Part of the criteria for our successful bid with the HLF was that Northumberland At War should use social media websites more. One way of getting our longer stories across was the development of our own blog.
We were contacted by Ted Milburn following our first blog on ‘Northumberland Airship Bases’ by Malcolm Fife. It was at this point that Ted mentioned the story of his grandfather and I thought it would be fantastic to share this with the rest of the world. So here it is:-
My grandfather’s clock…..
…….is a hundred years old. It was presented to my grandmother and grandfather on the day of their wedding, 26 December 1914, and bears the inscription “Presented by the Sergeants of 1st Bn Tyneside Scottish to Coy Sgt Major Dale on the occasion of his marriage”. The glass case below the clock is home to his Tyneside Scottish Cap Badge. Nowadays we do not wind up the clock and set the time. We have stopped it at 7.31 – marking the same time, as on that sunny morning of 1 July 1916, when whistles were blown, and four battalions of the Tyneside Scottish Regiment moved towards the German trenches in Mash Valley on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. It is our little memorial to his life.
Richard Albert Dale had been a police constable in Newcastle for two years before he volunteered to join the Tyneside Scottish in September 1914. He moved from his home in Clones, County Monaghan in 1912 – having completed training as a policeman in Ireland, and it is clear from the speed and enthusiasm with which he enlisted that he was keen to be associated with a regiment which had strong links and loyalties in north east England, his chosen home.
His army number was 20/8 – the “20” related to the 20th Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, and the “8” indicated that he was the eighth man to enlist in that regiment. The four battalions of the Tyneside Scottish and Tyneside Irish Regiments were part of the newly created army of Kitchener’s volunteers, but were in reality Northumberland Fusiliers. The regiment recruited locally throughout Tyneside, and notably within Northumberland and County Durham – so Richard Dale was amongst men from Cramlington, Seghill, Morpeth, Ashington as well as those from Tyneside and County Durham. Men flocked to sign on.
Soon the 1st Battalion were moved to Alnwick, along with over 1000 other Tyneside Scottish and Tyneside Irish soldiers. They were housed on the east side of Alnwick Castle where a huge hutted camp had been built in the fields to facilitate training in readiness for their subsequent departure for France. Alnwick camp was their base from January 1915 until January 1916. They marched from Newcastle to Alnwick in snow and biting wind and stayed overnight in Morpeth, in a number of community and church halls. For almost a year in Alnwick they trained in the use of rifles, machine guns, grenades and other weaponry and were tested in marching, drill and the skills required in the laying and cutting of barbed wire and living in trenches. The picture below shows Richard Dale (extreme left) leading group of soldiers through Alnwick streets.
In addition to army training, a social network developed in the camp. In off-duty moments there were inter-regimental competitions in sports and games, and the customary rivalry on the football fields and cricket pitches. There are reports in regimental records of a number of soldiers keeping pets, and like many regiments, some of the units had mascots.
The above picture shows a grouping of regimental colour sergeants and sergeants taken at the Alnwick camp, illustrating behind them the huts to which the lads gave nicknames, such as “Knockout Villa”, “The Crackers Hut” and “The Pig and Whistle”. Richard Dale is at the centre in the back row and he has an owl on his arm – (for which I have no authentic explanation!).
The newly married Elizabeth Dale lived with her retired foster parents John and Isabella Eskdale in Heaton, Newcastle – although they later moved to Edward Street in Morpeth, where Elizabeth rented and ran a little sweetie shop in Newgate Street opposite Wm. Stokers the Butcher. She was well known to local shopkeepers and the schoolchildren of Morpeth throughout her life in the town. Visits to Richard during his year in Alnwick were often and from time to time he was able to get leave to go home. Before long she became pregnant. Amidst the joy, they must have both wrestled with concerns relating to Richard’s imminent departure for France and the uncertainty of the future.
Movement orders arrived in January 1916. The eight Tyneside Scottish and Tyneside Irish Battalions left by train from Alnwick Station and travelled via Salisbury Plain to join the other regiments in 34 Division in Warminster, then forward to embark at Southampton Harbour, for Le Havre, Abbeville, St. Omer, Blendeques and Wardeques. The volunteer soldiers of Northumberland, Durham and Tyneside were on their way to the Somme.
Richard must have been delighted to be granted compassionate leave so that he could briefly return to see his newborn daughter and Elizabeth. Muriel (my mother) was born on 10 February 1916 and this visit by Richard was the only time that he saw her before having to travel back to his regiment which was moving into the Somme region.
The war in France had changed by 1916. At the beginning of hostilities in 1914, WW1 was a war of movement – by the time of the Battle of the Somme, it had changed to being a war of stagnation. Both sides of the conflict were well dug in, facing each other in deep trenches which stretched from Switzerland to Normandy. The 1st Bn Tyneside Scottish were positioned in trenches near Ouvillers, flanked on the left by 2Bn The Middlesex Regiment and on the right by 4th Bn Tyneside Scottish. Whistles blew at 0731hrs and the pipers started to play the “Haughs of Cromdale” – men walked forward, in open countryside, to cross the 800 yards towards the German lines………..
CSM Richard Dale died before 10 o’clock on that morning.
The official casualty rates for the 1Bn Tyneside Scottish for that day indicate 27 officers and 557 men were injured or killed – a total of 584 out of the 800 who had started in the attack. A, 73% casualty rate.
We would like to express our sincere appreciation to Ted Milburn in supplying this article for the Northumberland At War Project.
This is a very moving tale beautifully told without sensualising the brutal horrors of war, and making it all the more poignant.
Thank you Crawford for your comment it is a great story and it is nice that the world knows about the name CSM Dale. I will make sure Ted sees this.
A piece of family history measured by time. A treasured memory, beautifully told of a period that changed the world. These distant days vividly brought to life as though it was yesterday. So many of their generation; such as Sgt Major Dale made the supreme sacrifice, they cast a long shadow in the annals of our heritage.
Thank you for your lovely comments John i will pass these onto Ted.
History comes alive with lessons for us all when the stories are told of the impact on ordinary people. ‘When princes meet the poor little men must tremble.’ (Tom Paxton)
Thank you for your comment I will let Ted know.
Have found these posts very moving. Your research is wonderful and helps bring to life important stories of the past.
Thank you for your nice comment. Keep looking we have many more interesting stories waiting to go on.
My Great Grandfather attacked with the 2nd Tyneside Scottish on the 1st July 1916..Wounded he was transported to Rouen where a lot of the hospitals were based but they couldn’t save him and he died on the 9th.
Thanks for your comment Graeme. Interesting (and sad) to read of your Great Grandfather’s death in the attack with the 2Bn TS on 1 July 1916. You will probably know that his battalion attacked slightly to the south of La Boisselle, and were followed by 3Bn TS. Casualties were horrific. (Excellent account of the history of all four battalions Tyneside Scottish in WW1, by John Sheen and Graham Stewart- published by Pen and Sword Books, Barnsley)
Just a minor correction. The 4 Tyneside Scottish Battalions (20-23 NF)left Alnwick Camp on August 1st 1915 and moved to Salisbury Plain. They left there for France in January 1916.
Thanks for the information I will forward it to the author of the story. Keep reading.
Thanks Mick for this helpful clarification. They did indeed leave Alnwick on 1 August 1915 for Salisbury Plain, and from there to France – the 1st Bn leaving Warminster Station on 10 January 1916 for Southampton and France. I have detailed their movement in England and in France on pages 48-53 my book written in 2005 entitled “Le Petit Champs de la Vigne – Richard Dale in France” (A reflective account of my grandfather’s experiences in the 1st Battalion, The Tyneside Scottish in World War One) . A copy is held by the Woodhorn Museum.
Wonderful article, at least 4 members of my family joined up with the T.S in 1914 including my great grandfather, the only family member to return safe in 1918 was my great grandfathers younger brother.
I wonder if various pipers played different tunes as the piped the walking T.S into battle on that day?, as this interesting newspaper column reads…
This was taken from The Yorkshire Evening Post, Weds, July 19, 1916 [p.5], and relates to Piper Boyd’s experience on the First of July 1916. Opening day of the battle of the Somme.
“The Piper in No-Man’s Land”
Piper A. Boyd, a Newcastle man, claims to be the man who played the Tyneside Scottish into action when the British advance commenced. In his letters to his mother Piper Boyd states: ” The only thing the matter with me is, I have a finger blown off, and will be home on leave before long. The only thing that is disabled up to now is the pipes. I got them blown away when I was playing the charge. You would see in the papers about a piper playing in No-Man’s Land–that is between our trenches and those of the Germans. It was I. I was playing “Tipperary”, and all the boys were singing and shouting. I could see them falling all around me. It was a lucky day for me that I was not blown away. I shall never forget it as long as I live. I have always been told I would go to hell, but I was in it on July 1st.’
———-
And also a 2 line clip from a newspaper says it all…
“The Brigadier tells of crossing the contested territory next day and passing through successive lines of dead Tyneside Scots laid out as regularly as though on parade…” 2nd July 1916
Thank you for your comments Andrew I will pass the information on to the author.
Thank you Andrew for your interesting comments! (I am sorry that I have not replied before now – but I had not checked the Archives website during the spring and summer. (Too many family commitments!)) Yes – in answer to your question, I believe the pipers from different Battalions of TS did play different tunes moving into battle on 1 July. As you know, each battalion had its own band, and of course, pipers – and I suspect they made choices of tune on this basis. I understand from John Sheen and Graham Stewart’s book “Tyneside Scottish” that 1Bn pipers played “The Haughs of Cromdale”. I also read in John Sheen’s book “Tyneside Irish” that one of the pipers, who had followed the Tyneside Scottish into Mash Valley, told his family after surviving the first day of the Somme saying that he had chosen to play “The Minstrel Boy” “because the words seemed the most appropriate that I could think of” (page 94)
There were McGarrigles who fought with 1st, 2nd and 4th Tyneside Scottish on that day – were these your own relatives?
Best wishes, and thanks for commenting. Ted
An informative account with interesting details of your Grandfather’s time with the 1st. Tyneside Scottish and his route with them to the Somme. I was wondering if the family photograph accompanied him on the morning of 1st July?
More than likely he knew my Great Uncle – Pvte. C.W. Ferguson (20/43 1st.TS) who was killed in the front-line by shellfire in June 1916.
Dear David, thank you for reading and contacting us regarding ‘My Grandfather’s Clock’ Blog. I have been in touch with the author and will e-mail you his reply. Thank you again for taking time to contact us.
I am would be interested to know if Ted had any further information on his grandfathers service in Newcastle City Police?
Hello, your question has been passed to the member of staff who wrote the blog.
Hello, I am sorry but Ted said that he has no further information.