A COLLECTION OF FIVE ENAMEL BADGES COMMEMORATING THE BOMBARDMENT OF HARTLEPOOL DURING THE GREAT WAR

A COLLECTION OF FIVE ENAMEL BADGES COMMEMORATING THE BOMBARDMENT OF HARTLEPOOL DURING THE GREAT WAR. 1. Thanks Giving Day In Memory Of The Bombardment 2. Thanks, Offering To The Hospitals Of Hartlepool 1917 ( missing pin) 3. Hartlepool Hospitals, DLI & DRGA For Service Rendered Dec 16th 1914 4. 1915 & 1916 Thanks Offering To The Hospitals Of Hartlepool In Memory Of Dec 16th 1914. 5. Thanks Offering To The Hartlepool Hospitals Fifth Anniversary Of The Bombardment 1914 - 1919 Dec 16th Bombardment of Hartlepools ( A very BRIEF overview) The bombardment is still very much remembered in Hartlepool and indeed on the Headland, where the attack was concentrated. The Headland was known as old Hartlepool at the time, hence Hartlepools. The bombardment began at 8.10am; 10 minutes after the Fire Commander Lt Colonel Robson was informed three destroyers were closing in fast. The first shell landed just short of the battery killing four members of the 18th DLI, all privates. Jones, Liddle, Clark and Turner. Theophilus Jones is recorded as the first Solider killed on British soil, but it's impossible to say for certain The bombardment involved three ships, Seydlitz, Moltke and Blucher. The Seydlitz concentrated its fire on the battery as did Moltke, and Blucher concentrated its fire on the Lighthouse battery along from Heugh. The Seydlitz and Moltke then elevated their guns and fired inland, their targets being the gas works, railway stations, the docks and steelworks. The bombardment lasted a little over 15 minutes although over 1000 shells had been fired by the German ships. The battery had fired 123 rounds, hitting each ship a number of times The military casualties were relatively low eight killed; the civilian population suffered greatly. Many of the shells had bounced over the battery and landed in residential areas over a five-mile period killing 112 civilians. The first two Military Medals of the war were awarded retrospectively to Acting Bombardiers