumberland along the north bank of the River Tyne, was highly populated, owing to the large amount of labour intensive industry that was located there. To understand the story of the Tyneside Scottish Brigade one needs to know a little of where the men came from, what their occupations were and why they should enlist into the army.

THE COALFIELD

By 1914 the north east of England was an industrial powerhouse, the area was covered with inter-related heavy industry. From the south west of County Durham to the Northumberland coast there was a vast coalfield with a huge number of mines. In County Durham alone there were 335 coalmines working in 1912. These mines employed thousands of men underground and still more were employed on the surface. The sole reason for the existence of many villages was that they were built as dormitories for the miner and his family, the houses being built as close to the pithead as possible. Many miners had large families and their young sons would start work at the pit at the age of eleven. As they grew older they became ‘putters’ filling the tubs of coal to be sent to the surface or ‘hewers’ actually cutting the coal from the face. The work was hard and dangerous, in many places the face would be only three-foot high and the miners would be lying in inches of water as they hewed the coal from the face and loaded the tubs. From the face the tubs were taken by the drivers and their pit ponies to the shaft to be sent to the surface. Output was measured in thousands of tons daily, yet miners struggled to make a living wage, whilst the coal owners made vast fortunes from their mines.

Poor industrial relations between the owners and the miners led to many strikes and to break these strikes the owners brought in men from many parts of the country. The Irish were probably the largest immigrant community, but there were tin miners from Cornwall brought by sea, Welshmen from the valleys’, some who came by sea and others who made their way by land. Other men came from the Staffordshire potteries, along with unemployed farm labourers from East Anglia. All these workers were brought to the region to ensure that coal was brought to the surface and that the cost of wages was kept low. Disaster was always close to the miner; an accidental spark could cause an explosion that would kill or bury alive all the men in the mine. At West Stanley on 16 February, 1909, one such explosion occurred that wrecked the Townley, Tilley and Busty seams. No less than 168 men and boys were killed and only thirty survivors were rescued, One of whom, Edward Pace, had been involved in a similar explosion at Wingate Colliery. Danger was ever-present, a wire rope could snap suddenly, a tub come off the rails or a roof could cave in and, if not killed outright, the miner could be trapped alive to die slowly as the oxygen ran out.

Doctor Pit, Bedlington, Northumberland. A large number of men, mainly miners, volunteered from this village.

Loading colliers on the Tyne. The export of coal from Northumberland and Durham coalfield was a major activity on the river.

If the shift went well and he came out, tired and hungry, he would have to walk home, to a tin bath on the kitchen floor.

The accommodation for the miner and his family was poor, to say the least; in many cases two or sometimes three families would share a house with rudimentary toilet and washing facilities, for many the ‘double raa’ and the ‘back to back’ built close to the colliery would be the only home they ever knew. To improve living conditions local water companies, such as the Sunderland and South Shields Water Company, built huge steam driven pumps to improve the water supply to the towns and colliery villages. But in many places a single tap shared with other families would be the only water supply.

The smoke and grime from the mine would keep out the sunlight. But when the sun broke through, the shadow of the ‘pitheap’ would be cast over the village streets, a constant reminder to villagers of why they were living there. From these colliery villages railway lines were laid to carry the coal to the rivers, where huge staithes had been built for loading the colliers that lined the riverbanks. One coastal port, Seaham Harbour, owes its existence to the coal trade, Lord Londonderry, with extensive colliery ownership, mainly in the Penshaw area, found he was paying large amounts of money to ship his coal through Sunderland. With the coming of the railways, easing the transportation problems, he had his own port built at Seaham. Over two million tons of coal were exported through Sunderland, and over five million tons from the Tyne, as well as coal that was shipped to other British ports.

THE SHIPYARDS

The banks of the Rivers Tyne, Wear and Tees were also home to large shipyards. On the Tyne from Shields to Newcastle there were no less than twenty five yards, on the Wear fourteen, and in Middlesborough on the Tees two, with others at Blyth and Hartlepool. Many famous ships were to begin their lives by sliding into the murky, coal dust-covered waters of the Tyne and Wear. Some yards specialized in cargo vessels, others in huge passenger vessels, such as the Mauritania built by Swan, Hunter and Wigham’s yard at Wallsend. When she was launched in 1907 the Mauritania was the largest ship afloat, displacing 42000 tons. For many years she held the Blue Riband for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic. Her sister ship, built on the Clyde, was the ill-fated Lusitania which was torpedoed by a U-boat in May 1915.

Palmer’s works at Jarrow where it was the proud boast of this company that ‘Ore went in one end and a battleship came out of the other’.

Another famous shipbuilding firm was Hawthorn and Leslie’s which had yards at Hebburn, St Peter’s and Forth Banks. The St Peter’s yard was responsible for HMS Ghurka the first Torpedo Boat Destroyer to be propelled by steam turbine, which had its speed trials in 1907. The battleship HMS Warspite which was ordered in 1912 was built by Hawthorn Leslie, but they also made warships for foreign navies, the Hai Chi and the Hai Tien for the Chinese Navy, the General Baquedano for the Chilean Navy as well as a cruiser for Portugal and although orders were placed by the Turkish Navy the events of 1914 prevented them being built. By 20 October, 1914, 409 men had left the Hebburn yard, 198 from St Peters and 110 from Forth Banks to join His Majesty’s Forces, and within a few months the total figure was nearly 1000.

Not far from the Hawthorn Leslie yard at Hebburn was Palmer’s Shipbuilding at Jarrow, another firm with a world class reputation. Palmer’s works covered over one hundred acres and comprised the shipbuilding yard, graving dock, slipway, engine works, boiler works, steel works and smelting plant. In fact the whole works was self-sufficient, from smelting the ore and making pig iron to converting that pig iron into steel and rolling steel plates and bars. Indeed it was the proud boast at Palmer’s that, ‘ore went in one end and a battleship came out of the other’. Battleships such as HMS Russell and HMS Queen Mary both went down the slipway at Jarrow and felt the cold waters of the Tyne beneath their keels; both would be lost in action in 1916. Another famous battleship built by Palmer’s was HMS Resolution which was completed in 1915, Destroyers like HMS Leonidas and HMS Lucifer, light cruisers, submarines and monitors were built for the navy at Jarrow but the yard also made large merchant vessels. Well known shipping companies such as the Ellerman Line placed orders and ships like the City of Bombay, City of Durham and the City of Lincoln began their working life on the north east coast. Over 1500 men would eventually leave this company to serve with the forces.

Probably one of the most famous yards was that of Lord Armstrong at Elswick in Newcastle. Armstrong has been described as the genius that