Poignant crosses remember 137 victims of the Bombardment of the Hartlepools

Each of them remembers by name a victim of the Bombardment of the Hartlepools, as the area was then known, on December 16, 1914, in which at least 137 people died following an attack by the German Navy.

The wooden crosses have been placed in Redheugh Gardens, on the Headland, by the nearby Heugh Battery Museum to mark this week’s 106th anniversary of the First World War onslaught.

Diane Stephens, the museum’s manager, said: “Normally members of the public would place crosses in the gardens to remember the children who died in the Bombardment.

"This year, because of social distancing, it is not possible to do what we normally do.

"But we thought we would go one step further and place crosses marking the 137 known fatalities in the gardens in advance and keep them there for longer so that people can visit them in their own time.”

The crosses will remain in the gardens until Monday, December 21, with the public also invited to admire colourful displays on the museum’s outer fences by the town’s St Bega’s and Holy Trinity primary schools and the Heugh Yarners in the Community.

While the annual December 16 public service to remember the Bombardment is cancelled following the pandemic, the Moor Terrace museum will still fire a gun at 8.10am on Wednesday to mark the exact moment the 40-minute shelling began.

Museum staff and volunteers will then hold a two-minute silence to remember the fallen.

Mrs Stephens added: “It is important to remember what happened because we are the only First World War battlefield in the United Kingdom.

"The people of Hartlepool rose to the occasion after the Bombardment by donating money and there was also an upsurge in people from the town joining the forces.

"We also still have descendants of those killed living in the town and it is important for them that their relatives are remembered.”

The museum will also fly a new 8ft Union flag donated by the Hartlepool branch of the Royal Engineers’ Association.

Mrs Stephens thanked the association for the “fantastic gesture”, adding: ”Our flag was getting a bit frayed with all the windy weather we get here.”

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