Memorial events have been held today in Hartlepool, Whitby and Scarborough to commemorate a naval bombardment of the towns 100 hundred years ago, by German warships during World War One.
Of the three towns Hartlepool was the most affected by the shelling with over 1,100 shells falling on the community during a frantic forty minute period that saw men, women, children and military personnel killed. Dozens of buildings were destroyed or damaged and many of those hit are still scarred by pieces of shrapnel embedded in the walls. The Headland area of the town which was home to the Heugh gun battery, suffered some of the worst damage with Moor Terrace, Victoria Place and Cliff Terrace being particularly badly hit.
The Headland’s Heugh Gun Battery returned fire in what was the only battle to be fought on British soil during World War One, and one of the Battery’s soldiers, Theo Jones of the Durham Light Infantry, became the first British soldier to be killed by enemy action on home soil since the Battle of Culloden in 1746.
Flight Lieutenant Anthony Moy stands at sunrise next to a gun (not of the WW1 era) on Hartlepool Headland
Members of the 18th Battalion Durham Light Infantry Commemoration Society stand as honour guard during the service…
David Little from the 18th Battalion Durham Light Infantry Commemoration Society
Local schoolchildren released balloons into the air as the names of those killed during the bombardment were read out
Veterans stand at sunrise during the morning service
Representatives of military and civilian services laid wreaths
The window of a nearby house has a poignant poster in the window remembering
those who were killed in that house 100 years ago
Veterans stand during the service in Hartlepool
Members of the 18th Battalion Durham Light Infantry Commemoration Society prepare to place a ‘time-capsule’ into the ground
Crosses of Remembrance
A woman looks on during the service
Schoolchildren from St Aidan’s Primary School plant 130 ceramic poppies – some of the ones used at the recent Tower of London memorial – in
memory of the 130 people who were killed during the bombardment
A standard bearer from the Royal British Legion
Buglers from the Royal Marines played the Last Post before a minute’s silence was held
See more of my photographs on my website and blogs via the link…… HERE
Images remain copyright Ian Forsyth. No usage without arrangement.
room2850.org 