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Guaranteed original. Complete and intact. This is an original WW1 Bombardment of Hartlepool British Propaganda "Kaiser's" Iron Cross for sale. Please see our other items for more original WW1, WW2 & post war British military medals for sale.
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The raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby, which took place on 16 December 1914, was an attack by the Imperial German Navy on the British seaport towns of Scarborough, Hartlepool, West Hartlepool, and Whitby. The attack resulted in 137 fatalities and 592 casualties, many of whom were civilians. The attack resulted in public outrage towards the German navy for an attack against civilians, and against the Royal Navy for its failure to prevent the raid. During the German warships' shelling of Old and West Hartlepool, Scarborough and Whitby, more than one thousand shells were fired, killing between 100 and 200 people, and damaging about 300 houses, seven churches and five hotels. The raid had an enormous effect upon British public opinion, both as a rallying cry against Germany for an attack upon civilians, and in generating criticism of the Royal Navy for being unable to prevent it. The attack became part of a British propaganda campaign, 'Remember Scarborough', used on army recruitment posters. Editorials in neutral America condemned it. Blame for Beatty's light cruisers' having disengaged from the enemy initially fell upon their commander, Goodenough, but the action was contrary to his past good record. Blame eventually settled on the confused signals, which had been drafted by Lieutenant Commander Ralph Seymour. Seymour remained flag officer to Beatty and continued in the same vein, making costly mistakes at both the Battle of Dogger Bank and at Jutland. A new order was drafted to captains to double check any orders to disengage if involved in a winnable battle.[1]:356 There were lucky escapes all round. The German High Seas Fleet failed to take its opportunity to engage the inferior British squadrons at Dogger Bank. The British nearly led a chase into this fleet even after it had turned away from an encounter, but by chance drew back. Hipper escaped both forces set to trap him although, when his battlecruisers later met Beatty's at Jutland, it was Beatty who suffered the greater harm. Jellicoe resolved that in future the entire Grand Fleet would be involved from the start in similar operations, but the battlecruisers were moved to Rosyth to be nearer in the event of future raids. The Kaiser reprimanded his admirals for the fleet's failure to capitalise upon an opportunity, but made no changes to the orders restricting the fleet's use, which were largely responsible for Ingenohl's decisions. In 2010 archaeologist Bob Clarke, a local to Scarborough, offered an alternative reason for the town being shelled. He notes that at the time Scarborough was noted in maritime literature as a 'defended town' due primarily to the castle site. Furthermore, the town had three radio stations, at the time cutting edge technology in the organisation of the Royal Naval Fleet. The shell patterns suggest that these were the key targets for the raid on 16 December 1914 - not the towns folk as was widely reported at the time and perpetuated since.
Please see our other items for more original WW1, WW2 & post war British military medal for sale including other WW1 Bombardment of Hartlepool British Propaganda "For Kultur" Iron Cross medals.
