A LONG-LOST First World War letter in which Winston Churchill brands the German Navy "the baby-killers of Scarborough" has been unearthed.

Researchers for an exhibition to mark the Bombardment of Hartlepool, Whitby and Scarborough, contacted the great-great grandson of Scarborough's mayor in 1914, and found he had an original letter from Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty.

On December 16, 1914, German warships fired hundreds of shells on the towns, killing 137 people and leaving 592 others injured.

The first attack of the war on British soil sparked public outrage towards the Germans for attacking civilians and also towards the Royal Navy for failing to stop the raid.

In Scarborough, 18 people died, with the youngest, John Shields Ryalls, aged just 14 months old.

Three days after the attack Churchill wrote to the Mayor of Scarborough, Christopher Colbourne Graham, expressing sympathy and condemning the actions of the German Navy.

He said: "We see a nation of military calculators throwing calculations to the wind, of strategists who have lost their sense of proportion, of schemers who have ceased to balance loss and gain.

“Practically the whole fast cruiser force of the German Navy... has been risked for the passing pleasure of killing as many English people as possible, irrespective of sex, age, or condition...

“Their hate is the measure of their fear. Its senseless expression is a proof of their dishonour. Whatever feats of arms the German Navy may hereafter perform the stigma of the baby-killers of Scarborough will brand its officers and men while sailors sail the sea.”

Remember Scarborough project officer Esther Graham said she had been astonished to find the original letter had been kept by the family of a friend, who is Mr Graham's great-great grandson.

She said the letter would be one of the centrepieces of the exhibition at Scarborough Art Gallery, opening on Saturday (July 26).

Debbie Seymour, chief executive of Scarborough Museums Trust, said: “You really feel as if you’re holding history when you touch this letter and read Churchill’s words.

"It’s an extraordinary coincidence that the letter should come to us this way.”

For details about the exhibition, visit scarboroughmuseumstrust.org.uk