On 16 December 1914, three ships from the German Imperial Navy bombarded Scarborough, Whitby and Hartlepool. The attack resulted in 137 fatalities and 592 casualties, many of whom were civilians. The raid caused outrage throughout Britain towards the German navy for an attack against civilians, and against the Royal Navy for its failure to prevent the raid.
The German battlecruisers Seydlitz, Moltke and the armoured cruiser, Blücher, proceeded toward Hartlepool, while Derfflinger, Von der Tann and Kolberg approached Scarborough, opening fire on the town at 08:00. At 09:30, the bombardment stopped and the two battlecruisers moved on to nearby Whitby shelling the coastguard station there that also damaged the abbey and other parts of the town.
How Scarborough recovered after WW1 bombardment
British recruiting poster picturing damage from German naval artillery to a civilian house: “No 2 Wykeham Street, Scarborough
The Bombardment of Hartlepool in World War 1
The bombardment of Scarborough 1914
Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby, 1914
The German bombardment of scarborough in the First World War in 1914
Wartime Slingsby Exhibition: April 26th
Come and find out about Slingsby’s wartime associations; from the Wars of the Roses, the Civil War, and preparations for war in the village from the Napoleonic wars up until the second world war, when the village was a centre for troop training and munitions storage, and welcomed evacuees.
For more details about the Wartime Slingsby Exhibition taking place on April 26th CLICK HERE