ree towns during the bombardment and
afterwards were tragic. Considering the fact, however, that the persons
under fire were civilians, many of them women and children, their
coolness was remarkable. They did not know what should be done, for the
thought of bombardment was the last thing that had come into the minds
of the authorities when England went to war, and as a result no
instructions for such an emergency had been issued by the authorities.
Some thought it best to stay within doors, some thought it best to go
into the streets. In Hartlepool a large crowd gathered in the railway
station, some fully dressed, some only in night clothes.

Many of the women carried babies in their arms and were followed by
older children who clung to their skirts. Policemen led this crowd out
of the station and started them along a street which would bring them
out into the country, but while they were passing the library they were
showered by the stone work as it fell when hit by the German shells. One
shell, striking the street itself, killed three of the six children who
were fleeing along it in company with their mother. Many other persons
met deaths as tragic either within their own homes or on the streets.
St. Mary's Catholic Church as well as the Church of St. Hilda were
damaged, as were the shipyards and the office of the local newspaper.
The destruction of the gas works left the town in almost complete
darkness for many nights afterward. The authorities issued a
proclamation ordering all citizens to remain indoors for a time, and
then began to count the number of dead and injured. The first estimate
gave the former as 22 and the latter as 50, but subsequent reckoning
showed that both figures were too low.

In Scarborough most of the inhabitants were still in bed when the
bombardment started and for a few minutes did not become excited,
thinking the booming of the guns was the sound of thunder. But when the
shells began to drop on their houses they knew better. Many were killed
or wounded while they hastily got into their clothes. One shell hit St.
Martin's Church while communion was being held. Here, too, the railway
station was made the objective of many refugees, and the police did what
they could to send the women and children out of range of fire by
putting them on trains of extra length. As in all such scenes there were
humorous sides to it. One old workman, while hurrying along a street was
heard to say: "This is what