North Eastern Railway and the Hartlepool Bombardment of 1914

[Blink Bonny]

Ay up!

It may have been a combination of the two.

Mrs BB's grandmother may have contributed to the number of duds. Her job was to inspect shells. She had no idea what she was looking for so passed them all. But there was great pressure on the factories to churn 'em out ASAP.

[Caledonian]

woberty: Yes I thought Churchill resigned because he was ultimately responsible for the Dardenelles Offensive (aka Gallipoli) - both strategically and tactically flawed.
Richard

Perfectly true, but instead of enlisting as a private soldier (dunno where that one came from) they gave him a battalion of the Royal Scots to command on the Western Front - this penance didn't last very long though and he soon came back as Minister of Munitions.

[Rlangham]

Come across a bit of a mystery I don't know if anyone can help me out with - I'm currently reading 'Dawn Raid - the bombardment of the Hartlepools' by JM Ward, and in it he mentions this civilian casualty of the raid;

"Richard Theaker, a platelayer employed by the North Eastern Railway Company, had been killed by a shell while on the railway behind the Central Marine Engine Works"

In my research of the raid, i've read several editions of the North Eastern Railway Magazine in the months following the Bombardment. It mentions a George Dring who was killed in the raid, and also William Sarginson who died of wounds in January 1916, however there is no mention of Richard Theaker at all, and I can't understood why not as a member of the North Eastern Railway like the other two workers mentioned. Does anyone have any information on Richard Theaker and can tell me if he was definitely employed by the North Eastern Railway, and any other details of him?

Thanks, Rob

[Rlangham]

Couldn't find any further information on Richard Theaker, however I have found another NER employee killed in the Bombardment;

Private Les D Turner, service number 18/398 of 18th Battalion Durham Light Infantry (the 'Durham Pals') - worked for the North Eastern Railway as a Clerk at the Divisional Superintendent's Office, Newcastle. Joined the Pals in September 1914, and was one of five Durham Pals killed in the Bombardment when a shell struck the machine gun post next to the Heugh Battery

[Rlangham]

Received this original postcard in the post this morning - i'm aware of two photographs of NER wagons damaged in the bombardment, I think the other one is just the wagon on the right but taken from the other side