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A new plaque in memory of one of the victims of the Bombardment of Hartlepool will be unveiled on the 108th anniversary of the carnage this week.

The name plate for Salvation Army Adjutant William Avery will be presented to the Heugh Battery Museum on Friday, December 16.

It will follow an annual commemoration service in Redheugh Gardens on the Headland when the names of all the servicemen and children who died in the bombardment will be read out.

Small crosses for each person will be planted around the war memorial and wreaths laid.

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William Avery was one of the first people to be killed when three German battleships fired more than 1,000 shells on the town just after 8am on December 16 in 1914.

His grandson, James Gilman, 91, from Durham, has donated the plaque.

He said: “My grandfather, Adjutant Avery, served as a soldier and an officer in a very different kind of army to the regiments already on display. His army was dedicated to a war against evil rather than one against a human enemy.

The annual bombardment commemoration service takes place at Redheugh Gardens on the Headland. Picture by FRANK REID

"Nonetheless, he died the victim of enemy attack, a fate suffered by many soldiers commemorated by regimental plaques.”

The Heugh Battery Museum sits on the site of the Heugh Gun Battery from where artillery gunfire was directed at the attacking German ships.

The museum is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Bombardment and subsequent conflicts.

The public are welcome to attend the commemoration service on Friday morning at 8.05am.

The museum in Moor Terrace will be open afterwards for hot drinks.

Hartlepool bombardment 1914: New plaque to be unveiled to one of first victims on 108th anniversary