AT DAWN on July 1, 1916 - alongside countless thousands of others — the Tyneside Scottish Brigade went over the top at the Battle of the Somme. By the end of that terrible day, 940 of its men had been killed and 1,600 wounded - nearly 80 per cent of the four battalions.

Three weeks after D-Day, the Allies were still desperately trying to force a breakout from Normandy. Field Marshall Montgomery launched Operation Epsom, an attack designed to cross the River Odon and take the area south of Caen, the pivotal point in the breakout strategy.

To protect the right flank of Epsom, Operation Martlet was initiated a day earlier, on June 25, to secure the high ground around Rauray.

Despite this, little progress was made on the Epsom front until, against all odds, the 2nd Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders took the bridge over the Odon at Tourmauville.

THE German barrage was at its height to soften up the defenders before the first assault. At 0640, C Company was under attack. The Germans were advancing rapidly in groups of five Panzers with supporting infantry. Machine guns and snipers raked the slit trenches at close quarters. C Company took heavy machine gun casualties, but hung on as the Panzers rolled on towards B Company.

By 0655 the Tyneside Scots were frantically firing non-stop to withstand the onslaught.

Stretcher bearer DW Jarvis: ‘Jerry opened fire with everything he had. I watched the tanks coming through, followed by the infantry.’

AFTER barely 20 minutes, the frontline troops had been severely mauled, but the Germans had not managed to achieve their primary objective of bursting through the British front. The hard-pressed B Company put up a spirited fight. Sergeant David Watson’s six-pounder gun detachment stopped the Panzers in their tracks, knocking out at least five and, by some accounts, ten.

The initial attack had been blunted, although C Company was dangerously short of men. A Company was also in need of urgent assistance.

Sgt D Watson: ‘Someone shouted "Tanks" and everyone got to their positions. My Bren gunner was severely wounded, but we kept on firing at the tanks. Then my aimer was struck in the face and blinded. I took on his job and with the speed that the loader kept pushing the shells in, we managed to take a few of the tanks - but we were running short of ammunition. Then I was hit In the leg and my loader on the hand. We were bleeding but just carried on firing until we, had no ammunition left. As we were both wounded, we had nothing else to do but leave the gun.’

Sgt Watson was later awarded the Military Medal.

DESPITE the sterling work by the anti-tank guns, the outer defences had been penetrated and Panzers were threatening to enter Rauray.

By 0822, C Company’s position was looking pretty hopeless, with some men already taken prisoner. The order was given to fall back and make a stand on the southern edge of the village. B Company had become disjointed, but Captain HP Calderwood was still sending radio messages back to direct the British armour and artillery fire. The scattered sections of A Company were drifting towards the KOSB on their left.

Lt SF McLaren: ‘All the Jocks I could see were banging away, but the enemy tanks were more or less on our position and I had no contact with Company HQ.

PANZERS had infiltrated deep into the territory defended by the Tyneside Scottish. What was left of B Company had been completely pinned down by machine gun fire and could only wait and hope for reinforcements. In reserve, D Company made ready for action.

Pte (Acting Cpl) J W Barnes: ‘Word was passed on that they had smashed up B Company with tanks and infantry, had partially overrun A Company ‘s perimeter and were heading our way.’

WITH the first phase of the battle over, the Durham Light Infantry’s situation was reasonably under control to the west, but the state of affairs with the Tyneside Scottish on the eastern flank was less certain. There was no news of A Company and B Company was once more being encircled.

Virtually isolated, its position was very serious. Reinforcements from D Company were ordered to fight their way through to join what was left of B Company, but met with stiff resistance.

Pte (Acting CpI) J W Barnes: ‘Lt J McAllan’s Bren carrier was movin forward when it was hit by a tank shell. A large plume of smoke went up. The driver was very badly injured or dying and Lt McAllan seriously wounded. As we attempted to staunch some of the blood, I saw the tank commander climb out of the turret and sit down on the front. He lit a cigarette and watched us through binoculars as we carried our wounded men away.’

THE battle had reached a crisis point for the Tyneside Scottish. It was crucial B Company was reinforced or it could not hope to hold out much longer.

At 11.15, the second German attack was launched, under cover of a heavy mortar bombardment. Under attack from enemy tanks, the KOSB, with only one anti-tank gun left operational, were in a similar plight to their Tyneside Scottish comrades.

Reinforcements were still edging forward, but losses were high, including D Company commander, Major S Brewis, who was very seriously wounded attacking an enemy machine gun.

Gunner P Moss (55th Anti-tank Regiment): ‘We saw a young Scot crawling along a hedgerow. His hand was severed and hanging at the wrist. I carried him back to the Aid Post. He seemed more bothered about his pal who he had left behind than himself.’

THE Germans’ second serious push had been held, but the Panzers and infantry were already reforming for another effort.

Captain Shaw, of the KOSB, alerted HQ to the threat and within a short space of time every available British gun was brought to bear on the enemy build-up. The assault still came, however, and the Tyneside Scottish bore the brunt. Still B Company held out, in anticipation of the imminent arrival of reinforcements.

At 1230, disaster befell A Company. The battalion’s left flank began to crumble as the encircling Panzers swung round to blast the slit trenches from the side. Cut off from the KOSB, the shell-shocked and confused soldiers staggered back towards Rauray.

Pte JLR Samson: ‘We saw the remnants of A Company coming back, some without weapons some without helmets, practically all without webbing.

THE arrival of reinforcements gave B Company a much-needed boost. But the Germans, having overrun A Company; were making a determined strike at the battalion’s left flank. At 13.43, more Panzers passed B Company, heading straight for C Company’s front.

Pte P Lawton: ‘Within minutes of my leaving a slit trench a shell hit it. I went back to see what could be done and found Pte Hamer had been virtually cut in half by the shell. Pte Holt didn’t appear to have suffered any physical damaqe at all, but he was taken off suffering from shock. I never saw him again, but I have no doubt he has felt the effects of that moment ever since.’

THE Panzers were queuing up to attack what remained of the Tyneside Scottish, but Captain Calderwood managed to call down another artillery barrage.

B Company came under renewed attack, but Major W K Angus somehow rallied 30 survivors from C Company who had been cut off. Following the fourth attack, the battalion’s position was even more unstable. Losses had been appalling and reinforcements, of whatever calibre, were urgently required.

L/Cpl K Taylorson: ‘I was issuing petrol behind the lines, but we all knew it was something big by the number of wounded that were coming back. At one point there was a rumour that all cooks, clerks and drivers not really needed were to be sent up the line.’

AFTER nine hours of fighting and four major assaults, the end was in sight. At 16.05, the enemy prepared to make one last attack.

Once again Capt Calderwood called for artillery. Radio procedure had been abandoned and he increasingly shouted: ‘For mercy’s sake, give us fire.’ Again a great barrage came down and the fifth and final German attack failed before it really started.

The captain was awarded the Military Cross for remaining at his critical forward post throughout the battle, under more or less constant bombardment. Then British flame-throwing Churchill tanks, known as Crocodiles, arrived.

Pte J Munro: ‘Everyone was tired and flaky. Our initial relief came in the form of Crocodiles. These proceeded to flush out any pockets of enemy activity.’

BY late afternoon, enemy snipers and machine gunners were being cleared from the fields around Rauray. At 18.10, the counterattack began. B Company was relieved and A Company’s original position was retaken, while the remnants of C Company joined in an attack to flush the enemy from the company’s initial position. To the left, the Royal Highland Fusiliers moved forward to straighten the line held by the KOSB. After dark, the guns fell silent. Rauray had been held and the Panzers repulsed.

Pte (Acting CpI) JW Barnes: ‘The company areas were a mass of debris, bodies and burning tanks. At the risk of sounding melodramatic, it was a kind of Armageddon.’

Cpt G Cowie: ‘The next day, the survivors paraded and the RSM called the battalion roll. More than 850-strong. Perhaps the same number answered their names as those that did not.’

The Tyneside Scottish CO, Lt Col RWM de Winton, received the following message from Maj-Gen EH Barker, Commander of 49th Division: ‘Will you please pass on to your troops my congratulations on the magnificent stand made by you today. You have made a great name for yourselves. I deplore the casualties you have sustained, but it is most gratifying to know that the gallant band who remained were successfully relieved.’

Weeks after Rauray, the ‘Tyneside Scottish received a stunning blow when it learned it was to be disbanded. Due to the desperate manpower shortage, the brigade was to be broken up and used to reinforce the rest of the Army.

Although some went to the Argylls and the Royal Highland Fusiliers, most joined their parent regiment, The Black Watch. With them they brought a major battle honour that remains on The Black Watch Colours to this day: The Defence of Rauray, July 1, 1944.