Bombardment 1914

Articles:

Vessels sunk by Kolberg mines 1 March 1915 - Sapphire The next victim of the Kolberg’s mines was the fishing vessel Sapphire, H675. She was returning to her home port of Hull from a trip to the fishing grounds off Icel...

In 2014, the Scarborough Maritime Heritage Centre was a major partner in events, exhibitions and commemorations held to mark the outbreak of WW1 and the December bombardment of Scarborough.   Here are links to a few photograph albums ...

Vessels sunk by Kolberg mines 12 February 1915 - Torquay The Dartmouth registered 870 ton collier Torquay was sailing northwards in fog off Filey Brigg when she struck a mine. A great rush of steam emitted from the stokehold. As t...

Vessels sunk by mines laid by the Kolberg The Swedish collier, Hanna, 13 March 1915 The Swedish collier Hanna has variously been reported as being torpedoed and mined. The ship’s second officer claims to have seen the wake ...

Vessels sunk by Kolberg mines 15 April 1919 - Emulator Despite the fact that the Great War ended on 11 November 1918, mines continued to take a toll on shipping around the British Isles. Although the known minefields were cleared, in the tw...

Vessels sunk by Kolberg mines 15 February 1915 - Membland The West Hartlepool registered cargo ship the Membland left Hull for the Tyne in ballast with twenty-five people on board. She was due to take on coal for export to the Bue...

Vessels sunk by Kolberg mines Elterwater, Princess Olga, Vaaren - 16th December 1914 The First Victim, SS Elterwater As the streets of Scarborough were cleared of rubble and the dead counted, out at sea a hidden danger began to reveal i...

Vessels sunk by Kolberg mines Orianda - 19 December 1914 The spate of losses led to the Admiralty instructing Hull trawlers to suspend fishing until the mines could be swept. Trawlers at Scarborough had been confined to port since the bombardme...

An article from Scarborough's Mercury 16th December 1915 entitled "BOMBARDMENT OF SCARBOROUGH" "A surprise attack, in order to be justified, must be made in the first place on the armed forces of the hostile state, not on pe...

Vessels sunk by Kolberg mines 20 December 1914 - Garmo, Valiant The armed yacht Valiant, en route to Cromarty, struck a mine at 0900 hours off Filey. The explosion blew the propellors and rudder off, leaving the yacht helpless. She wa...

The following article appeared in the 16th December, 1934 edition of the Scarborough evening news and daily post. It was entitled "THE BOMBARDMENT" THE BOMBARDMENT - TOMORROWS TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY - HOW THE RAIDERS ESCAPED. When the...

Vessels sunk by Kolberg mines 22 December 1914 - SS Boston At 4am in the morning the Norwegian flagged cargo ship Boston, en route from Drammen to London with a cargo of wood, struck one, or possibly two mines, three miles east of Scarboro...

Vessels sunk by Kolberg mines 24 February 1915 - Deptford The collier Deptford was carrying coal for the Royal Navy from Granton to Chatham. At 02.55 she struck a mine three miles off Scarborough. The explosion extinguished the ship&r...

Vessels sunk by Kolberg mines 25 December 1914 - Night Hawk, Eli, Gem, Therese Haymann At noon on Christmas Day the minesweeper No.57, formerly the Grimsby trawler Night Hawk, hit a mine three and a half miles off Scarborough. She san...

Vessels sunk by Kolberg mines 26 December 1914 - Gelnmorven, Linaria, Leersum The Glenmorven sailed from the Tyne for Leghorn (Livorno), Italy, with a cargo 3,620 tons of coal. She disappeared and is thought to have struck one of the&...

Vessels sunk by Kolberg mines 29 May 1915 - Condor The Scarborough trawler the Condor was fishing off Cloughton when four other trawlers heard a loud explosion. No trace of the vessel was found until the body of the skipper was wa...

Vessels sunk by Kolberg mines The Danish steamer M.C. Holm, 31 December 1914 Danish steamer M.C. Holm was carrying a cargo of raw cotton from Savannah and phosphate from Boca Grande in Florida. Her captain Marius Madsen said...

Vessels sunk by Kolberg mines Another Minesweeper Destroyed, The Banyers, Wednesday 6 January 1915 It is claimed that within a month of the laying of the minefield that minesweepers had cleared fifty-three of the one hundred mines lai...

Vessels sunk by Kolberg mines The Elifrida, 7 January 1915 The Newcastle registered collier Elfrida was carrying 4,150 tons of coal from the Tyne to London. At 00.40 on the morning of Thursday 7 January She was taking soundings i...

Vessels sunk by mines laid by the Kolberg The Tangistan, Tuesday 9 March 1915 The 3,738 ton Tangistan was based and crewed at the south Wales port of Swansea. She had left there with a cargo of patent fuel and coal for B&eac...

The bombardment of Scarborough was a huge shock to the whole coast. No one expected the war to affect the British mainland. The attack on Scarborough was seen as an outrage. It was a full artillery assault on an undefended civilian town. It was t...

Article from the 19th March 1920 in the 'Scarborough Mercury' entitled "The bombardment of Scarborough - GERMAN ADMIRAL'S ACCOUNT" We quote the following from the 'Daily News,' which that journal gives us arrangem...

The attack on Scarborough in 1914 resulted in extensive damage. It was a full artillery assault. The Town Council had the responsibility of managing the dangerous sights throughout the town. One of the first assessments took place on the 18th Dec...

Article from the 23rd December, 1914, in the Scarborough Pictorial which describes describes the memorial service in 1914 to mourn those who died in the German bombardment of Scarborough. In Memory Of The Dead - Memorial Service At St. Mary...

The German bombardment was seen as a truly barbaric act - even in the context of a brutal war the attack was seen as uncivilised. The following article was written a short time after the raid and shows the bitterness towards the Germans. A group ...

Day They Shelled Scarborough - British Film Institute (19 Minutes) This is a fine documentary on what some have claimed to have been the first example of ‘total war’, with civilian casualties, as Germany brought the war to Britain ...

Bombardment index Shortly before 3am on Tuesday 15th December 1914 as German Admiral Franz Von Hipper led his squadron of fast battlecruisers and support ships from the mouth of the River Jade, his opposite number in the Royal Navy, Rear Admiral D...

For months after the German bombardment of Scarborough in 1914 the 'Scarborough Mercury' advertised commemoration medals. The advert used the following text THE BOMBARDMENT OF SCARBOROUGH. AN ISSUE OF COMMEMORATION MEDALS We have at...

German bombardment on Scarborough - plaques The bombardment of Scarborough had a profound effect both on the people of Scarborough and the general population. It was felt that the event should be marked in some way. Letter from Town Hall to J.N...

German bombardment of Scarborough An article entitled "A day to remember" by Bryan Berryman about the German bombardment of Scarborough in 1914 When it happened, Lily Bain was in the back room of her home at 51 St John's Road, lac...

Boy worries about his pet dog A boy was worried about a little terrier during the German bombardment of Scarborough in 1914 from the Scarborough Mercury 24th December The terrible explosion which blew up No. 2 Wykeham street and its occupants c...

Bridlington hear Scarborough Bombardment An article entitled "SOUND OF THE GUNS AT BRIDLINGTON" from the 18th December, 1914, edition of the Scarborough Mercury. This describes how the German bombardment of Scarborough was heard in Bridl...

From the Scarborough Mercury, 10th September, 1915. A chance meeting hundreds of miles away BAYONETTED BY ACCIDENT - SCARBRO' SOLDIERS STIRRING EXPERIENCE - SURPRISE MEETING WITH SAILOR NEPHEW Writing to his brother, Mr J. Wharton, 42 M...

A story from the "Scarborough Mercury" entitled "SCHOOLGIRLS' EXPERIENCE AT SCARBOROUGH - BELGIAN GIRL WHO KNEW" Mr. John Place, M.I. Mech.E., of Beckenham, Kent, sends a morning paper cutting from the "Beckenham J...

Letter from Churchill to Scarborough - 1914 Winston Churchill's letter to Scarborough after the German bombardment of Scarborough in 1914. The first official explanation came from the First Lord of the Admiralty (Mr Winston Churchill) in a ...

German bombardment - coastguard An article from the Scarborough Pictorial 23rd December 1914 entitled "EYE WITNESS STORIES - COASTGUARD TESTIFIES TO 500 SHELLS." It describes the coroners inquest into the deaths during the German bombard...

German raid and compensation Letter from Town Clerk, 19th December, 1914 Bombardment of Scarborough. Damage to Olympia. As I told you this morning, Mr Catlin complains that the Olympia Buildings have been considerably damaged, and that he is...

INQUEST IN THE VICTIMS - CORONER AND UNWARRANTED ATTACK - NOT SUCH A THING FOR 1000 YEARS...CORONER AND THE TRAGIC AFFAIR ...There had been a good deal of talk in the town about the fleet, but they must bear in mind that the fleet had a great ...

German bombardment on Scarborough - Dunollie The attack on Scarborough by the German cruisers in 1914 was long remembered. ETW Dennis the printers brought out commemorative booklets on the raid full of photos of the houses and buildings damaged. L...

An article from the 'Scarborough Mercury' 4th June, 1915 entitled "EAST COAST BOMBARDMENT - CLAIMS FOR DAMAGE TO PROPERTY - 6,473 CASES DISPOED OF." After the German bombardment of the east coast ports in 1914 the Government dec...

 East Coast War Channels in the First and Second World War   Antony Firth March 2014   A report for English Heritage    The East Coast War Channels (ECWCs) are the carefully defined routes that were sw...

Escaping the shells HAIRSBREADTH ESCAPES UNSCATHED IN A RAIN OF BULLETS wednesday December 23rd 1914. A story from the German bombardment of Scarborough in 1914 Lily Bain, 14 year old daughter of Mr and Mr Bain, 51 St. Johns Road, had a mi...

German raid eyewitness An article from the Scarborough Pictorial 23rd December, 1914, entitled "OTHERS WHO SAW THE SHELLS." When Scarborough was bombarded by the Germans in 1914 some saw the ships at first hand. At the time the firing...

Scarborough raid - damage in Falsgrave "MAINLY ABOUT THE DISTRICT OF FALSGRAVE" in the Scarborough Mercury 24th December. A description of the German bombardment of Scarborough in 1914 To say that much commotion was created in the Fal...

The German bombardment of Scarborough Article about the German raid on Scarborough - "MAINLY ABOUT THE DISTRICT OF FALSGRAVE" in the Scarborough Mercury 24th December. Streams of people moved out of the town along Scalby-road, Stepne...

An Article by Arthur Godfrey This year has seen the seventieth anniversary of the darkest days that Yorkshire fishermen have ever known, for in the three years of World War 1 beginning with April 1915 they faced dangers hitherto undreamed of...

German bombardment - the funerals An article from the Scarborough Mercury 24th December 1914 entitled "FUNERALS OF VICTIMS - SCENE AT CEMETERY" The Dean Road district presented a funeral aspect on Saturday, when several of t...

An article from the Scarborough Pictorial Friday January 15th, 1914, entitled "SCARBOROUGH AS GREAT ENGLISH PORT - GERMAN DESCRIBES RAID - 'FULL BROADSIDE EVERY TIME'". It is a first hand account of the German raid by a German s...

German bombardment of Scarborough Some short extracts from the Scarborough Pictorial after the German bombardment of Scarborough in 1914. SOUTH STREET A large hole was made, the side and front part of the shop - in South Street - were blown ...

Bombardment - German newspaper reports An article from the 30th December, 1914 entitled "SCAROROUGH HARBOUR AN IMPORTANT HARBOUR - WHEAT AS AN EXPORT - WHAT THE GERMANS SAY." While most the German papers profess to regard the raid on...

A story from the Scarborough Pictorial 23rd December 1914 describing a close shave with a German shell during the German bombardment of 1914 At the back of 54, Ramsey Street, a shell went through the back kitchen wall, and threw the pantry and...

Some snippets of news taken from the Scarborough papers after the German bombardment in 1914 DAMAGE AT THE CRESCENT Houses in Belvoir-terrace and The Crescent suffered greatly. Mrs Keble of No. 6 Belvoir terrace, and invalid, was lying ill ...

German U-boat sinks 11 Scarborough trawlers in one night - World War One. On 25th September, 1916 practically all of the Scarborough Trawling fleet was wiped out in a single night by a U-Boat attack. Eleven trawlers were sunk from Scarborough amon...

German raid on Scarborough - a German view Article from the 20th April 1917 in the 'Scarborough Mercury' entitled "An echo of the German bombardment" A British officer during a recent push on the Western front entered an aband...

German raid on Scarborough - Gladstone road IN GLADSTONE ROAD Wednesday December 23rd 1914. - THE BOMBARDMENT OF SCARBOROUGH As the second bombardment commenced shells burst in rapid succession in the Gladstone road district. The roof of a hous...

Gladstone road school records The Gladstone Road School log book states that on the 16th December, 1914 "German raid on Scarborough. Fortunately it occurred before school. It commenced at eight and lasted about 40 minutes. The school hall ...

Government report of bombardment Article from the 23rd December, 1914, in the Scarborough Pictorial which describes the describes the Government's version of what happened when Scarborough was bombarded by the Germans. AN OLD LADY'S ORD...

German raid - Guisborough recruitment meeting Article from the Scarborouh Mercury describing a recuitment meeting for the army in Guisborough. The bombardment of Scarborough provided a great boost to recruitment. The article was entitled "KAI...

The German bombardment of Hartlepool in the First World War in 1914 Article about the German raid on Hartlepool MANY CASUALTIES AT HARTLEPOOL - TERRITORIALS AMONGST THE KILLED - SALVATION ARMY ADJUTANT FATALLY INJURED The firing upon the Har...

German bombardment on Scarborough - Hayburn wyke An article entitled "THE DASH ON SCARBORO: As witnessed from Cloughton and Hayburn Wyke. New facts disclosed." from 24th December, edition of the Scarborough Mercury A remarkable fact w...

German raid on Scarborough - Kings sympathy An article from the Scarborough Pictorial 23rd December 1914, entitled "ROYAL SYMPATHY KINGS THOUGHTS FOR STRICKEN TOWNMESSAGE TO BEREAVED AND WOUNDED" following the German bombardment of Scarb...

Kolberg lays a minefield off Scarborough Most people in Scarborough know about the German bombardment on the town in 1914. Less is known about the deaths caused by sea mines which beset the coast for years afterwards. There were three Ge...

Article from the 23rd December, 1914, in the Scarborough Pictorial detailing the damage to the Lighthouse caused by the German bombardment of Scarborough. LIGHTHOUSE BEING PULLED DOWN - UNSAFE AFTER DAMAGE - NOT TO BE REBUILT TILL THE WAR IS O...

The German bombardment of Scarborough in December 1914 was followed by another attempted raid in January 1915. This time the Royal navy was ready and the raiding party got caught. One of the ships involved in the raid in December was sunk (The Bl...

Scarborough bombardment heard at Malton An article entitled "Bombardment heard at Malton" in the "Scarborough Mercury." The big guns from the German bombardment of Scarborough were heard 22 miles away in Malton Although Scar...

Map of damage ...

"STATEMENT BY THE MAYOR" in the Scarborough Mercury 24th December following the German bombardment on Scarborough The Mayor, presiding at the police court this morning said that the facts of the war had been brought home to him in a ...

German bombardment - mementoes The Scarborough Mercury also featured the following report on 24th December, 1914 entitled "VISITORS TO SCARBOROUGH - SALE OF PIECES OF SHELL" On Sunday a large number of people visited Scarborough, many...

The Mercury reports on the bombardment On the 15th December,1914 Mr A Bell was going about his normal daily work as road foreman in Burniston when an erect gentleman with a white hair and moustache stopped beside him. He said looking towards ...

An article from Scarborough Pictorial 30th December 1914 entitled "MORE LIVES LOST: CHRISTMAS DAY TRAGEDY." It describes the sinking of a mine sweeper caused by a mine left by the Kolberg - which laid mines during the German bombardment...

"LADY'S NARROW ESCAPE" in the Scarborough Mercury 24th December. A story from the German bombardment of Scarborough An employee of the Tramway Company relates the narrow escape of a lady, Mrs Coleman, of 13, York-place, in Falcon...

Article from the 23rd December, 1914, in the Scarborough Pictorial which describes the describes the Governments version of what happened when Scarborough was bombarded by the Germans. THE OFFICIAL VERSION - HOW THE ENEMY GOT AWAY. The secr...

Scarborough Pictorial 23rd December 1914 - what the New York papers had to say about the German raid on Scarborough The "New York Tribune" heads an article, "Crime Against Civilisation," and declares: "Germany has set ...

German bombardment - not downhearted Article from the 23rd December, 1914, in the Scarborough Pictorial showing the people of Scarborough were not downhearted after the German bombardment. KEEPING THE FLAG FLYING - SCARBOROUGH MENS BRAVE ACTIO...

An excerpt from an article entitled "Echo of Scarborough bombardment - Did shore leave allow Germans to escape" from 4th February edition of the Scarborough Mercury, 1916 "It is true that on the day preceding the bombardment of ...

German bombardment of Scarborough - poems Poetry is inspired by events which have deeply stirred our emotions - either for the good or bad. Several poems appeared in the local papers after the bombardment of Scarborough. Here is one example from t...

The German bombardment of Scarborough in 1914 left people feeling vulnerable to further attacks and the fear was of an actual landing. Because of this barbed wire and defences were prepared around the coastline. The following article features a l...

Article from the Scarborough Pictorial after the German bombardment of Scarborough in 1914 about the plight of refugees who tried to get to Leeds. SCARBOROUGH FUGITIVES IN LEEDS - SEVERAL HUNDRED LEAVE THE EAST COAST. Nearly every train arr...

German raid on Scarborough - refugees Article entitled "REFUGEES AT SEAMER - REMARKABLE SCENES IN VILLAGE" from the 18th December, Scarborough Mercury. When Scarborough was bombarded by the German battle cruisers in 1914 the roads were f...

Some details on the German raid on Scarborough by Sydney Foord from his "Scarborough records" Remember Scarborough In the midst of the casualties, the chaos and the considerable material damage which greeted the people of Scarboroug...

The German bombardment on Scarborough gave a big boost to the recruitment campaign. An article from the Scarborough papers 30th December The Recruiting Department issued from their headquarters on Friday the following striking incentive to rec...

DID CHURCHILL KNOW? Since the First World War the truth has come out about the Scarborough raid. It has been suggested that Churchill knew that Scarborough was to be bombarded and let this happen because he knew it would enrage the nation and ...

German bombardment - rumours and lies An article from the Scarborough's Mercury 24th December 1914 entitled "SPREADING FALSE REPORTS - SCARBRO MAN CHARGED UNDER DEFENCE OF THE REALM ACT" At the Borough Police Court this (Thur...

German raid sailors narrow escape An article from the Scarborough Pictorial 23rd December 1914 entitled "SAILORS NARROW ESCAPE" which describes a sailors return home from a serious accident only to face the German bombardment of Scarboro...

Sea mine disasters Grimsby fishermen perfomed a vital and costly role in both world wars clearing Britain's coasts and shipping lanes of enemy mines. Grimsby lost 419 trawlers in total. Admiral Lord Charles Beresford came up with the swee...

German bombardment - sea mines An article entitled "HONOURS WON OFF SCARBOROUGH - MINE SWEEPERS' COURAGE RECOGNISED - DSC FOR LIEUT. BOOTHBY - TWO VESSELS MINED UNDER HIM" in the Scarborough Pictorial 2nd February, 1915 After the ...

R.I.P. - Skipper Robert Heritage - Second Hand John Chamberlain Barker - Third Hand Arthur Houghton Wright - Chief Engineer Frederick Nathan Mills - Second Engineer James Robert Hunter - Deck Hand Robert Duncanson Cammish - Deck Hand John ...

An article from the Scarborough Pictorial 23rd December 1914 entitled "SYMPATHY FOR HCM: LOCAL LAD'S MESSAGE FROM THE FRONT - OTHER KINDLY EXPRESSIONS". This describes the messages of support from troops who had heard of the Ge...

German bombardment - soldiers story An article from the Scarborough Pictorial 23rd December 1914, entitled "A SOLDIER'S STORY. Visit to parents disturbed. Graphic account of bombardment". A story, remarkable for its clearness and...

A submarine attack on Scarborough's South Bay On September 4th 1917 a submarine surfaced in Cayton Bay. It was had been a glorious summers day. The sea was flat and on Scarboroughs South Bay beach the visitors were enjoying the early evening s...

German raid on Scarborough - targets This following letter was sent by Harry W Smith, the Borough engineer at Scarborough to Dr Hay, city of Aberdeen Emergency committee, dated January 8th 1915. It is an excellent summary of the attack on Scarboro...

Scarborough raid 1914 - tragic loss of bride Story from 30th December, 1914. Entitled "ROBBED OF HIS BRIDE." A tragic story about the German bombardment of Scarborough in 1914 ROBBED OF HIS BRIDE - SCARBOROUGH SOLDIER'S SAD HOME C...

A Scarborough Trawler crew cast adrift after a U-Boat attack Fishermen love to tell stories, its an exciting life at sea - always eventful. As they get older they will sit by the fireside or at the bar and endlessly talk of both the good and the b...

When World War One broke out the U-boat was not really well known. The German Imperial Navy had been involved in a naval arms race with the Royal Navy. The race was expensive. Dreadnoughts cost a phenomenal amount of money to build. The Germans h...

Log of the German U-Boat which sank eleven Scarborough trawlers in 1916 The following is taken from the log of the German U-Boat which sank 11 Scarborough Trawlers in 1916. He was Ritter Karl Siegfried Von Georg. This log begins just after the U-B...

The following is copied from Naval records which follow the U-57 as it sank eleven Scarborough trawlers and 29 in between 23rd and 25th September, 1916. From reports received to date the following operations by a German submarine off the East ...

German bombardment of Scarborough - unexploded bombs This page features and interesting letter from Herbert King, an explosives expert, to Borough Engineer, Harry W Smith. The town received advice on unexploded bombs. But it also shows how the bom...

Vessels sunk by German sea mines from 1914 The Forgotten Casualties of the Bombardment of Scarborough in 1914 By David Pendleton The ships and men lost to sea mines off Scarborough 1914-15 The bombardment of Scarborough by German battle c...

German bombardment of Whitby in 1914 An article entitled "THE ATTACK ON WHITBY - COASTGUARDS HEAD BLOWN OFF - LARGE GAPS IN ABBEY WALLS. EXODUS TO THE COUNTRY" in the 18th December 1914 edition of the Scarborough Mercury. It describes th...

Wilfred Owen, famous WW1 poet, wrote in Scarborough.  Read more here: http://www.scarboroughcivicsociety.org.uk/Wilfred-Owen.php​ http://www.wilfredowen.org.uk/virtual-tour/scarborough​ http://www.bbc.co.uk/northyorkshire/co...

surname forename initials age date_of_death rank regiment unitshipsquadron cemeterymemorial gravereference additionalinformation APPLEBY JOHN ROWLEY J R 19 05/04/1918 ...

A remarkable story of heroism during the bombardment of Scarborough in 1914 from the Scarborough Mercury 24th December WYKEHAM STREET TRAGEDY - FAMILY PRACTICALLY WIPED OUT - A SON'S HEROISM - VAIN EFFORTS TO SAVE MOTHER AND CHILDREN - EYE...

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