This account was related by Edith M. Palmer (later Rochester). She was born in 1907 and was just seven years old at the time of the raid. Her mother was Margaret Palmer and they lived at 41 Cliff Street. The Cliff Street Girls’ and Infants’ School was opened in 1894.

At the time of the Whitby bombardment I was a little girl of seven, living at 41 Cliff Street with my mother and older brother. My father was a ship’s carpenter and was away at sea at the time.

I attended Cliff Street School (since demolished). On the morning of the raid I went to school as usual. We were just starting our first lesson when we heard several loud bangs, which I thought was thunder. Then I heard someone say, “The Germans are coming!”

The teacher, Miss Boyes, asked us to go out quietly and to go home. There were steps down to the road outside and I remember one of my friends fell and hurt her leg. Outside men and women were running about, some of them still in their night attire.

Of course I hurried home to look for my mother and was very upset when I couldn’t find her. Someone eventually told me she was with a neighbour who was ill. She was an old lady called Mrs Boyes who lived alone. From the window of her room you looked out across to the East Cliff and could see the Abbey and St Mary’s Church, the Spa and the East Pier, and, just out to sea, were two ships, from which you could see shells being fired. They made a swishing sound as they came. The old lady was in bed and my mother lifted her up so she could see what was happening. As we watched through the window a shell hit the top of the Abbey and the wall collapsed like a deck of cards. I was very frightened and clung to my mother. After a short while she said, “Look, the ships are leaving!”

We watched them sail away.

I remember afterwards we had to take money to school for a fund which had been started for a Sea Scout called Miller who had had his leg blown off.