The Tyneside Irish Brigade, made up of Irish immigrants in Newcastle, became one of the most colorful, and tragic, units in the British Army of World War I.

TYNESIDE IRISH: A History of the Tyneside Irish Brigade Raised in the Northeast in World War One

History

Sheen, John

Military

Pen_and_Sword

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. Illustrated

Tyneside Scottish

STEWART, Graham

Americas

Pen and Sword Military

A history of four battalions of the Durham Light Infantry raised in the Country during the First World War.  The 18th (Pals) were the first troops of Kitchener's new army to come under fire, when the Germans bombarded Hartlepool in December 1914.  The 19th were raised as Bantams and the 20th (Wearside) were raised by the Sunderland Recruiting Committee.  The 22nd, the last raised became a pioneer Battalion but fought as infantry through much of 1918.  The book covers raising, training and active service of the Battalions.  The 18th were in action on 1 July 1916 when they supported the Leeds and Bradford Pals.  After fighting at Messines in June 1917 the 20th went to the Italian front.  After losing its Bantams in 1917, the 19th Battalion fought on and distinguished itself in the advance in Flanders in the latter months of 1918.  The 22nd Battalion had such a hard time in March and April 1918 that it was rebuilt and again practically wiped out before being disbanded in June 1918.

Durham Pals: 18th, 19th, 20th and 22nd Battalions of the Durham Light Infantry in the Great War

The 20th (service) Battalion, The Durham Light Infantry (Wearside), were raised by local comittee in August 1915 becoming part of Kitcener's New Army. Early enlistments were sent to a tented camp in Wensleydale before the Battalion moved to Barnard Castle in Co. Durham where it began serious training. In due course the Battalion was allocated to the 41st Division, based in Aldershot. Being the only battalion in the division with a high proportion of miners it became well knownfor its digging ability which was to stand it in good stead in the years ahead. They moved to France in May 1916 and initially spent much of their time in the trenches around Armentieres. They were moved to the Somme front at the end of August and were in reserve during the successful assault alongside the tanks at Flers. In late October they moved north to Ypres where they stayed until June 1917 when they were part of the leading wave during the costly Battle of Messines. They went on to distinguish themselves in action at the Menin Road and Polygon Wood. After being sent to the Italian Front fro a short relatively peaceful spell they were rushed back to France in March 1918 to help stem the GErman Spring Offensive. They fought on until the end of the war and then joined the Army of Occupation in Cologne. When the order of battle was changed the Battalion became the Divisional Pioneers of the Independent Division and was the last service battalion of the regiment to disband. As one of four locally raised Battalions of the Durham Light Infantry, the 20th Wearside Battalion can be proud of their fighting record as this well researched and superbly illustrated book reveals. AUTHOR: John Sheen has always been a Durham City man. In 1968 he enlisted in D (Durham) Company, Light Infantry (Volunteers) and the following year he joined the Regular Army (REME) and over the next 23 years he served in Germany, Canada, Northern Ireland, Cyprus, France, Denmark, Holland and Belgium. On retiring he returned to Durham where he now lives and works. His Great-Grandfather, John Connolly, served with the 24th Northumberland Fusiliers (1st Tyneside Irish) and research into this led to his writing Tyneside Irish. He followed this with Tyneside Scottish, written with Graham Stewart. He writes for historical magazines. b/w illustrations throughout

WEARSIDE BATTALION PALS: The 20th (Service) Battalion, The Durham Light Infantry

In March 1918 the German Army launched a series of offensives that brought them very close to winning the war. Military photographers followed their advance and took many photographs of the operations as they progressed. This is the war seen from the German perspective, British and French soldiers lie dead on the battlefield, and Allied prisoners are escorted to the rear, as the German Artillery pound away covering the advance of the 'Feldgrau'. These photographs are seldom seen in books dealing with the allied point of view. Many scarce and rare photographs show the carnage of battle throughout March, April and May 1918. The author has also included group photographs of some of the units involved, as well as memorial cards of individuals who fell or died of wounds. This book will be a useful reference to anyone with an interest in the German Army during the First World War.

1918 The German Offensives (Images of War)

The ‘Pals” battalions were a phenomenon of the Great War, never repeated since. Under Lord Derby’s scheme, and in response to Kitchener’s famous call for a million volunteers, local communities raised (and initially often paid for) entire battalions for service on the Western Front. Their experience was all too frequently tragic, as men who had known each other all their lives, had worked, volunteered, and trained together, and had shipped to France together, encountered the first full fury of modern battle on the Somme in July 1916. Many of the Pals battalions would not long survive that first brutal baptism, but their spirit and fighting qualities have gone down into history - these were, truly, the cream of Britain’s young men, and every single one of them was a volunteer. This is a comprehensive history of the Tyneside Irish Brigade raised in the North East. It covers their raising, training and active service as well as the aftermath of the war and how it effected the local community. Included is an invaluable nominal roll which will appeal to local, family and military enthusiasts alike.

Tyneside Irish: 24th, 25th, 26th and 27th (Service) Battalions of Northumberland Fusiliers

Europe

The 2nd Battalion of the Durham Light Infantry was one of only two battalions of the regiment that did not have its history published in some form after the Great War, the other was the 1/7th (Territorial) Battalion. As the regular Home Service battalion of the regiment it was brought up to strength with Regular Reservists and men from the Special Reserve and went out to France in September 1914, where it fought at the Battle of the Aisne, before moving north to Flanders. The battalion was in action immediately that war was declared on 4th August 1914, when a detachment based at South Shields boarded a German Steamer on the River Tyne and took the crew prisoner and marched them through the town to the Police Station.The book includes material from unpublished letters and diaries of both officers and men and has lots of photographs from the Regimental Archives, a number of which show named officers and men in the trenches around Armentierres in 1915. Also included is a roll of all the officers that served with the battalion with date of joining and leaving the battalion. For the other ranks the original 1914 Star men are included in a roll that includes reinforcements that joined up to 1 November 1914. This roll has been crossed referenced against the South Africa Rolls to show those who had seen service in that campaign also. There is also a list of those that received gallantry awards. This must be one of the first histories of a regular battalion that fought in France during the Great War, published since the 1920s.

Steel of the DLI (2nd Bn 1914/18)

Biographies & Memoirs

Leaders & Notable People

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