10 facts about the belfast blitz

His report concluded with: "a second Belfast would be too horrible to contemplate". The danger faced in London was greatly increased when the V2 attacks started and the casualty figures mirrored those of the Blitz.. Omissions? ", Dawson Bates informed the Cabinet of rack-renting of barns, and over thirty people per house in some areas.[24]. He went to the Mater Hospital at 2pm, nine hours after the raid ended, to find the street with a traffic jam of ambulances waiting to admit their casualties. British Spies and Irish Rebels by Paul McMahon, Report by the Garda Sochna 23 October 1941 IMA G2/1722, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Irish Minister for the Co-ordination of Defensive Measures, "Eamon de Valera and Hitler: An Analysis of International Reaction to the Visit to the German Minister, May 1945", "Extracts from an article, "The Belfast Blitz, 1941", "Historical Topics Series 2 The Belfast Blitz", "Your Place and Mine The Belfast Blitz", "Northern Ireland Parliamentary Elections Results: Biographies", "Belfast Blitz: The night death and destruction rained down on city", "Multitext - the Blitz - Belfast during the second World War", http://www.niwarmemorial.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/The_Belfast_Blitz.pdf, http://www.proni.gov.uk/historical_topics_series_-_02_-_the_belfast_blitz.pdf, Extracts from an article on The Belfast Blitz, 1941. The Blitz began at about 4:00 in the afternoon on September 7, 1940, when German planes appeared over London. C.S Lewis was born in Belfast, and the nearby countryside helped inspire The Chronicles of Narnia. These shelters, made of corrugated steel, were designed to be dug into a garden and then covered with dirt. The first (April 7 -8), a small attack, was most likely carried out to test the city's defenses. Published: September 7, 2020 at 12:00 pm. Belfast was largely unprepared for an attack of such a scale as 200 German bombers shelled the city on 15 April 1941. In the east of the city, Westbourne and Newcastle Streets on the Newtownards Road, Thorndyke Street off the Albertbridge Road and Ravenscroft Avenue were destroyed or damaged. In a survey of shelter use, it was found that, although the public shelters were fully occupied every night, just 9 percent of Londoners made use of them. Very early in the German bombing campaign, it became clear that the preparationshowever extensive they seemed to have beenwere inadequate. [citation needed] However on 20 October 1941 the Garda Sochna captured a comprehensive IRA report on captured member Helena Kelly giving a detailed analysis of damage inflicted on Belfast and highlighting prime targets such as Shortt and Harland aircraft factory and RAF Sydenham, describing them as 'the remaining and most outstanding objects of military significance, as yet unblitzed' and suggesting they should be 'bombed by the Luftwaffe as thoroughly as other areas in recent raids'[28][29], After three days, sometime after 6pm, the fire crews from south of the border began taking up their hoses and ladders to head for home. Author Lawrence H. Dawson detailed the damage to Londons historic buildings for the 1941 Britannica Book of the Year: The following curtailed list identifies some of the better known places in inner London that have been damaged by enemy action. Nurse Emma Duffin, who had served in World War I, contrasted death in that conflict with what she saw:.mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 40px}.mw-parser-output .templatequote .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;padding-left:1.6em;margin-top:0}. These balloons, the largest of which were some 60 feet (18 metres) long, were essentially an airspace denial tool. Prior to the "Belfast Blitz" there were only 200 public shelters in the city, although around 4,000 households had built their own private shelters. Unlike N Ireland, the Irish Free State was no longer part of the UK. For eight months the Luftwaffe dropped bombs on London and other strategic cities across Britain. Those who sought refuge at the school were told that they would quickly be relocated to a safer area, but the evacuation was delayed. When the house was hit William, Harriette, Dorothy, 36-year-old Dot and 41-year-old Isa were all killed. [6] It was MacDermott who sent a telegram to de Valera seeking assistance. Authorities quickly implemented plans to protect Londoners from bombs and to house those left homeless by the attacks. The raids on London primarily targeted the Docklands area of the East End. Similar initiatives bearing the same name were ordered in the past decade by former mayors Libby . Video, 00:00:51Australia's 'biggest drug bust' nets $700m of cocaine, Thanks, but no big speech, in Ken Bruce's sign off. Around 1am, Luftwaffe bombers flew over the city, concentrating their attack on the Harbour Estate and Queen's Island. James Craig, Lord Craigavon, had been Prime Minister of Northern Ireland since its inception in 1921 up until his death in 1940. Everything on wheels is being pressed into service. The Blitz began at around 4 pm on September 7, 1940, when German bomber planes first appeared over London. 1. Compared to other cities, Belfast was virtually undefended. Belfast Blitz: Marking the lost lives 80 years on A force of 180 bombers dropped 750 bombs - including 203 tonnes of high explosives - and 29,000 incendiaries over a five-hour period. "A lot of the people I spoke to were relatives who ended up donating images and handwritten letters from before and after the Blitz. On November 14, 1940, a German force of more than 500 bombers destroyed much of the old city centre and killed more than 550 people. Singer-songwriter Van Morrison was born here. The Belfast blitz is remembered. They prevented low-flying aircraft from approaching their targets at optimal altitudes and angles of attack. People are leaving from all parts of town and not only from the bombed areas. But Mr Freeburn's research casts doubt on this. 50,000 houses, more than half the houses in the city, were damaged. Video, 00:03:09Mapping the lives lost in the Belfast Blitz, Belfast City Hall in darkness as the Blitz is marked, Street fighting in Bakhmut but Russia not in control, Russian minister laughed at for Ukraine war claims. The first day of the Blitz is remembered as Black Saturday. But the authorities were afraid that bombs might not be the. This raid overall caused relatively little damage, but a lot was revealed about Belfast's inadequate defences. [citation needed], There was a second massive air raid on Belfast on Sunday 45 May 1941, three weeks after that of Easter Tuesday. The couple, who ran a children's home, stayed with Anna's parents, William and Harriette Denby, and her sisters, Dot and Isa, at Evelyn Gardens, off the Cavehill Road, in the north of the city. After the war, instructions from Joseph Goebbels were discovered ordering it not to be mentioned. "Through cross-referencing a number of different sources I have been able to get the most accurate number of people who died in the Blitz," he says. The House of Commons, Westminster Abbey, and the British Museum were severely damaged, and The Temple was almost completely destroyed. Belfast was the birthplace of the RMS Titanic, the world' most famous ship which, when it was constructed in the early 1900s, was longer than the height of the world's tallest building at 882 feet and six inches in length. Prayers were said and hymns sung by the mainly Protestant women and children during the bombing. Nearby were the citys main power station, gasworks, telephone house and the Sirocco Engineering works. The devastation was so great that the Germans coined a new verb, to coventrate, to describe it. The attack on Coventry was particularly destructive. The government announced that 77 people had died, but for years local residents insisted the toll was much higher. Death had to a certain extent been made decent. In 1995, on the 50th anniversary of the ending of the Second World War, an invitation was received by the Dublin Fire Brigade for any survivors of that time to attend a function at Hillsborough Castle and meet Prince Charles. Belfast made a considerable contribution towards the Allied war effort, producing many naval ships, aircraft and munitions; therefore, the city was deemed a suitable bombing target by the Luftwaffe. Several accounts point out that Belfast, standing at the end of the long inlet of Belfast Lough, would be easily located. By 1941, production of the Short Stirling Bomber and the Short Sunderland Flying Boat was underway. All were exhausted. Please select which sections you would like to print: Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. One of every six Londoners was made homeless at some point during the Blitz, and at least 1.1 million houses and flats were damaged or destroyed. Six Heinkel He 111 bombers, from Kampfgruppe 26, flying at 7,000 feet (2,100m), dropped incendiaries, high explosive and parachute-mines. Video, 00:00:26, Living through the London Blitz. Video, 00:02:12Isabel Oakeshott: Why I leaked Hancock's messages, Tears of relief after man found in Amazon jungle. Belfast's Albert Clock tower is sinking - it leans by four feet. His death (along with preceding ill-health) came at a bad time and arguably inadvertently caused a leadership vacuum. After the passing of the Government of Ireland Act, 1920, it became the seat of the government of Northern Ireland. I felt outraged, I should have felt sympathy, grief, but instead feelings of revulsion and disgust assailed me. Wherever Churchill is hiding his war material we will go. Roads out of town are still one stream of cars, with mattresses and bedding tied on top. There was no smokescreen ability, however there were some barrage balloons positioned strategically for protection. He was asked, in the N.I. In Bristol, the bombed-out ruins of St Peter's Church were left standing with added memorial plaques to the civilians who were killed. The bombs continued to fall until 5am. The Blitz was devastating for the people of London and other cities. ", US journalist Ben Robertson reported that at night Dublin was the only city without a blackout between New York and Moscow, and between Lisbon and Sweden and that German bombers often flew overhead to check their bearings using its lights, angering the British. So had Clydeside until recently. St. Giles, Cripplegate, and St. Mary Wolnooth, also in the city, were damaged, while the Dutch church in Austin Friars, dating from the 14th century and covering a larger area than any church in the city of London, St. Pauls alone excepted, was totally destroyed. On the ground, there were only 22 anti-aircraft guns positioned around the city, six light and 16 heavy, and on the first night only seven of these were manned and operational. Read about our approach to external linking. A charitable relief fund for the people of London was opened September 10. Major Sen O'Sullivan reported on the intensity of the bombing in some areas, such as the Antrim Road, where bombs "fell within fifteen to twenty yards of one another." It became a city by royal charter in 1888. More than 1,000 people were killed, and the damage was more widespread than on any previous occasion. Public buildings destroyed or badly damaged included Belfast City Hall's Banqueting Hall, the Ulster Hospital for Women and Children and Ballymacarrett library, (the last two being located on Templemore Avenue). devised the Morrison shelter (named for Home Secretary Herbert Stanley Morrison) as an alternative to the Anderson shelter. About 1,000 people were killed and bombs hit half of the houses in the city, leaving 100,000. A victory for the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain would indeed have exposed Great Britain to invasion and occupation. Beginning on Black Saturday, London was attacked on 57 straight nights. Over 500 received care from the Irish Red Cross in Dublin. When war broke out in 1939 the city did not expect to be attacked by German bombers: it was geographically remote and deemed a relatively . Munster, for example, operated by the Belfast Steamship Company, plied between Belfast and Liverpool under the tricolour, until she hit a mine and was sunk outside Liverpool. The wartime output of the yard included aircraft carriers HMS Formidable and HMS Unicorn, cruisers such as HMS Belfast and more than 130 other vessels used by the Royal Navy. No attendant nurse had soothed the last moments of these victims; no gentle reverent hand had closed their eyes or crossed their hands. The Belfast blitz. Raids between February and May pounded Plymouth, Portsmouth, Bristol, Newcastle upon Tyne, and Hull in England; Swansea in Wales; Belfast in Northern Ireland; and Clydeside in Scotland. Nearby residential areas in east Belfast were also hit when "203 metric tonnes of high explosive bombs, 80 land mines attached to parachutes, and 800 firebomb canisters containing 96,000 incendiary bombs"[16] were dropped. The shipyard was among the largest in the world, producing merchant vessels and military shipping. By Jonathan Bardon. Video, 00:01:38, At least 17 dead in Jakarta fuel storage depot fire, Australia's 'biggest drug bust' nets $700m of cocaine. Gring had insisted that such an attack was an impossibility, because of the citys formidable air defense network. workers. Ulster Historical Foundation. Other targets included Sheffield, Manchester, Coventry, and Southampton. The success of Mickeys Shelter was another factor that urged the government to improve existing deep shelters and to create new ones. Lecturer of History, Queens University, Belfast, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Belfast_Blitz&oldid=1136721396, During the war years, Belfast shipyards built or converted over 3,000 navy vessels, repaired more than 22,000 others and launched over half a million tons of merchant shipping over 140. Between April 7 and May 6 of that year, Luftwaffe bombers unleashed death and destruction on the cities of Belfast, Bangor, Derry/Londonderry and Newtownards. This option had been forbidden by city officials, who feared that once people began sleeping in Underground stations, they would be reluctant to return to the surface and resume daily life. Belfast confetti," said one archive news report. In the course of four Luftwaffe attacks on the nights of 7-8 April, 15-16 April, 4-5 May and 5-6 May 1941, lasting ten hours in total, 1,100 people died, over 56,000 houses in the city were damaged (53 per cent of its entire housing stock), roughly 100,000 made temporarily homeless and 20 million damage was caused to property at wartime values. But the raid of 15-16 April - the Easter Tuesday Raid - was on another scale. The working-class living close to industrial centres suffered more than anyone over the course of the four raids. Protection of the city fell to seven anti-aircraft batteries of 16 heavy guns and six light guns. 2. VideoRussian minister laughed at for Ukraine war claims, The children left behind in Cuba's mass exodus, Xi Jinping's power grab - and why it matters, Snow, Fire and Lights: Photos of the Week. Belfast, Irish Bal Feirste, city, district, and capital of Northern Ireland, on the River Lagan, at its entrance to Belfast Lough (inlet of the sea). Liverpool, for example, protected by 100 guns. At 10:40pm the air raid sirens sounded. Here are 10 facts about both the German Blitzkrieg and the Allied bombing of Germany. Belfast was Ireland's industrial home, famous for tobacco, rope-making, linen, and ship-building, which made it the powerhouse it was. On May 11, 1941, Hitler called off the Blitz as he shifted his forces eastward against the Soviet Union. These shelters were vital as these factories had many employees working late at night and early in the morning when Luftwaffe attacks were likely. Many people who were dug out of the rubble alive had taken shelter underneath their stairs and were fortunate that their homes had not received a direct hit or caught fire. In The Blitz: Belfast in the War Years, Brian Barton wrote: "Government Ministers felt with justification, that the Germans were able to use the unblacked out lights in the south to guide them to their targets in the North." From their photographs, they identified suitable targets: There had been a number of small bombings, probably by planes that missed their targets over the River Clyde in Glasgow or the cities of the northwest of England. Hundreds of incendiary and many high-explosive bombs were dropped, doing little material damage but causing many casualties. By the end of the attacks, between 900 and 1,000 people were dead and thousands more were injured, homeless and displaced. It is believed that the wartime government covered up the death toll because of concern over the effect it would have had on public morale. William Joyce "Lord Haw-Haw" announced that "The Fhrer will give you time to bury your dead before the next attack Tuesday was only a sample." More than 500 German planes dropped more than 700 tons of bombs across the city, killing nearly 1,500 people and destroying 11,000 homes. The mortuary services had emergency plans to deal with only 200 bodies. The 'Blitz' - from the German term Blitzkrieg ('lightning war') - was the sustained campaign of aerial bombing attacks on British towns and cities carried out by the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) from September 1940 until May 1941. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. [citation needed]. On 4-5 May, another raid, made up of 204 bombers, killed another 203 people and the following night 22 more died. The South Hallsville School disaster prompted Londoners, especially residents of the East End, to find safer shelters, on their own if necessary. Video, 00:02:54Living through the London Blitz, At least 17 dead in Jakarta fuel storage depot fire. He was succeeded by J. M. Andrews, then 69 years old, who was no more capable of dealing with the situation than his predecessor. Between April 7 and May 6 of that year, Luftwaffe bombers unleashed death and destruction on the cities of Belfast, Bangor, Derry/Londonderry and Newtownards. It is perhaps true that many saved their lives running but I am afraid a much greater number lost them or became casualties."[20]. NI WW2 veterans honoured by France. Interesting facts about Belfast. It was the worst wartime raid outside of London in the UK. Air power alone had failed to knock the United Kingdom out of the war. As well as photographs, the Luftwaffe gathered information on landmarks, potential targets and defences or lack thereof. The past doesnt change, its just over.. Men from the South worked with men from the North in the universal cause of the relief of suffering. This amounted to nearly half of Britains total civilian deaths for the whole war. There [is] ground for thinking that the enemy could not easily reach Belfast in force except during a period of moonlight. Your donations help keep MHN afloat. Video, 00:01:41, The German bombing of Coventry. Has it taken bursting bombs to remind the people of this little country that they have common tradition, a common genius and a common home? The first was on the night of 78 April 1941, a small attack which probably took place only to test Belfast's defences. Although there were some comparatively slight raids later in 1941, the most notable one on July 27, the May 1011 attack marked the conclusion of the Blitz. Despite the attacks, Belfast continued to contribute to the war effort, and within less than a year the city witnessed the arrival of thousands of American troops. department distributed more than two million Anderson shelters (named after Sir John Anderson, head of the A.R.P.) THE BELFAST BLITZ was a series of four air raids over Northern Ireland during the spring of 1941. In total over 1,300 houses were demolished, some 5,000 badly damaged, nearly 30,000 slightly damaged while 20,000 required "first aid repairs".[3]. In clear weather, targets were easily identifiable. Despite the military and industrial importance of the city, the Luftwaffe described the defences asweak, scanty, insufficient. Three vessels nearing completion at Harland and Wolff's were hit as was its power station. "We can still see the physical scars of the Blitz in Belfast, that is what is left. Anna and Billy were buried up their necks in sewage but were rescued and survived. Fewer than 4,000 women and children were evacuated. From a purely military perspective, the Blitz was entirely counterproductive to the main purpose of Germanys air offensiveto dominate the skies in advance of an invasion of England. 7. He was replaced by 54-year-old Sir Basil Brooke on 1 May. As of October 2020, the population of Belfast is about 350,000 people. And even then, Westminster stated it was not ample provision; Stormont still worried about the costs to industry. Video, 00:01:37, Thanks, but no big speech, in Ken Bruce's sign off, Tear gas fired at Greece train crash protesters. After the first week of September, although night bombing on a large scale continued, the large mass attacks by day, which had proved so costly to the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain, were replaced by smaller parties coming over in successive waves. Nevertheless, through sheer weight of numbers, the Germans were on the brink of victory in late August 1940. After his optician business was destroyed by a bomb, Mickey Davies led an effort to organize the Spitalfield Shelter. Anna and Billy returned to England and continued running the children's home. [12], There was little preparation for the conflict with Germany. "There are plans for one but there isn't one yet. Barton wrote: "the Catholic population was much more strongly opposed to conscription, was inclined to sympathise with Germany", "there were suspicions that the Germans were assisted in identifying targets, held by the Unionist population." While some of the poorer and more crowded suburban areas suffered severely, the mansions of Mayfair, the luxury flats of Kensington, and Buckingham Palace itselfwhich was bombed four separate timesfared little better. On July 16, 1940, Hitler issued a directive ordering the preparation and, if necessary, execution of Operation Sea Lion, the amphibious invasion of Great Britain. By 6am, within two hours of the request for assistance, 71 firemen with 13 fire tenders from Dundalk, Drogheda, Dublin, and Dn Laoghaire were on their way to cross the Irish border to assist their Belfast colleagues. Video, 00:00:46, Hong Kong skyscraper fire seen on city's skyline, Watch: Matt Hancock message row in 83 seconds. 2. parliament: "if the government realized 'that these fast bombers can come to Northern Ireland in two and three quarter hours'". No searchlights were set up in the city at the time, and these only arrived on 10 April. The next took place on Easter Tuesday, 15 April 1941, when 200 Luftwaffe bombers attacked military and manufacturing targets in the city of Belfast. High explosive bombs predominated in this raid. Over a period of nine months, over 43,500 civilians were killed in the raids, which focused on major cities and industrial centres. Clydeside got its blitz during the period of the last moon. Video, 00:01:15The Belfast blitz, Up Next. Most of the objectives laid out by the reconnaissance crews were of either military or industrial importance. Weighing 46,328 tonnes, Titanic was to be the largest manmade moveable object the world had ever seen. The "pothole blitz" is a common short-term initiative to combat storm weather damage. At nightfall the Northern Counties Station was packed from platform gates to entrance gates and still refugees were coming along in a steady stream from the surrounding streets Open military lorries were finally put into service and even expectant mothers and mothers with young children were put into these in the rather heavy drizzle that lasted throughout the evening. Later, guided by the raging fires caused by the first attack, a second group of planes began another assault that lasted until 4:30 the following morning. In Newtownards, Bangor, Larne, Carrickfergus, Lisburn and Antrim many thousands of Belfast citizens took refuge either with friends or strangers. In the mistaken belief that they might damage RAF fighters, the anti-aircraft batteries ceased firing. Three nights later (April 1920) London was again subjected to a seven-hour raid, and the loss of life was considerable, especially among firefighters and the A.R.P. With tangled hair, staring eyes, clutching hands, contorted limbs, their grey-green faces covered with dust, they lay, bundled into the coffins, half-shrouded in rugs or blankets, or an occasional sheet, still wearing their dirty, torn twisted garments. Burke Street which ran between Annadale and Dawson streets in the New Lodge area, was completely wiped off the map with all its 20 houses flattened and all of the occupants killed.[16]. Clydeside got its blitz during the period of the last moon. Video, 00:01:09The Spitfire turns 80, The German bombing of Coventry. The raids hurt Britains war production, but they also killed many civilians and left many others homeless. For more than six months, German planes had flown reconnaissance flights over Belfast. The night raids on London continued into 1941, and January 1011 saw exceptionally heavy attacks; the Mansion House (residence of the lord mayor of London) and the Bank of England narrowly avoided destruction when a bomb fell directly between them, creating a gigantic crater. On 24 March 1941, John MacDermott, Minister for Security, wrote to Prime Minister John Andrews, expressing his concerns that Belfast was so poorly protected: "Up to now we have escaped attack. The most heavily bombed cities outside London were Liverpool and Birmingham. It targeted the docks.

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