Off to the 8.10am 100th anniversary of the Bombardment of Hartlepool. This is the only WW1 battlefield in the UK The attack on the Hartlepools took forty minutes, from 8.10am to 8.50am. The Hartlepools were attacked by three German warships, the Seydlitz, the Moltke and the Blucher. The German warships fired 1150 shells into the Hartlepools. The Hartlepool Batteries returned fire with 123 shells with precision accuracy. Private Theo Jones was the first soldier killed during the bombardment. This made him the first soldier to be killed on British soil in the First World War. Seventeen-year-old Hilda Horsley was the first civilian to be killed during the bombardment. She was also the first casualty on British soil in the First World War. 127 people were killed in both towns in the attack, including soldiers. 400 people were wounded in both Hartlepool towns in the attack. The men of the Durham Royal Garrison Artillery and the Durham Light Infantry were stationed at the Heugh Battery. Heugh Battery, under the command of Lt. Colonel Lancelot Robson. Britain at the time had the best navel fleet in the world. heughbattery/bombardment.html
Posted on: Tue, 16 Dec 2014 07:38:04 +0000