Some short extracts from the Scarborough Pictorial after the German bombardment of Scarborough in 1914.
A large hole was made, the side and front part of the shop - in South Street - were blown in, chemicals and other goods were mixed up in the debris, an employee Leonard Ellis, who was at the front of the shop (South Street) was killed, and a scene almost baffling description was the result, for this was not all. The plate glass window of Messrs. WC Land and a company shop next door was smashed, and an employee, Harry Frith, who was also at the front of the shop was killed. At the opposite side some premises occupied by Mr Charles Smith silversmith and antique dealer were wrecked, and a house above had all the windows blown out, and other damage done. Fortunately this house was not occupied. Mr Smith estimates his losses will be £700 or £800, yet he is a true Britisher, for on the shutters of some of his premises yesterday was a photo of Lord Kitchener, and underneath the words:"Are we downhearted? No."
At No. 38, Mr and Mrs Duffield lived, there was a lull in the firing, and Mr Duffield went out. A neighbour shouted that she thought the premises were on fire, could he try to telephone the fire station. He proceeded to the Granville Boarding House, tried to telephone, but the firing recommenced. Mrs Duffield fearing for him ran out, and at the foot of Mrs Truefitt's step they were hit by a shell. Mrs Duffield was fatally injured. Yesterday, marks of blood could be seen.
Another shell went through the garden wall, across a road, through the kitchen of No 1, Belvedere-road, where it killed a maid, Miss Edith Crosby, through the next house, and deposited itself, unburst, in the garden.
At Dunollie, the residence of Mr J.H. Turner, where Postman A Beal, and the maid, Miss Margaret Briggs were killed, a shell hit the stonework over the portal, and created great havoc, huge pieces of masonry being thrown about like pieces of paper.
Scenes on the South Foreshore, were very animated on Wednesday, thousands of people passing along the front with a view to seeing the extent of the damage. The Royal Northern Sea Bathing Infirmary, where Belgian and English wounded are, was damaged, but no one was hit. A shell hit the Olympia buildings, and fragments scattered over the cloth roof inside the building, making holes in it. Performances were stopped for the day.
Three trawlers lying in Scarborough harbour were damaged as a result of the bombardment. A shell, or part of one, went clean through the Volta, into the Rameses above the water line. The damage to the Industria was well below the water-line, and the vessel began to fill when the tide flowed. Several yawls were more or less damaged.
Of curious incidents there are almost an endless number, and one of the most singular occurred at the premises of Mr W Dove, cab proprietor, in Roscoe-road, his being the only place touched in that thoroughfare. The stables and shed were wrecked, and practically everything was demolished. The remarkable feature here was the fate of the two horses. They were standing in adjacent stalls, but while debris fell all around one, which was killed, it missed the other altogether and crashed down on the further side of it. The harness hanging on the wall was holed and torn in an indescribable manner.
An account of the presence of a German squadron in the North Sea on Wednesday afternoon, six hours after the raid on the East Coast, has been furnished by skippers of some of the incoming trawlers on Friday. One skipper states that he passed by six German warships which were proceeding full speed and steering due east, evidently shaping a course for Heligoland. Included in the squadron were three cruisers, and it was noticed that signals were being exchanged, he was unable t understand the code. There were fishing vessels in the vicinity, but the warships took no notice of their presence. "I never saw warships travelling so fast before," he said
Four people were killed at two Wykeham-street. A cat survived though. Its fur was badly singed. It was discovered in the copper, buried beneath debris, three days after the explosion.
