The Bombardment of the Hartlepools

[Slim]

Hartlepool - then the twin towns of Hartlepool and West Hartlepool - was attacked by three German warships 108 years ago this morning. The Great War had been underway for a few months, but this was the first time that British civilians became casualties.

114 civilians were killed, along with nine soldiers and seven sailors. Private Theo Jones became the first British soldier to be killed on home soil in the conflict.

One of the shells smacked through a wall at West Hartlepool railway station:



Obviously it didn't explode, or a very large section of the wall would have disappeared.

You can see where the damage was repaired to this day, to the right of the pic below:



Photo credit: Rob Langham

West Hartlepool and Hartlepool (sometimes called 'Old Hartlepool') were unified in 1967 to form the town of Hartlepool. The local football club is still known colloquially as "Pools".