We’re turning back the clock to December 1914, examining a moment when the Great War quite literally hit home for Britain. Indeed, the bombardment of the Hartlepools was not just significant for the people of the area, but also a pivotal event in the long and tragic course of the First World War.
Why did the Imperial German Navy target the North East coast? How did Hartlepool’s defenders respond on land and at sea? What was the civilian cost?
As always, Ben and Glen will do their utmost to answer these questions and more, hopefully without getting lost at sea in the process.
Useful online resources:
- Heugh Battery Museum
- BBC Tees coverage for the centenary of the bombardment
- BBC’s WW1 at Home short episode, featuring interviews with survivors
- More first-hand accounts courtesy of the BBC
- Hartlepool History Then and Now collection
- Der Krieg zur See 1914 – 1918, courtesy of the National Library of Estonia. Translation by Gary Staff available here
- Admiral Hipper as Naval Commander, a PhD thesis by T.R. Philbin, courtesy of King’s College London
