When Scarborough became an Italian story …………

The story of the German bombardment of Scarborough in 1914 is usually just a footnote in history books.

That said it will still be marked every year in the town, as well as on the blog,  and has become of special interest to David Harrop who has been collecting memorabilia on the event.*

My Wikipedia tells me that “The Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby on 16 December 1914 was an attack by the Imperial German Navy on the British ports of Scarborough, Hartlepool, West Hartlepool and Whitby. 

The bombardments caused hundreds of civilian casualties and resulted in public outrage in Britain against the German Navy for the raid and the Royal Navy for failing to prevent it”.**

And that brings me to this small newspaper clipping which is undated and is really just a photograph.

But what singles it out as a little different from the news coverage of the attack is that it comes from an Italian newspaper.

The caption, “Case di Scarborough danneggiate dal bombardaento” which translates as “Scarborough houses damaged by bombing” is the give away and begs some questions.

These include, was there an accompanying story and just when was it published?

At this stage Italy was still neutral and did not enter the war on the side of the Allies until the May of 1915.

So it would be interesting to explore what the Italian media and the general public made of the bombardment, particularly because at the time Italy was part of the Triple Alliance with Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire and might have been expected to have joined them in the August of 1914 in the war against Britain, France and Russia.

I will in the fullness of time go looking at contemporary Italian newspapers, and follow up on what the historians have to say, leaving Mr. Harrop who acquired the picture the job of finding out the date and the source of the image.

Meanwhile I will finish by looking at the photograph in detail.

As ever the photographer managed to hoover up a few passers by who look back with a mix of curiosity and amusement at being captured on film, while the net curtains billow out of the window.

Location; Scarborough and Italy

Picture; “Case di Scarborough danneggiate dal bombardaento”, date unknown, from the collection of David Harrop

*The bombardment of Scarborough, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/The%20Scarborough%20Bombardment

**Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_on_Scarborough,_Hartlepool_and_Whitby

A medal .... the bombardment of Scarborough ..... and a newspaper

 Now most of us will equate medals with acts of bravery in the field, and if pushed will acknowledge that many were issued in recognition of wartime service and in particular indicated theatres of war.

But medals were struck for all sorts of service, including work and notable achievements in a whole range of activities.

And that brings me to this medal, which has just been acquired by my old chum David Harrop, who told me that “It's very rare, I've never seen one with the ribbon”.

It dates from 1914 and commemorates the “Bombardment of Scarborough & Non Combatant’s by the German Fleet”.

All of which made sense, given that the shelling of Scarborough,  Hartlepool, West Hartlepool and Whitby, shocked the nation.   

This was only months after the Great War had begun and long before the awful casualties which would stack up during the great battles on the Western Front and elsewhere.

“The German ships fired 1,150 shells into Hartlepool, striking targets including the steelworks, gasworks, railways, seven churches and 300 houses. 

People fled the town by road and attempted to do so by train; 86 civilians were killed and 424 injured, 122 killed and 443 wounded according to Arthur Marder in 1965

Seven soldiers were killed and 14 injured. The death of Private Theophilus Jones of the Durham Light Infantry, age 29, was the first death of a British soldier from enemy action on British soil for 200 years. Eight German sailors were killed and 12 wounded”.*

So, not unsurprisingly it was the focus for many newspaper stories and picture postcards.

But what makes our medal a littler different, is that according to David it was produced by the Mercury newspaper, and was sold as a commemorative souvenir.

Which some might reflect was an interesting take on patriotism and manipulating the event to enhance propaganda.  

But plenty of people also bought into miniature porcelain figures of tanks, battleships, and ambulances, and many more into special editions of newspapers and magazines focusing on aspects of the war.

Location; Scarborough

Picture; the Scarborough medal, 1914, courtesy of David Harrop

* Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_on_Scarborough,_Hartlepool_and_Whitby

Amongst the Scarborough destruction ..... a human story

The popular press has always looked for the human story amidst the more horrible things that can happen.

And back in December 1914 the bombardment of Scarborough was just such an opportunity.

My Wikipedia tells me that “The Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby on 16 December 1914 was an attack by the Imperial German Navy on the British ports of Scarborough, Hartlepool, West Hartlepool and Whitby. 

The bombardments caused hundreds of civilian casualties and resulted in public outrage in Britain against the German Navy for the raid and the Royal Navy for failing to prevent it”.*

At the time the newspapers were full of the destruction, and images of the funerals of those who were killed.  

And later still plaques and memorials were erected to commemorate the attacks.

Now my old friend David Harrop has long been interested in the raids, not least because they have faded somewhat from popular memory for most of the country.  

And having received a picture postcard of the attack, he decided to mark the bombardment with a special exhibition at his permanent exhibition in Southern Cemetery.**

Added to which he has set up a special Facebook site which he calls David Harrop Manchester Postal Museum Presents Scarborough In WW1.***

As he said to me  “I just wanted to do something on the bombardment prior to Remembrance Day. So much emphasis on W.W1 and WW2 that the poor soul's of the East Coast of Yorkshire are forgotten”.***

So along with photographs of some of the memorials, and newspaper clippings are these two which reflect the media’s approach to reporting both the awfulness of the events, matched with that “human story”.

And a cat story will always appeal to a significant section of the populaton.

So that is it.

The clippings come fromThe Scarborough Pictorial and were printed days after the attack in 1914.

Location; Scarborough, 1914, Southern Cemetery, 2021

Pictures; courtesy of David Harrop, 2021 

*Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_on_Scarborough,_Hartlepool_and_Whitby

***Postal and History Museum, Remembrance Lodge, Southern Cemetery, Barlow Moor Road

***David Harrop Manchester Postal Museum Presents Scarborough In WW1, https://www.facebook.com/David-Harrop-Manchester-Postal-Museum-Presents-Scarborough-In-WW1-164901897577982/

A postcard ...... the bombardent of Scarborough ..... and a mystery on Fennel Street

 Now this is Fennel Street.

Fennel Street close to number 45 on the left, 2021

And I think it is the closest we will get to Albert Halliwell, who worked at Snowden & Bridge. 

The firm were listed as butter merchants located at 45 Fennell Street and were one of three such enterprises on the same street.

If I have got this correct Albert was just 14 when he received a picture postcard from his friend Phillis who admonished him for not sending a letter, while also expressing concern about his health.

The rest of the correspondence focused on news of their mutual friends.

What is missing is any reference to the picture on the other side of the card, which shows the ruins of a house destroyed by German naval bombardment at the start of the Great War in 1914.

Wykeham Street Scarborough, 1914

According to the caption, the house was on “Wykeham Street and was where Mrs. Bennet and two children were killed”.

Dear Bert, 1916

But perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that Phillis made no mention of the deaths or the bombardment which had shocked the public at the time, because the card was sent in the June of 1916, by which time the casualties from the fighting were a grim intrusion which  reached into every community.

Since the outbreak of the war there had  been fifteen major battles on the Western Front, with two horrific gas attacks on British soldiers in the April of 1916, while the Battle of Verdun had already been raging for five months and would only end in the December of 1916 with the loss of 714,231 French and German soldiers.

And not long after Albert received his postcard the armies of the British Empire and France would launch the Somme offensive which lasted from July to November, involved three million on both sides, of which perhaps one million were wounded or killed.

A.C. Halliwell, c/o Snowden Bridge, 1916

All of which brings me back to the card, which was sent over by David Harrop, who thought I might find it an interesting insight into the Bombardment of Scarborough, which I did.

But history has an odd way of taking you down twisty turnings, and so as awful as the German attack was, I was drawn to Albert and his workplace on Fennel Street.

At first, I was intrigued by the address on the card which was Snowden Bridge, Fennel Street which took me off on a search for a bridge close to the street.  

This wasn’t so daft, given the presence of Hanging Ditch close by, but Snowden Bridge was Snowden & Bridge, butter merchants at 45 Fennel Street in the Corn Exchange.*

Fennel Street with Corporation Stret in the distance, 2021

Leaving me to assume that A.C. Halliwell was Bert who was employed by the firm in 1916.

Just why the card was addressed to Fennel Street is unclear.  

In 1911 he was living with his parents and a lodger at 29 Rocester Street off Rochdale Road in a four roomed house.**

But if you are in  speculative mood, and you assume that "our Albert" still lived at Rocester Street, he may well have taken the tram down from Harpurhey into the heart of the city and walked along Withy Grove, across Corporation Street and into Fennel Street, but that would be unhistorical speculation, but fun.

So I shall wander off looking for more on "our Albert".

Location; Manchester

Pictures; Fennel Street, 2021, from the collection of Andrew Simpson, and Bombardment of Scarborough, 1914, courtesy of David Harrop

*Slater's Directory of Manchester & Salford, 1911

**1911 Census, Enu 34 28, St Georges, Manchester