Tyneside Irish Brigade


The Tyneside Irish Brigade was an infantry brigade in the British Army, raised in 1914 after the outbreak of the First World War. It was made up of volunteers, largely men of Irish ancestory from around the North East, who joined up as part of the national recruitment campaign fronted by Lord Kitchener.

"The first notice giving indication of the raising of a Battalion from the tyneside Irish Community came in a letter to the editor of the Newcastle Evening Chronicle on Saturday 12th September 1914  informing of  a meeting on Sunday 13th September in the Collingwood Hall, Irish National Club Clayton St, Newcastle upon Tyne, and every representative Irishman on tyneside regardless of politics or religion was asked to  consider it his duty to attend. Early recruits were given a piece of green cloth to wear as an armband, to denote that they had volunteered for the Irish Battalion. in the same way, the Newcastle Commercials wore a red lanyard and the Tyneside Scottish a Royal Stewart armband." (Tyneside Irish Brigade Association)

It was officially numbered the 103rd (Tyneside Irish) Brigade, and contained four 'Pals' Battalions which went on to become part of the Northumberland Fusiliers:

  • 24th Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers (1st Tyneside Irish)
  • 25th Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers (2nd Tyneside Irish)
  • 26th Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers (3rd Tyneside Irish)
  • 27th Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers (4th Tyneside Irish)
  • 30th (Reserve) Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers (Tyneside Irish)
  • 34th (Reserve) Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers (Tyneside Irish)

Over 5,000 men from the North East served in the Tyneside Irish Brigade. The Tyneside Irish made up a large part of the 34th Division, which was deployed in France in January 1916 and took part in the Battle of the Somme, suffering huge numbers of casualties.

The Tyneside Irish Brigade was a British First World War infantry brigade of Kitchener's Army, raised in 1914. Officially numbered the 103rd (Tyneside Irish) Brigade, it contained four Pals battalions from Newcastle upon Tyne, largely made up of men of Irish extraction. (Another Newcastle brigade — the 102nd (Tyneside Scottish) — contained Tynesiders with Scottish connections).

History

The brigade's four battalions were known as the 1st to 4th Tyneside Irish. When taken over by the British Army, these became battalions of the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers:

  • 24th Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers (1st Tyneside Irish)
  • 25th Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers (2nd Tyneside Irish)
  • 26th Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers (3rd Tyneside Irish)
  • 27th Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers (4th Tyneside Irish)

The reserve battalions were the 30th and 34th (Reserve) Battalions, Northumberland Fusiliers (Tyneside Irish).

Along with the 101st and 102nd Brigades, the Tyneside Irish made up the 34th Division which arrived in France in January 1916 and first saw action in the Battle of the Somme that year. On the first day on the Somme, the 34th Division attacked astride the Albert-Bapaume road at La Boisselle. The brigade's task was to follow up the main attack by the 101st and 102nd Brigades and advance on a line from Pozières to Contalmaison.

Advancing at the same time as the main attack, the brigade started from the reserve trenches on the Tara-Usna Line. The four battalions, marching in extended line (from left to right; the 2nd, 3rd, 1st and 4th), advanced down into Avoca Valley and then up the other side to the British front-line trench. From there they had to cross no man's land, pass through the German front-line and advance to their objectives. However, the main attack was an almost complete failure and the Tyneside Irish were utterly exposed to the machine guns of the German defences. The brigade suffered heavy casualties even before its battalions reached the British front-line. Opposite La Boisselle the brigade was halted but on the right, elements of the 1st and 4th battalions were able to advance up 'Sausage Valley' and pass through the German front-line. Two small parties met up behind the German support trench and pushed on towards their objective of Contalmaison. Their effort was in vain as they were eventually killed or captured.

The 1st battalion suffered 620 casualties on 1 July (18 officers and 602 other ranks), its commander, Lieutenant Colonel L.M. Howard, was among the dead. The 4th battalion suffered 539 casualties (20 officers and 519 other ranks). While the commanders of the 2nd and 3rd battalions were both wounded, as was the Brigade commander, Brigadier General N.J.G. Cameron.

The brigade's losses on 1 July were so severe that on the 6th, it, along with the 102nd (Tyneside Scottish) Brigade, was transferred to the 37th Division, swapping with the 112th Brigade. The two brigades returned to the 34th Division on 22 August.

In February 1918 the 1st, 3rd and 4th Tyneside Irish battalions were disbanded and the remaining battalion, the 2nd, was transferred to the 116th Brigade of the 39th Division. From then on the Tyneside Irish Brigade ceased to exist and the brigade was simply the 103rd Brigade.

Text from Wikipedia, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License (accessed: 29/03/2019).
Visit the page: 103rd (Tyneside Irish) Brigade for references and further details. You can contribute to this article on Wikipedia.
from Flickr (flickr)
Image from page 104 of "Great Irishmen in war and politics" (1920)

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from Flickr (flickr)
Image from page 137 of "Great Irishmen in war and politics" (1920)

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
First World War
  Co-Curate Page
First World War
- The 11th of November 2018 marked the 100th anniversary of the singing of the Armistice between the Allies and Germany, bringing an end to the First World War. The 4th …
from Flickr (flickr)
Tyneside Irish Brigade Art (TIC.OB.001)

Pinned by Graham Webster
from Flickr (flickr)
Tyneside Irish Brigade Art (TIC.OB.002)

Pinned by Graham Webster
from Flickr (flickr)
Tyneside Irish Brigade Art (TIC.OB.003)

Pinned by Graham Webster
from Flickr (flickr)
Tyneside Irish Brigade Art (TIC.OB.004)

Pinned by Graham Webster
from http://www.ciroca.org.uk/firs…
First World War - Tyneside Irish.
- "The Tyneside Irish, as part of the Northumberland Fusiliers, formed the four battalions of 103rd Brigade, 34th Division.....over 2,000 men from the Tyneside Irish died during the First World War, …

Added by
Simon Cotterill
from IllustratedChronicles (flickr)
JJ Armstrong - Tyneside Irish - Blaydon

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from IllustratedChronicles (flickr)
Michael Gardener - Tyneside Irish - Blaydon

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from IllustratedChronicles (flickr)
JW Scott - Tyneside Irish - Blaydon

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from IllustratedChronicles (flickr)
James Haslam - Tyneside Irish - Blaydon

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from IllustratedChronicles (flickr)
FF Duncan - Tyneside Irish Brigade Chaplain

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from IllustratedChronicles (flickr)
James Jeffries - Tyneside Irish - Bombay

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from IllustratedChronicles (flickr)
W Smith - Tyneside Irish - Blaydon

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from IllustratedChronicles (flickr)
Father G McBrearty - Tyneside Irish Chaplain

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from IllustratedChronicles (flickr)
JA King - Tyneside Irish - Annitsford

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from IllustratedChronicles (flickr)
William Hurst - Tyneside Scottish - Annitsford

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from IllustratedChronicles (flickr)
C Neal - Tyneside Irish - Washington

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from IllustratedChronicles (flickr)
John McNulty - Tyneside Irish - Annitsford

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from IllustratedChronicles (flickr)
Patrick King - Tyneside Irish - Annitsford

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from IllustratedChronicles (flickr)
J Crowther - Tyneside Irish - Elswick

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from IllustratedChronicles (flickr)
H Seymour - Tyneside Irish - Newburn

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from IllustratedChronicles (flickr)
Charles Gettings - Tyneside Irish - Dunston

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from IllustratedChronicles (flickr)
James Gettings - Tyneside Irish - Dunston

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from IllustratedChronicles (flickr)
John Gettings - Tyneside Irish - Dunston

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from IllustratedChronicles (flickr)
Thomas Lawson - Tyneside Irish

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from IllustratedChronicles (flickr)
William Howard - Tyneside Irish - Leadgate

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from IllustratedChronicles (flickr)
John Kelly - Tyneside Irish - Leadgate

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from IllustratedChronicles (flickr)
George Richardson - Tyneside Irish - Winlaton

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from IllustratedChronicles (flickr)
Joanathan Richardson - Tyneside Irish - Winlaton

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from IllustratedChronicles (flickr)
Tom Richardson - Tyneside Irish - Winlaton

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from IllustratedChronicles (flickr)
JJ Armstrong - Tyneside Irish - Blaydon

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from IllustratedChronicles (flickr)
William Inglis (Ingles) - Tyneside Irish - Bleach Green

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from IllustratedChronicles (flickr)
Lce-Corpl Dyson - Tyneside Irish - Washington

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from IllustratedChronicles (flickr)
Pte Park - Tyneside Irish - Washington

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from IllustratedChronicles (flickr)
G Hall - Tyneside Irish - Washington

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from IllustratedChronicles (flickr)
T Paxton - Tyneside Irish - Washington

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from IllustratedChronicles (flickr)
W Wood - Tyneside Irish - Washington

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from IllustratedChronicles (flickr)
1915-07-08e 01

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from IllustratedChronicles (flickr)
1916-03-08 (Mar) B 08

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from Flickr (flickr)
Private George Leonard Ingram, 20 Sep 1915 ( see link to project blog below)

Pinned by Peter Smith
from https://www.tynesideirishbrig…
Tyneside Irish Brigade Association
- "The Tyneside Irish Brigade Association has been set up to Remember the Men of 24th, 25th, 26th and 27th (service) Battalions of Northumberland Fusiliers over 5,000 men from the region …

Added by
Simon Cotterill
from https://www.tynesideirishbrig…
Recruitment Poster - Tyneside Irish Brigade

Added by
Simon Cotterill
from https://commons.wikimedia.org…
Tyneside Irish Brigade advancing 1 July 1916
- "A support company of the Tyneside Irish Brigade advancing from the Tara-Usna Line opposite La Boisselle on 1 July, 1916, the first day on the Somme. Author : Photo taken …

Added by
Simon Cotterill
Northumberland Fusiliers
  Co-Curate Page
Northumberland Fusiliers
- Overview About the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers   The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers was an infantry regiment of the British Army. Originally raised in 1674 as the 5th Regiment of Foot, it …
from Flickr (flickr)
Tyneside Irish Flag Day, 18 March, 1916

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from Youtube (youtube)
DEFENCE: Tyneside Irish in training (1916)

Pinned by Simon Cotterill

Comments

Add a comment or share a memory.

Login to add a comment. Sign-up if you don't already have an account.

ABOUT US

Co-Curate is a project which brings together online collections, museums, universities, schools and community groups to make and re-make stories and images from North East England and Cumbria. Co-Curate is a trans-disciplinary project that will open up 'official' museum and 'un-officia'l co-created community-based collections and archives through innovative collaborative approaches using social media and open archives/data.

LATEST SHARED RESOURCES