My Grandfather’s Clock

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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.

clock

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.

Richard Dale 3

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.

Richard Dale 2

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.

Richard Dale

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 Week in World War One, 20th February 1915

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Berwick Advertiser title 1915

 

BERWICK ADVERTISER, 19 FEBRUARY 1915

CHATTON

Patriotic Meeting,-The Rev W. Thorp, M.A., gave a lantern lecture on “Early Stages of the Great War,” in the course of which about seven dozen slides were used to illustrate the various aspects of the conflict. Mr J.R. Marshall, of Chatton Park, the chairman, referred to the suitability of the financial object of the meeting, namely; the helping of Belgian refugees, who will benefit to the extent of £4 as a result.  A feature of the meeting was the presence of four Belgian soldiers at present being cared for in their convalescence at Hetton House by Mrs L.H. Leather-Culley, who along with some of her Red Cross nurses, accompanied them.

LOCAL NEWS

Vessels Ashore.-About 5 a.m. on Tuesday morning the steamship “C.H.R. Christesen” of Copenhagen, 911 tons, and built in Flensburg in 1903, which was bound from Aarkuus for New York, via the Tyne, in ballast, ran ashore on the Longstone Point. The vessel was badly holed and is likely to become a total wreck.

The Holy Island lifeboat was launched at 6.15 a.m. to assist in landing the crew of nineteen on the Longstone. The crew were brought to the mainland by the Seahouses lifeboat and Berwick Harbour tug.

Bewick advertiser 19th feb 1915 shopkeepers advert
Recruiting advert from the Berwick Advertiser February 19th 1915

 

TWEED SALMON FISHING SEASON OPENS

Salmon fishing commenced on the Tweed on Monday morning, but the opening was not particularly bright, and only a few fish were caught. In the Norham district the opening was decidedly disappointing. Salmon sold on Monday at 2s per lb, this being the same as on the opening day last year. The fishing at the river mouth stations this year will be rather handicapped owing to the military authorities prohibiting fishing at these stations at night.

There has been no improvement in the fishing since Monday. On Thursday morning there was a spate in the river and in consequence of this the stations in the lower reaches were not working. Salmon was sold on Thursday at 1s 9d per lb. against 2s on the corresponding day last year.

ITEMS OF INTEREST

A parcel of cigarettes sent by the household servants at Wooperton (through Mr R. F. Henderson, Wooler), has been acknowledged by the “C” Squadron Northumberland Hussars Yeomanry, and were much appreciated.

The 7th Welsh Territorials, who have been stationed at Berwick on coast defence since August, are preparing to leave the town for another station in the south. The men have become very popular during their stay in the town and their vocalists have taken a prominent part in many local concerts.

An armoured motor car attached to the Highland Light Infantry, stopped in Berwick on Wednesday evening for a short time on its way north. This is the first armoured car to pass through Berwick, and it attracted a good deal of attention.

 

Berwick Advertiser 1915 Feb 19th Pg2 martins stationary
Advert for Martin’s stationary shop, from the Berwick Advertiser 19th February 1915

A MARTIAL DISTINCTION TO AN OLD CONTRIBUTOR OF THE “ADVERTISER”

Thomas Burns, F.R.S.I., who has been a highly appreciated contributor to our columns for many years, and much of whose poetry has been published in book form, has just received a special letter of thanks from Lord Kitchener’s, from the War Office, London, for his poem entitled “The March of Kitchener’s Army,” which appeared in the “Advertiser” on the 5th of the present month.

During recent years there have been many honours showered upon our author in recognition of his labours in the sphere of poetry, and happily amongst them, compliments from sovereigns, scientists, philosophers, divines, and fellow poets, and other literateurs of the highest distinction.

But a recognition by, and a special letter of thanks from the superman of the moment, and such a moment, pregnant as it is with world wide destinies, which has enveloped and may constitute new boundaries, and determine vastly different conditions of life throughout the whole civilised world: such an honour is well fitted to bring a glow of pride that will kindle a new flame of courage in the poet’s heart though the fact remains, that since the beginning of time, the poet and the warrior have ever fought shoulder to shoulder on the same plane for the uplifting of humanity and for the light and liberty of the race.

Harris Lines of Arrested Growth

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The poor living conditions that many of the children at Stannington Sanatorium came from, outlined in our last post, can often leave physical markers on the skeleton, namely Harris Lines.

Harris Lines are an indication of periods of arrested growth whilst the body is still growing during childhood and can be displayed as opaque, transverse lines on long bones. These can be identified through radiographic imaging or physically on skeletal remains.

The appearance of these lines is considered to show periods in an individual’s childhood when the body comes under stress, which is usually attributed to malnutrition or significant childhood disease. In order for the individual to acquire Harris Lines, they have to have recovered from the period of stress, prolonged malnutrition or disease would not result in their appearance.

HOSP-STAN-07-01-02-1625-06
HOSP-STAN-07-01-02-1625-06

Numerous patients from Stannington Sanatorium demonstrate Harris Lines in their radiographs. One such example is seen above, patient 148/1948. Thi image was taken in November 1948, approximately 10 months after initial diagnosis of tuberculosis was made. On this patient Harris Lines are identifiable on both proximal and, to a greater degree, distal tibiae, as a brighter, opaque line close to the epiphysis.

This individual was admitted to the sanatorium aged 2 with a Primary Complex, primary infection in the mid zone of the right lung. Their medical history indicates that their father had been diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis and subsequently died. The family, consisting of mother, father and two children were living in one room for the majority of the individual’s life, only moving to a two roomed house around the time of their admission to Stannington and on admittance to the sanatorium the child was described in the medical notes as being ‘thin’ and ‘ pale’.

Social conditions such as these would have attributed to the premise of the child undergoing one or more periods of stress during growth and alongside the description of the individual being ‘thin’, malnutrition is possible. A poor appetite or anorexia is often noted in the medical notes of patients as being symptomatic of tuberculosis, again suggesting possible malnutrition. However, the effects of the tuberculosis infection alone would have put the body under due stress and may, therefore, have contributed to the presence of Harris Lines. Both malnutrition and acute tuberculous infection are potential causes of the Harris Lines, alone and in conjunction with one another, and demonstrate the secondary effects that disease and social conditions can have on an individual’s body.

This patient was removed against medical advice approximately one month after admittance, only to be re-admitted seven months later with tuberculosis of the cervical vertebrae. They were eventually discharged in December 1950, two years later, but continued to be seen as an out-patient. No further treatment was required at Stannington Sanatorium.

 

For more radiographic images, view the ‘Radiographs from Stannington’ on Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/99322319@N07/sets/72157648833066476/

Sources

Roberts, C and Manchester, K (2006). Archaeology of Disease (3rd Edition). Cornell University Press.

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