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Gladstone Road School, Scarborough: Children Caught Under Shelling Attack

Two children taken to safety by a caretaker during the Scarborough bombardment of 1914

Gladstone Road school was one of the locations hit during the bombardment. Had the shelling been half an hour later, the school would have been full. However, two children were there, and were taken to safety in the cellar by the caretaker. The school’s log book tells the full story.

The pair had arrived early as they lived in the country. They were the only children in school at the time. Had the attack started half an hour later, it would have been full. The caretaker took the children down the cellar, as a shell hit the school hall.

A classroom was also badly damaged. As a result, school closed early for the Christmas holidays. On returning, the head teacher observed that pupil numbers had reduced, stating that a great number had left town and even left the district.

Fifty years after the bombardment, a piece of shell fell onto the desk in one of the classrooms! A brass plaque in the school hall remembers the 71 men and two women who had attended Gladstone Road school who were killed during the war.

Location: Gladstone Road Junior and Infant School, Wooler Street, Scarborough, North Yorkshire YO12 7DD
Image shows some damage to the school after the shelling
Photograph courtesy of North Yorkshire County Records Office
Presented by pupils from Gladstone Road Junior and Infant School (2014)

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