THE speaker this week at the Probus Club of Penarth was Gavin Davies whose chosen subject was “The Bombardment of Hartlepool December 16, 1914”.

At this time the main British fleet was anchored at Scapa Flow, north of Hartlepool whilst the smaller German fleet at Wilhelmshaven had been carrying out reconnaissance maneuvers on the eastern coast of Britain.

The intelligence showed that the coast was poorly defended, there was a steady stream of shipping and that two British battlecruisers had been despatched to South America to take part in the Battle of the Falklands.

The German high command decided to attack, but by this time the British were in possession of the German code books and were able to monitor their movement, so were well aware that an attack was imminent but decided to allow the attack in the hope that they would catch the German fleet unaware on their return to base.

Hartlepool docks was defended with three six inch naval guns on the seafront, two at the Heugh battery and one at the Lighthouse battery.

The guns were manned by officers and men of the Durham Royal Garrison Artillery. At 0430 hours they learned there was a possibility of an attack, and at 0746 hours large ships were sighted and the bombardment started at 0810 hours.

Three German battle cruisers; SMS Moltke, Seidlitz and Blucher shelled the coastline, but they were firing at such close range that the fuses didn’t have time to arm and the shells ricocheted into the town rather than dropping on the land from a height.

There were 1,150 shells fired during the bombardment and strategic buildings were destroyed, 86 civilians and seven soldiers were killed, with numerous people injured. The German ships turned tail and headed for home at full speed and despite British efforts made it safely to harbour.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Germans regarded this attack as one of their victories. Mr Davies had recently uncovered a local connection insofar as Sergeant Fred Mallins formerly of the Glamorgan Constabulary was awarded the Military Medal for the part he played in the defence of Hartlepool, although in what capacity is not known.

Later with the Cardiff City Battalion (16th Welsh) he was decorated again before rejoining the Glamorgan Constabulary.