What Will the Angels Think? – Poem by Thomas Grey, 1914

Thomas Grey was born in Shoreswood, near Berwick in 1863. He worked for North Eastern Railways as a train driver for many years. In his 40s he was forced to find other work due to ill health. In 1918 he started working for the Post Office, but left that job, too, because of illness.

Thomas seems to have written poetry all of his adult life. In 1906 he published a book of poems called Musings on the Footplate (the footplate is part of a steam engine that the driver stands on while driving the train.) It was the only book that he published during his lifetime, but the Berwick Advertiser regularly published his poems in the newspaper.

During the First World War Thomas was too old to fight, but three of his sons served in the armed forces. He often wrote about events during the war. After the war, he was part of the committee that put up the war memorial in Tweedmouth.

More about his life and poetry can be found by following the link below.

Ten days before this poem was published in the Berwick Advertiser, ships from the Germany Navy fired on the British seaside towns of Scarborough, Whitby and Hartlepool.

On 16 December 1914, at 8am, over 1000 bombs fell on Hartlepool in about 40 minutes. Over 100 people were killed, many more injured, homes and schools were damaged. Both soldiers and civilians died in the bombardment. It was the first attack by a foreign power on the British mainland in over 200 years.

This poem reflects the shock and outrage that many people in Britain felt after the attack. The peace and hope of the Christmas message is contrasted with the “crimes” of the Germans.

This was not the only German attack that the area suffered. The North East was attacked by German airships on a number of occasions during the war. On 14 April 1915 an airship flew over Blyth, Cramlington and Bedlington, causing damage to a number of houses. (See links below.)