THE 25lb field gun at the Heugh Battery, Headlands, Hartlepool, exploded into life at 8.10am yesterday - 91 years to the minute after the first bombardment of Hartlepool.
The firing was part of a service that commemorated the anniversary of the first military attack on British soil in more than 200 years.
On December 16, 1914, three German cruisers fired more than 1,000 shells on the twin towns of Hartlepool and West Hartlepool, killing 118 people.
At 8.50am, the gun was fired a second time, marking the end of the bombardment.
Among crowds gathered to mark the occasion were members of the Heugh Battery Trust, Hartlepool Mayor Stuart Drummond and the Salvation Army.
A service took place at the Redheugh Memorial Gardens, where German Salvation Army leader Major Rainer Nadler addressed the crowds.
He said: "After 91 years, we can put the past behind us and look to the future.
"We must remember the wrongdoing and I must admit that sometimes I am ashamed of parts of my country's history.
"But I am proud of how we have moved on since then."
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