Corporal Michael Manley 26th Tyneside Irish
" Well i wasn't religious, even though i came from a Catholic family. It was when i saw the lads who normally avoided religious things, look serious and go to Mass, that i realised i might not come through "
Lew Shaughnessy of the 27th Battalion Tyneside Irish wrote " I remember the ladder being placed against the trench wall and the Corporal standing with his foot on the bottom rung. Next thing i remember was being hit by muck and stones from a shell burst as i climbed the ladder " Out of the trenches there was some confusion as the men sorted themselves into columns of platoons, as laid down in the battle plan. Lew Shaughnessy again wrote
" On top i looked for the others, there they were, just standing, not going forward. They were dressing as they would on parade. I couldn't see our officer, but someone must have given the command and off we went "
Some accounts tell of the big drum from the pipes and drums being centrally placed and beating as the men slowly advanced. A Pioneer battalion watched in amazement as the Tyneside Irish walked slowly formed up and began their walk towards the front line. It was like a scene from battlefields nearly a hundred years before " As they moved forward, the sun gradually shone through the mist and the bayonets glinted. Then they commenced to have losses, but as each man fell, the men behind increased speed and the pattern was maintained. No man was allowed to stop to assist casualties and the march continued to the beat of a single big drum, centrally placed " An Irish piper found himself compelled to leap out of the trench at the signal to advance, and play his company over the parapet into action. He marched ahead through a storm of bullets which were wounding or killing his comrades all around him, until he himself fell among them wounded. After the war one piper told his family of how as he went over; " I played the Minstrel Boy, because the words seemed the most appropriate that i could think of " As the Brigade came over the top of the Tara-Unsa ridge, the Pioneers of the 18/Northumberland Fusiliers ( who were also manning the front line alongside the Tyneside Scottish ) were watching from the edge of Becourt Wood. Their Battalion history noted the advance. " The mines went off and a few minutes later the 103rd Brigade began coming over the hill in beautiful regular lines, dressing and intervals maintained as well as on a ceremonial parade. Everyone felt proud of that lot of Tynesiders. "
Men were falling, wounded and dying men littered the battlefield and those still standing obeyed orders and filled up the blank files until hit themselves. It must have been an awful experience to see friends, who for months had shared the laughter and banter of comrades and were now lying motionless, or screaming in agony as enemy machine gun fire ripped into their ranks. The lazy walk with walking sticks and pipes towards the enemy lines had now become a nighmare. Lieutenant J.A Hatley wrote
" On top i looked for the others, there they were, just standing, not going forward. They were dressing as they would on parade. I couldn't see our officer, but someone must have given the command and off we went "
Some accounts tell of the big drum from the pipes and drums being centrally placed and beating as the men slowly advanced. A Pioneer battalion watched in amazement as the Tyneside Irish walked slowly formed up and began their walk towards the front line. It was like a scene from battlefields nearly a hundred years before " As they moved forward, the sun gradually shone through the mist and the bayonets glinted. Then they commenced to have losses, but as each man fell, the men behind increased speed and the pattern was maintained. No man was allowed to stop to assist casualties and the march continued to the beat of a single big drum, centrally placed " An Irish piper found himself compelled to leap out of the trench at the signal to advance, and play his company over the parapet into action. He marched ahead through a storm of bullets which were wounding or killing his comrades all around him, until he himself fell among them wounded. After the war one piper told his family of how as he went over; " I played the Minstrel Boy, because the words seemed the most appropriate that i could think of " As the Brigade came over the top of the Tara-Unsa ridge, the Pioneers of the 18/Northumberland Fusiliers ( who were also manning the front line alongside the Tyneside Scottish ) were watching from the edge of Becourt Wood. Their Battalion history noted the advance. " The mines went off and a few minutes later the 103rd Brigade began coming over the hill in beautiful regular lines, dressing and intervals maintained as well as on a ceremonial parade. Everyone felt proud of that lot of Tynesiders. "
Men were falling, wounded and dying men littered the battlefield and those still standing obeyed orders and filled up the blank files until hit themselves. It must have been an awful experience to see friends, who for months had shared the laughter and banter of comrades and were now lying motionless, or screaming in agony as enemy machine gun fire ripped into their ranks. The lazy walk with walking sticks and pipes towards the enemy lines had now become a nighmare. Lieutenant J.A Hatley wrote
What a glorious sight it was for us to see the men w'ed trained going forward as steadily as human beings possibly could, and they never kept a better line on manoeuvres than they did that day. I have met officers of the Machine Gun Corps and Royal Engineers who said it was simply thrilling to see those
" Tyneside Irish chaps " as they were referred to, coming through and past
the other troops as-per the programme.
" Tyneside Irish chaps " as they were referred to, coming through and past
the other troops as-per the programme.
The so called ' programme ' had no place on a modern battlefield, and the fight was being taken to the enemy as if it was a game on the playing fields of Eton. It was far better to die in order as if in the Brigade of Guards during the Crimean War, than to take cover and use common sense. It was the old school and the old world entering a modern world where machine gun fire and artillery could destroy Brigades in a matter of minutes and the Tyneside Irish were finding this out with terrible casualties as one soldier describes in his letter
We had a lot of open country to traverse before we reached our own front linebut getting there, somewhat reduced in numbers we reorganised our line. All the while the German machine guns and artillery unmercifully fired
away. I was plodding away when i looked to the side and saw men go down as if looking for something - maybe fuse caps or souveniers. I wanted to find
out what they were looking for, it didn't occur to me that they were men in their death agonies kicking and scraming.
away. I was plodding away when i looked to the side and saw men go down as if looking for something - maybe fuse caps or souveniers. I wanted to find
out what they were looking for, it didn't occur to me that they were men in their death agonies kicking and scraming.
This very famous picture actually shows the Tyneside Irish advancing in line towards the enemy positions. You can almost feel and see the summer haze. It is a moment frozen in time of a gallant brigade that is about to be shot down. The men can clearly be seen walking, some with their rifles slung over their shoulders. The white smoke of an artillery shell exploding can also be seen. Also noticable is the long summer grass which makes the scene seem unreal, and the helmets of other soldiers in the trench waiting to go over the top in the next wave..
The German machine gunners must have been amazed at the sight of this mass of men slowly decending down the slopes of the Tara-Unsa line. Furiously they fired belt after belt of bullets into this fantastic target. The first to be extinguished were the two left-hand battalions, the 2nd and 3rd Tyneside Irish ( 24th and 26th Battalions )
Very few of these men reached the German front line, but the small number that did incredibly pushed on as Lance Corporal Lance Corporal John Higgins of the 25th Battalion describes:
Very few of these men reached the German front line, but the small number that did incredibly pushed on as Lance Corporal Lance Corporal John Higgins of the 25th Battalion describes:
Again we moved forward. Here for some reason or other the wire was not cut and many poor men never got through, so fierce was the enemy's fire. Getting tangled therein, they perished. It was a little beyond this point your humble servant was badly fouled, my right leg taken from under me. Of course my part in the operation ended then. From the begining until i got hit everybody did great
Lance Corporal Michael Manley of the 26th Battalion wrote:
We tried to find a safe place to cross, but could'nt find one. We had to use the bodies of out mates as a bridge to keep going.
Sergeant J Galloway of the 26th Battalion would write:
I could see away on my left and right long lines of men. Then i heard the
" Patter Patter " of machine guns in the distance. By the time i'd gone another ten yards there seemed to be only a few men left around me; by the time i had gone twenty yards i seemed to be on my own. Then i was hit myself.
" Patter Patter " of machine guns in the distance. By the time i'd gone another ten yards there seemed to be only a few men left around me; by the time i had gone twenty yards i seemed to be on my own. Then i was hit myself.
