Four military organisations have been invited to lay plaques at the new memorial.

Lt Col Richard Hart, Commanding Officer of the 5th Regiment Royal Artillery, said: "We are privileged to play our part in this important commemoration to remember the civilians and military personnel killed during the bombardment.

Image source, Owen Humphreys/PA Wire

"The serving military and the veterans' associations are hugely supportive of this event, which is a most fitting tribute."

Hartlepool is paying tribute to those it lost in a day of civic and community events organised by Hartlepool Council in partnership with the Heugh Gun Battery Trust.

The highlight will be the unveiling of the new Bombardment Memorial on land near the Headland lighthouse by the Lord-Lieutenant of County Durham Sue Snowdon.

100 years to the day, Hartlepool is paying tribute to those it lost in a day of civic and community events organised by Hartlepool Council in partnership with the Heugh Gun Battery Trust.

Representatives of the four military organisations which lost personnel in the bombardment, the Durham Light Infantry, the Royal Engineers, the Royal Artillery and the Royal Navy, will lay plaques at the memorial.

Image source, Hartlepool Council

Tug Wilson, chairman of the Hartlepool Combined Ex-Service Association, said: "In presenting our standards at the new memorial we will proudly honour the memory of all those so tragically killed on that fateful day in December 1914."

Lawrence Hunter remembers the moment when his father told the family the "Germans are here" and they gathered their things and scrambled out of the home. , external

Image source, Hartlepool Culture and Information

Mrs Jobling was getting ready for school when the shells began to drop. She recalls hearing what she thought was thunder., external

Image source, Hartlepool Culture and Information

Violet Muers was just seven when the German navy bombarded Hartlepool.

She recalled how her husband-to-be had also been caught in the surprise attack.

He had been sent out to get sausages from the butchers when the shells started falling.

Red Lea on Prince of Wales Terrace in Scarborough after the 1914 German bombardment (left) and how the same building looks now.

Image source, Scarborough Museums Trust/PA Wire

Hartlepool was the only one of the three towns which was defended. More than 1,000 shells were fired at it by three German cruisers over 40 minutes. The town had major shipyards and marine engine works.

The neighbouring Heugh Battery meant Moor Terrace was in the firing line of the German attackers.

Image source, Hartlepool Culture and Information

The street suffered extensive damage but looks relatively unchanged 100 years on. Take a look at this and more photos comparing the town at the time of the bombardment and today.

This metal alarm clock represents the point when the first of 1,150 shells rained down on Hartlepool.

A piece of German naval shell is embedded in the face of the clock which was stopped by a piece of shrapnel, it also shows the place of manufacture - Germany.

Image source, Hartlepool Cluture and Information

The clock can still be seen to this day at The Heugh Gun Battery.

Peter Harris
Look North

I'm in Hartlepool and dozens of people have arrived to pay their respects to the victims of the German bombardment 100 years ago. More than 100 civilians died.

Suzie Lennox tweets, external: 100yrs ago tdy my Gt grandmother had her 21st birthday the same day #Hartlepool was bombed #ww1athome

John Parker emailed about his personal connection to the Hartlepool Bombardment. His grandfather Pte David Lamb, of the Durham Light Infantry, was wounded by the shellfire at Heugh Battery.

He wrote: "His wounds were serious enough for him to be kept in hospital for several months. Had he received similar wounds on the Western Front, he might well have not survived.

"So in a way I may owe my existence - indirectly - to the German Navy and am reflecting on that twist of fate this morning."

Mr Parker said his grandfather was discharged on medical grounds and returned to civilian life as a teacher. He was awarded a medal for "services rendered at Hartlepool" - but also had a white feather pushed through his letterbox.

Edith Reed remembers the moment she heard the shells being fired: "I was walking and this terrible, terrible noise started. Windows rattled, you thought the world was coming to an end.

"They [the shells] just came in and shattered the whole place."

Image source, Hartlepool Culture and Information

George Jobling refused to leave his home on the corner of South Street and Dock Street in West Hartlepool during the bombardment.

Image source, Hartlepool Museum Archive

He found the dead bodies of his two grand-daughters, Sarah, six, and Hannah, four, buried in the rubble outside.

This photo shows damage from the bombardment to houses on Lilly Street. This street no longer exists but ran between Thorpe Street and Arabella Street on the Headland.

Image source, Hartlepool Culture and Information

A child recalled the moment the shells passed over a train full of children near West Hartlepool station., external

Image source, Hartlepool Culture and Information

Lt Col Lancelot Robson was a fire commander of Durham Royal Garrison Artillery and helped defend the town, along with his fellow soldiers, as Hartlepool came under fire.

Image source, Hartlepool Culture and Information

Hartlepool Borough Council museums manager Mark Simmons has spent the last two years researching to find the true number of those who died in Hartlepool during the bombardment after discovering there were discrepancies in the accounts.

He trawled through documents including coroner and newspaper reports and found 114 civilians, nine soldiers and seven sailors died on the actual day, although he is sure that will not be the final figure.

Mr Simmons said: "I know that it will never end. There are potentially people who were never reported."

Alongside Theo Jones in combat was 19-year-old Private Robert Webster.

In the days after the bombardment he wrote a short memoir about the attack - listen to his account., external

Although Pte Theophilus Jones is almost universally credited with being the first soldier to die during the bombardment, conclusive evidence is scarce.

Image source, Hartlepool Culture and Information

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission can only narrow it down to the few members of the 18th battalion of the DLI killed on duty that day.

Walter Rogers, LD Turner, Alix Oliffe Liddle, CS Clarke and Thomas Minks - all from County Durham or Teesside - were with Pte Jones as the battery returned fire.