Title: The Hartlepool
1The Hartlepool Bombardment
December 16th 1914.
By Ward Jackson School Click here to find out
more
2Contents Click on the section to take you there
- The German Ships
- Eyewitness Accounts
- Streets that were shelled
- Images of the bombardment
- Poetry
- In Memory
- Weapons
- A Fictional accounts
3Images of the Bombardment.
By Jessica Rhodes
4Shells found on beach.
5Railway wagon hit by a shell.
6The German Ships
- Only 6 ships stayed to shell Hartlepool
- The ships were called Blutcher, Seydlitz, Moltke,
Derfflinger, Tapken, and Kolberg - The boss was called Admiral Von Ingenohl
- The Germans came across the North Sea to get to
Hartlepool, Scarborough and Whitby - The Germans came from Cuxhaven
- By Liam Wildberg
7Liam Wildberg age 11, 1914
- I was on my way to Ward Jackson School. I saw
many people rushing about. I wondered what all
the fuss was about. All of a sudden I saw 3 or 4
soldiers running down Lynn Street with big guns.
So I started running and all of a sudden a big
bomb went off. Sadly it was my school that was
bombed. That night I sat at home and thought that
I could have been in that school. But then I
thought I was been a bit selfish and I said to
myself what about all the poor kids that died.
The next day I found out that my best mate
survived the attack but the hospital said they
will have to chop his leg off. From that day on I
loved and took care of him. Now he is in a care
home but he goes to the Havelock centre to cheer
him up. But the weird thing is, the centre is
built right near Lynn street.
8In memory of With the memories of George,
Margaret and Albert Dixon all died . Joseph
Jacobs. Henry. Barney. Many young
men. Children. Women. Thanks to all of these
we live in peace now.
9Streets that were shelled
10Dene Street, Hartlepool
11Rugby Terrace, Hartlepool
12Moor Terrace, Hartlepool
13Victoria Place, Hartlepool
14Sussex Street, Hartlepool
15Mary Street, Hartlepool
16Street not known
17Our Poetry
By Justine Glenn and Kimberley Longmoor
18Some people died
Some people cried, Other people died, Some got
hurt, Others were found dead in dirt, 112 got
killed, The mortuary got filled , People ran, As
fast as they can, Some people bled, Then they
were dead, People were sad , The Germans were
glad.
Rugby terrace, Hartlepool
19War Family destroyed sticking together. Fighting,
fighting. Sudden death. Bloodthirsty
ships. Unexpected deaths. Terrible
conditions. Dead men screaming in pain. Houses
destroyed. Blaring sounds of a gun. Smashed
houses. Death by death for war.
20COME!SonsOf the Islands, rise!The German
gunsBellow to the skies And rain their
shellLike hellOn Englands coast.ThisTo
fulfil their boast,Is but the firstAnd not the
worstTheir hate will hissThis German
host.TheyHad sworn to come.They had sworn to
come.They drank Unto the day,For years
prepared the way.Now hear the shrapnel humThey
will come, again!DrumAnd trumpet sound
againNever before such needFor glorious
deed.Come up, come up, men!You see your country
bleedCome! By George Weddler.
By George Weddler Seaton Crew Hartlepool
21Weapons
22Weapons
- In the Bombardment the Germans used Armour
piercing shells to attack its enemy. - Over 200 people were injured by the shells.
- Also 1150 shells were fired by the Germans.
- 112 People were killed.
- Lots of people were injured such as legs blown
off or people bleeding. - At 825a.m. most of the ships had come as close
as 4 thousand yards.
23Eye Witness Accounts
24Joseph Dixon
This account was written by Joseph Dixon and
retold by Robin Charlton.
On the morning of the Bombardment Josephs
mother, sister and five brothers were eating
breakfast in William street when shells hit the
ground. Soldiers told everyone to get out of
their houses and they were under fire. Shells
exploded killing three of his brothers, sister
and blowing off his mothers leg. He took his
brother to the gas works and were taken two the
hospital by two soldiers. His dad was in the
army but was given a compassionate discharge to
come back home.
25Eyewitness account by H. Bell
- There was a report about H. Bell. He and his
family lived at 31 Belk Street at the time of the
Bombardment, and were greatly affected by the
German attack. - At 820a.m. People heard the sound of gunfire .
- Also a boy was stretched across the tram lines,
face downwards and he was found dead by H. bell.
- When H. Bell. Reached home he found his mum
bleeding on the road. Opposite her there was a
body of a boy called Joseph Jacobs .
26- H. bell. ran to the bottom of the street and he
took a barrow from a sculptors yard and put his
mum on it to take her to Hospital . Then his
brother Tom came up, and then both of them got
his mother and the Jacobs boy onto the handcart. - At the junction of Belk street and Hart street
they stopped a coal cart and transferred their
mother and the boy onto it, asking the driver to
take them to Cameron hospital. At the mortuary
H. bell. Had to identify his youngest brother,
little Henry, who had been killed . Another
brother was in hospital with leg injuries. - His familys casualties were mother who lost a
leg and suffered multiple injuries, a brother
killed, a brother with leg injuries and a nephew
killed.
27This story was written by Robert Wood and was
later told by Jessica Rhodes.
I was having my breakfast ready to go to school
when a man in a wagon came outside of our house
asking for a key to the mortuary (which we
youngsters called the dead house). He was asking
for it so he could put one boy into the mortuary.
My dad didnt believe him so the wagon driver
showed him the boy and my father was almost going
to be sick because the little boy had no chest
from one of the shells. The man said that an
attack had started by the Germans and more people
will die so my dad went back to work at the
mortuary and I had to stay home from school
because I might have been hurt.
Three quarters of an hour
later and the mortuary was full of dead bodies.
The mortuary held only four
people at once but that day it held thirty-five
bodies all cramped in one room.
Then My mum took all of my
shirts to make descent the naked bodies .