Raid on Lowca and Parton

{{short description|Attack by the Imperial German Navy submarine on 16 August 1915}}

{{Infobox military conflict

| conflict = Raid on Lowca and Parton

| image = German U-24 submarine destroying the containers of a English benzene factory near Harrington (16 August, 1915).png

|image_upright = 1.0

| caption = German U-24 submarine attacking Harrington Coke factory near Whitehaven (illustration by Willy Moralt)

| date = 16 August 1915

| place = near Lowca and Parton villages, Cumbrian coast, England

| coordinates = {{coord|54|34|58|N|3|34|58|E|display=inline,title}}

| result = Indecisive

| combatant2 = {{flagcountry|UKGBI}}

| combatant1 = {{flagcountry|German Empire}}

| commander2 = None

| commander1 = Rudolf Schneider

| strength2 =

| strength1 = {{SMU|U-24||2}}

| casualties2 = 1 dog killed

| casualties1 = None

| campaignbox = {{Campaignbox North Sea 1914–1918}}

}}

The Raid on Lowca and Parton during the First World War on 16 August 1915 was an attack by the Imperial German Navy submarine {{SMU|U-24||2}} on the Harrington Coke toluene factory located near Lowca and Parton villages in Cumbria on the British coast. A German U-boat, U-24 fired 55 shells and then left without British interference, causing minimal damage on the facility and the death of a local dog. The incident occurred as one of the few naval operations in the Irish Sea and probably the first time when the Britain was bombarded by a submarine.

The event played a significant part in an espionage affair of Hildegare Burnyeat, German-born wife the British Parliament MP William Burnyeat, shortly after he was accused, convicted and finally pardoned, for an espionage for German Empire.

Background

In response to the continuing British naval blockade of Germany, the German government declared the waters around the British Isles a war zone on 4 February 1915.{{cite web |title=The U-Boat Campaign That Almost Broke Britain |url=https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/the-u-boat-campaign-that-almost-broke-britain |website=Imperial War Museum Web |publisher=Imperial War Museum London |access-date=13 September 2024}} In a short time German U-boat type submarines started to penetrate closer to the enemy coast attacking mainly cargo ships and sinking them without any warning. On 20 February two British ships were sunk in the Irish sea: Welsh steamer Cambank and Irish steamer Downshire (by SM U-30){{cite web |url=http://uboat.net/wwi/ships_hit/1701.html |title=Downshiore |publisher=Uboat.net |accessdate=29 September 2012}} and more were about to follow. Operational capabilities of the U-boats created a new threat for the western coast of Britain till then almost untouched by the direct military actions, especially compared to the south-eastern banks of England. This area experienced the first massive coastal bombardment, primarily targeting non-military sites, on 16 December 1914 during the raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby with the result of 136 people killed and 443 wounded,{{cite book |last=Marder |first=Arthur J. |author-link=Arthur Marder |title=From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow, The Royal Navy in the Fisher Era, 1904–1919: The War Years to the eve of Jutland: 1914–1916 |volume=II |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=London |year=1965 |oclc=865180297}} having a huge psychological impact on British public, following two another similar German operations until August 1915.

Action

To target British strategical and military coastal facilities would be a new tactics for the German Imperial Navy, a newly opened warfare gave the opportunity to prove an original plan. U-24 submarine under the command of Capitain Rudolf Schneider{{cite book |last= Mansergh|first= Ruth|date= 2015|title= Barrow-in-Furness in the Great War|location= Barnsley|publisher= Pen and Sword Books|pages= 30–31|isbn= 978-1-78383-111-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4jF1CQAAQBAJ&q=hersing&pg=PA30}} was tasked to attack by the gunfire of its deck cannon the Harrington Coke factory owned by Workington Iron and Steel Company, producing toluen out of benzene used in production of TNT explosive. The factory was built in 1911 in a collaboration with the German companies, which was probably the reason why Harrington Coke should be targeted. Area was also expected to be unguarded by the British ships or coastal artillery.

In the middle of August 1915 U-24 slipped into the Irish Sea. On the dawn of 16 August 1915 the ship intercepted the coast Cumbria and surfaced. At about 4:50 crew entered the deck and opened fire from their deck 8.8 cm SK L/30 naval gun on the Harrington Coke factory near Lowca village. 55 shots had been fired,{{cite news |last1=Jackson |first1=Jerry |title=Lowca and Parton in Cumbria recall 1915 attack by German U-boat |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-cumbria-28668657 |access-date=13 September 2024 |publisher=BBC |date=6 August 2014}} about 13 of them hit the targeted site. Later the information spreaded that a quick thinking workers of the plant opened a relief valve which sent up an impressive plume of burning gas simulating an explosion fire, so the submariners thought they had damaged their target enough. About 20 shots were then fired on an inhabited coast side of Lowca and Parton villages. U-24 was spotted at sea by two men in an unarmed fishing boat watching.{{cite web |title=The MP's wife, a flashing light and a German U-boat... |url=https://www.whitehavennews.co.uk/news/17127338.the-mps-wife-a-flashing-light-and-a-german-u-boat/ |website=The Whitehaven News |date=3 May 2012 |access-date=13 September 2024}} Action lasted for about 25 minutes, then U-24 left the coast to continue in hunt for enemy vessels.

Aftermath

Shelling caused a few fires and damage of the cost about £800.{{cite web |title=West Cumbrian village was target of German attack |url=https://www.whitehavennews.co.uk/news/17105015.west-cumbrian-village-target-german-attack/ |website=The Whitehaven News |date=11 October 2018 |access-date=13 September 2024}} Nobody was killed during the accident, most of the people were already sleeping and apparently the only fatality of the incident was one of the local dogs.Carruthers, F.J., article on Lowca shelling, Evening News & Star, 3–4 October 1968 After just four days functioning of the factory was restored.

The action of U-24 was widely used by German war propaganda picturing the surprising and courageous attack "behind enemy lines", British press on the other hand called the German submariners pirates and Huns. Nevertheless, the operation was still shadowed by the sinking of British steamer SS Arabic in the Irish Sea on 19 August 1915, causing 44 casualties.

Espionage affair

Numerous witnesses from the area reported, that they had seen pure white light coming from the coast presumably giving the signal to the German boat.{{cite web |title=The MP's wife, a flashing light and a German U-boat... |url=https://www.whitehavennews.co.uk/news/17127338.the-mps-wife-a-flashing-light-and-a-german-u-boat/ |website=The Whitehaven News |date=3 May 2012 |access-date=13 September 2024}} Suspicion felt on Mrs Hildegarde Burnyeat, wife of a local coal industry entrepreneur and former member of the British Parliament William Burnyeat. She was born in 1875 as Hildegard Hedwig Augusta Anna Retzlaff in Culm, Eastern Prussia,{{cite web |title=Hildegard Hedwig Augusta Anna Retzlaff |url=https://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records/hildegard-hedwig-augusta-anna-retzlaff-24-jqtdt |website=Ancestry.com |access-date=13 September 2024}} later lived in Berlin and then moved to Britain after marrying her husband in 1908, living in a house near Whitehaven port.

Possible relation between Mrs Burnyeat origin, place of residence and the U-boat attack were put together by the British intelligence which led to her arrest and charge of an espionage for the German Empire. In an atmosphere of the executions of a British nurse Edith Cavell in German-occupied Belgium{{cite web |title=Cavell Org - bio |url=https://cavell.org.uk/what-we-do/who-was-edith-cavell/ |website=Cavell.org.uk |access-date=13 September 2024}} for being a British spy and some similar cases which occurred in Britain, the affair was followed by the British press in a large scale. At first Hildegarde Burnyeat was sentenced to death penalty, soon after changed for life imprisonment. Her case was later reviewed and after a year, shortly after her husband William died on 8 May 1916 aged 42, she was set free of all charges and released. Suspicion could be based on truth: she was a daughter of a Prussian officer, her brother served in the German navy and after the war started she was defending German positions for war.{{cite book |last1=Mansergh |first1=Ruth |title=Whitehaven in the Great War |date=2015 |publisher=Pen & Sword Military |location=Barnsley, South Yorkshire |isbn=9781473833999 |page=22 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c3wACwAAQBAJ&dq=Hildegarde+Burnyeat&pg=PA22 |access-date=13 September 2024}}

Memory

Some of the relicts of the shells and other artifacts and materials about the raid are kept in the Beacon Museum in nearby town of Whitehaven.{{cite news |last1=Jackson |first1=Jerry |title=Lowca and Parton in Cumbria recall 1915 attack by German U-boat |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-cumbria-28668657 |access-date=13 September 2024 |publisher=BBC |date=6 August 2014}}