Lives of the First World War

16th December 1914

At 8am on Wednesday, December 16, 1914, three German warships appeared out of the mist shrouding the sea off Hartlepool and, from a mile out, opened fire. It was a brutal exercise by the Germans to frighten complacent British civilians, who believed the war would be concluded in their favour by Christmas. The first shell, fired by the battle cruiser Seydlitz, landed beside the Heugh battery on the Headland and killed four members of the Durham Pals outright. They were, in alphabetical order, Privates Charles Clark and Theophilis Jones, both of West Hartlepool; Corporal Alix Liddle, of Darlington, and Private Leslie Turner, of Newcastle. The likelihood is that all four, including the colliery clerk from Darlington, died simultaneously. Seydlitz’s second shell landed practically in the same place as the first beside the Heugh Battery, killing four men who had gone to help their colleagues. They were Gunner William Houston, who was born in Middlesbrough; Gunner Robert Spence, born in West Hartlepool; Private Thomas Minks, from Middlesbrough, and Private Walter Rogers, who was born in Bishop Auckland.

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