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 arriving in Leeds from Scarborough and Whitby during the day brought people fleeing from dreaded danger. It was not, of course, possible always to distinguish fugitives from ordinary travellers, but as far as it was possible to judge there must have been several hundreds who had left the coast because of the mornings happenings. Most of them had journeyed to Leeds because they had relatives or friends in the city and the neighbourhood, or were on their way to other localities where they were sure of shelter. Many returned to Scarborough or Whitby later in the day on being assured that all danger was past. There was, therefore, little if any likelihood of any fugitives being obliged to wander about the streets homeless, and it was not considered necessary, excepting in one case, to take official action to find food or shelter for any who, in their terror, had temporarily abandoned their homes.
WOMAN WHO SAVED HER CAT
The majority of the fugitives were from Scarborough, a few from Whitby. Most of them were women and children, some of the women with shawls around their heads. There were several party families of a mother and three of four children. Several babies in arms, all unconscious of the fears expressed so unmistakably in their mothers faces, were seen. It was evident from the scantiness or absence of luggage that the departure had been hurried. Some had packed a few necessities into large or small handbags and baskets; others were content with bundles, while still more came without any impediments - some of them even without breakfast. One woman was overjoyed because she had been able to escape with her little daughter - and her cat. A large number of people assembled in the North-Eastern station out of curiosity to witness the arrival of the wanderers, or to welcome friends of whose coming they had been apprised. Others, again, were there to avail themselves of the half day excursion to York and Scarborough. In a few instances the thought of entering a bombarded town deterred them from taking the journey to the Queen of Northern Watering Places.
Man of the arrivals from the coast,unlike the needy knife grinder, had a story to tell.
