Tyneside Scottish is an honour title which has been held by a variety of British Army units since 1914. The Regiments which have held the title are the

Northumberland Fusiliers The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers was an infantry regiment of the British Army. Raised in 1674 as one of three 'English' units in the Dutch Anglo-Scots Brigade, it accompanied William III to England in the November 1688 Glorious Revolution ...

Durham Light Infantry The Durham Light Infantry (DLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1968. It was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 68th (Durham) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry) and t ...

Black Watch The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS) is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The regiment was created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881, when the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regime ...

and

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

. The Tyneside Scottish title is currently maintained by 204 (Tyneside Scottish) Battery Royal Artillery.

History

First World War

The origins of the Tyneside Scottish are in the Kitchener's Army and the call to arms in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. The Recruitment to the British Army during the First World War saw the raising of the

Pals battalion The Pals battalions of World War I were specially constituted battalions of the British Army comprising men who had enlisted together in local recruiting drives, with the promise that they would be able to serve alongside their friends, neighbour ...

. The Tyneside Scottish Committee was formed and raised four service Battalions of the

. These were the 20th (Service) Battalion (1st Tyneside Scottish), 21st (Service) Battalion (2nd Tyneside Scottish), 22nd (Service) Battalion (3rd Tyneside Scottish) and 23rd (Service) Battalion (4th Tyneside Scottish). They formed the 102nd (Tyneside Scottish) Brigade, part of the 34th Division. The 29th (Reserve) Battalion and the 33rd (Reserve) Battalion were formed from the depot companies of the Tyneside Scottish battalions. The Brigade's first major action was the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme (French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place be ...

where it sustained a large number of casualties. The Brigade was subsequently brought up to strength and served at Armentiers, Battle of Arras, and the final battles of 1918. The Brigade was disbanded in 1918.

Second World War

In March 1939 the TA expanded and the 12th (Tyneside Scottish) Battalion, the Durham Light Infantry was authorised to be raised as the Tyneside Scottish. In February 1940 the Battalion secured affiliation with a Scottish unit and became the 1st Battalion Tyneside Scottish, Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment). The Battalion deployed to France as part of as part of the British Expeditionary Force and were part of the

Dunkirk evacuation The Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo and also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, or just Dunkirk, was the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allies of World War II, Allied soldiers during the World War II, Second World War from the bea ...

. Following a period of Home Defence, 1st Tyneside Scottish joined the

49th (West Riding) Division The 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army. The division fought in the First World War in the trenches of the Western Front, in the fields of France and Flanders. During the Second World War, the divis ...

and were sent to

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...

. Returning to England in 1942 another period of Home Defence preceded the

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

in 1944. The Battalion were engaged in Operation Martlet gaining the Battle Honour "Defence of Rauray". Following the Battle and subsequent actions in the Caen area, the Battalion was reduced to cadre strength and subsequently placed in suspended animation.

Post-war

In January 1947 on the re-constitution of the Territorial Army, the honour title passed to the

. Initially the title was held by 670th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, RA (Tyneside Scottish), before passing to a Battery, 439th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, RA (based in

Tynemouth Tynemouth () is a coastal town in the metropolitan borough of North Tyneside, North East England. It is located on the north side of the mouth of the River Tyne, hence its name. It is 8 mi (13 km) east-northeast of Newcastle upon Tyn ...

) in March 1955. 439th Light Air Defence Regiment was one of four regiments that amalgamated to form

101st (Northumbrian) Regiment Royal Artillery 101 (Northumbrian) Medium Regiment Royal Artillery is part of the Army Reserve and has sub units throughout the north east as well as one sub unit in Leeds, West Yorkshire. It is equipped with M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS). History ...

in 1967. In 1974, the Tyneside Scottish title was adopted by 204 (Tyneside Scottish) Battery Royal Artillery, part of 101st (Northumbrian) Regiment Royal Artillery.

Tyneside Scottish Memorials

Tyneside Scottish Brigade The memorial to the Tyneside Scottish Brigade is situated at La Boiselle, Somme where the Brigade sustained heavy casilaties on first day of the Somme. The memorial, in the form of a seat also commemorates the losses of the Tyneside Irish. The memorial was unveiled in 1920 by

Marshal Foch Ferdinand Foch ( , ; 2 October 1851 – 20 March 1929) was a French general and military theorist who served as the Supreme Allied Commander during the First World War. An aggressive, even reckless commander at the First Marne, Flanders and Art ...

.Tyneside Scottish Memorial La Boislelle
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References

Sources

External links

Tyneside Scottish AssociationTyneside Scottish BlogTyneside Scottish Brigade
Infantry brigades of the British Army in World War I Pals battalions Military units and formations of the British Army in World War II Scottish regiments