Bombardment, Public Safety and Resilience in English Coastal Communities during the First World War (Global Studies in Social and Cultural Maritime History)

"This book is a fascinating novel project researching the effects of bombardment during the First World War on four north-east coastal towns. It makes a much-needed contribution to the history of police work, a developing area of historical research. The book outlines the destruction to the buildings and infrastructure and provides the context of local and national events with the advice and instructions given to the local population. By showing the role of Special Constables, it provides a real insight into the Home Front at this critical time in British history." --Mary Fraser, University of Glasgow, UK "The First World War is both distant and close - our knowledge intimately familiar yet somehow incomplete. Nowhere is this truer than for the unique coastal-urban experience of that conflict explored by Michael Reeve in this book. Focusing on morale, endurance, and public safety, we see and understand new aspects of Britain's coastal zone through German naval and aerial bombardment and destruction in Hull, Hartlepool, West Hartlepool, and Whitby. Local popular culture confronted and framed the tragic aftermaths, with nearby Scarborough's 1915 'Bombardment Museum' housing relics and souvenirs of the attacks, and Hartlepool's 'Bombardment Thank-offering Days' fundraising for hospitalized victims of the December 1914 attack. Shifting between the detail of objects and the grander narratives of context, the author makes a powerful and convincing case for looking afresh at how conflict creates as well as destroys by reconfiguring the people and places of our historic coastline." --Nicholas J. Saunders, University of Bristol, UK This book makes the case for a unique coastal-urban experience of war on the home front during the First World War, focusing on case studies from the north-east of England. The use of case studies from this region problematises an often assumed national or generalised experience of civilian life during the war, by shifting the frame of analysis away from the metropolis. This book begins with chapters related to wartime resilience, including analysis of pre-war fear of invasion and bombardment, and government policy on public safety. It then moves on to a discussion of power relations and the local implementation of policy related to bombardment, including policing. Finally, the book explores the 'coastal-urban' environment, focusing on depictions of war damage in popular culture, and the wartime and post-war commemoration of civilian bombardment. This work provides a multi-faceted perspective on civilian resilience, while responding to a recent call for new histories of the 'coastal zone'. Michael Reeve is a Lecturer in History at Bishop Grosseteste University, Lincoln, UK. He received his PhD in History from the University of Hull, UK, in 2019, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council Acknowledgements Contents Abbreviations List of Figures List of Tables Chapter 1: Introduction Central Themes Wartime Resilience Civilian Resilience in Wartime Power Relations Urban Governance, Central–Local Relations and Militarisation of the Civil Sphere The Coastal–Urban Environment The North-East Coastal Region and the Coastal Experience of War The Socio-economic and Geographical Character of the Case Studies Hull ‘The Hartlepools’ Scarborough Whitby Research Questions, Structure and Methodology Summary Part I: Wartime Resilience Chapter 2: Constructing Fear of Invasion and Bombardment Introduction Late Nineteenth-Century Invasion Narratives Fear and Anxiety in the Context of Total War Conclusion Chapter 3: Public Safety and Home Defence: The Defence of the Realm Act (DORA) and Central Government Policy Introduction The Authorised Competent Military Authority Defending the North-East Coast from the Centre Planning for Bombardment: Precautionary Measures, ‘Buzzers’ and Lighting Restrictions Conclusion Part II: Power Relations Chapter 4: Local Interpretation and Implementation of Central Government Policy on Home and Civil Defence Introduction Home Defence on the North-East Coast: Trenches, Guns and Barbed Wire Early-Warning Systems and Preparedness for Bombardment Conclusion Chapter 5: Agents of Implementation and Enforcement: Policing DORA Introduction The Special Constabulary and Policing the DRR Measuring the Efficacy of DORA: Court Records Civil Defence ‘from below’ Conclusion Part III: The Coastal–Urban Environment Chapter 6: Representing War Damage and Destruction Following Bombardment Introduction Representing War Damage on the North-East Coast ‘Reading’ War Damage in Postcards Displaying the Physical Traces of Bombardment Conclusion Chapter 7: The Wartime and Post-war Legacies of Civilian Bombardment Introduction 1914–18: Making Sense of Bombardment Post-war: Armistice and Interwar Remembrance Peace Day 1919 War Memorials to the Civilian ‘Fallen’ Traces of Bombardment in the Post-war Urban Environment From the Second World War to the Centenary Conclusion Chapter 8: Conclusion: Towards a History of the Coastal–Urban Environment at War Wartime Resilience Power Relations The Coastal–Urban Environment at War Conclusion Bibliography Archival Primary Sources East Riding of Yorkshire Archives, Beverley (ERYA) Hartlepool Central Library, Hartlepool (HCL) Hartlepool Museums & Galleries, Sir William Gray House, Hartlepool (HAPMG) Heugh Battery Museum, Hartlepool (HBM) Hull History Centre, Hull (HHC) Hull Magistrates Court Minutes (Petty Sessions) Hull City Council Minutes Other Materials Imperial War Museum, London (IWM) Department of Documents Department of Art and Popular Design Books and Publications Department Liddle Collection, Special Collections, Leeds University Library, Leeds (LC) The National Archives, Kew (TNA) Admiralty Air Ministry Cabinet Office Home Office War Office North Yorkshire County Record Office, Northallerton (NYCRO) Court Registers Local Government Minutes School Log Books Other Materials Scarborough Collections, Care of Scarborough Museums Trust, Scarborough (SMT) Scarborough Library, Scarborough (SL) Teesside Archives, Middlesbrough (TA) Court Registers Other Materials Contemporary Newspapers and Press Publications National Local Published Primary Sources British Library, Boston Spa, Leeds (BL) General Reference Collection Secondary Sources Books Journal Articles and Chapters in Edited Collections Theses Internet Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Websites Census and Demographic Data Index