10 facts about the belfast blitz

That evening over 150 bombers left their bases in northern France and the Netherlands and headed for Belfast. High explosives were dropped. For 57 nightsuntil November 2more than 1 million bombs were dropped on the capital city. Authorities quickly implemented plans to protect Londoners from bombs and to house those left homeless by the attacks. Few children had been successfully evacuated. In another building, the York Street Mill, one of its massive sidewalls collapsed on to Sussex and Vere Streets, killing all those who remained in their homes. But the raid of 15-16 April - the Easter Tuesday Raid - was on another scale. 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." Three vessels nearing completion at Harland and Wolff's were hit as was its power station. [12], There was little preparation for the conflict with Germany. The creeping TikTok bans, Hong Kong skyscraper fire seen on city's skyline. Roads out of town are still one stream of cars, with mattresses and bedding tied on top. The national government also provided funds to local municipalities to construct public air-raid shelters. When incendiaries were dropped, the city burned as water pressure was too low for effective firefighting. ", Dawson Bates informed the Cabinet of rack-renting of barns, and over thirty people per house in some areas.[24]. Find out how it began, what the Germans hoped to achieve and how it severe it was, plus we visit nine places affected by the attacks. The period of the next moon from say the 7th to the 16th of April may well bring our turn.. The "Hiram Plan" initiated by Dawson Bates, the Home Affairs Minister, had failed to materialise. The bombs continued to fall until 5am. Since 1:45am all telephones had been cut. When the Blitz began, the government enforced a blackout in an attempt to make targeting more difficult for German night bombers. John Clarke MacDermott, the Minister of Public Security, after the first bombing, initiated the "Hiram Plan" to evacuate the city and to return Belfast to 'normality' as quickly as possible. This type of shelteressentially a low steel cage large enough to contain two adults and two small childrenwas designed to be set up indoors and could serve as a refuge if the building began to collapse. Again the Irish emergency services crossed the border, this time without waiting for an invitation. After a brief lull, the Luftwaffe returned in force on February 17. For two hours on the first day, 348 German bombers and 617 fighters blasted London. Looking back on the Belfast Blitz, Oberleutnant Becker signed off with the following words: A war is the worst thing that can happen to Mankind. Over 500 received care from the Irish Red Cross in Dublin. "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. No attendant nurse had soothed the last moments of these victims; no gentle reverent hand had closed their eyes or crossed their hands. Despite the military and industrial importance of the city, the Luftwaffe described the defences asweak, scanty, insufficient. KS3 History (Environment and society) The Belfast Blitz learning resources for adults, children, parents and teachers. 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. Belfast is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland . "A lot of the people I spoke to were relatives who ended up donating images and handwritten letters from before and after the Blitz. 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." The Blitz was devastating for the people of London and other cities. Several accounts point out that Belfast, standing at the end of the long inlet of Belfast Lough, would be easily located. Only four were known still to be alive. Blitz, The - Kids | Britannica Kids | Homework Help Belfast suffered a series of bombing raids in the spring of 1941, which became known as the 'Blitz of Belfast'. The crypt under the sanctuary and the cellar under the working sacristy had been fitted out and opened to the public as an air-raid shelter. There were still 80,000 more in Belfast. Tragically 35 were crushed to death when the mill wall collapsed. Subs offer. In just these few hours, 430 people were killed and 1,600 were badly injured. Simpson shot down one of the Heinkels over Downpatrick. There were few bomb shelters. workers. 2023 BBC. Sixty years after the Germans bombed Belfast in World War II BBC News Online looks back and remembers the anniversary of the blitz. Video, 00:01:15The Belfast blitz, Up Next. 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. Belfast Blitz: The Luftwaffe attacks Northern Ireland - WartimeNI Belfast's Albert Clock tower is sinking - it leans by four feet. His reply was: "We here today are in a state of war and we are prepared with the rest of the United Kingdom and Empire to face all the responsibilities that imposes on the Ulster people. Compared to other cities, Belfast was virtually undefended. Of the churches, besides St. Pauls cathedral, where at one time were five unexploded bombs in the immediate vicinity and the roof of which was pierced by another that exploded and shattered the high altar to fragments, those damaged were Westminster abbey, St. Margarets Westminster, Southwark cathedral; fifteen Wren churches (including St. "They have never been published before, never seen the light of day.". Those who sought refuge at the school were told that they would quickly be relocated to a safer area, but the evacuation was delayed. Although it arrested German spies that its police and military intelligence services caught, the state never broke off diplomatic relations with Axis nations: the German Legation in Dublin remained open throughout the war. Children and World War Two - History Learning Site 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. Brooke noted in his diary "I gave him authority as it is obviously a question of expediency". His report concluded with: "a second Belfast would be too horrible to contemplate". The bombing of British cities - Swansea, Belfast, Glasgow Video, 00:00:51Australia's 'biggest drug bust' nets $700m of cocaine, Thanks, but no big speech, in Ken Bruce's sign off. Most of the objectives laid out by the reconnaissance crews were of either military or industrial importance. The raid so infuriated Hitler that he ordered the Luftwaffe to shift its attacks from RAF sites to London and other cities. In addition, there simply was not enough space for everyone who needed shelter in one of the largest and most densely populated cities in the world. [21] Mass graves for the unclaimed bodies were dug in the Milltown and Belfast City Cemeteries. The Premier Online Military History Magazine, Re-printed with permission fromWartimeNI.com. 6. He was asked, in the N.I. As the UK was preparing for the conflict, the factories and shipyards of Belfast were gearing up. By mid-September 1940 the RAF had won the Battle of Britain, and the invasion was postponed indefinitely. Protection of the city fell to seven anti-aircraft batteries of 16 heavy guns and six light guns. The first deliberate raid took place on the night of 7 April. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. 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. 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. The youngest victim was just six-weeks-old. In every instance, all stepped forward. Six Heinkel He 111 bombers, from Kampfgruppe 26, flying at 7,000 feet (2,100m), dropped incendiaries, high explosive and parachute-mines. The M.V. The Belfast Blitz: the city in the war years - History Ireland IWM C 5424 1. In each station volunteers were asked for, as it was beyond their normal duties. The telegram was sent at 4:35am,[citation needed] asking the Irish Taoiseach, amon de Valera for assistance. As many were caught in the open by blast and secondary missiles, the enormous number of casualties can be readily accounted for. The first was on the night of 7-8 April 1941, a small attack which probably took place only to test Belfast's defences. Beginning in September 1940, the Blitz was an aerial bombing campaign conducted by the Luftwaffe against British cities. Video, 00:00:26, Living through the London Blitz. Days later a group of East Enders occupied the shelter at the upscale Savoy Hotel, and many others began to take refuge in the citys underground railway, or Tube, stations. It was not the last time Belfast would suffer. The Belfast blitz devastated a city that up until 1941 had remained unscathed during World War Two. When the war began, Belfast, like many other cities, adopted the wartime practices of rationing and blackouts. [25] He followed up with his "they are our people" speech, made in Castlebar, County Mayo, on Sunday 20 April 1941 (Quoted in the Dundalk Democrat dated Saturday 26 April 1941): In the past, and probably in the present, too, a number of them did not see eye to eye with us politically, but they are our people we are one and the same people and their sorrows in the present instance are also our sorrows; and I want to say to them that any help we can give to them in the present time we will give to them whole-heartedly, believing that were the circumstances reversed they would also give us their help whole-heartedly Frank Aiken, the Irish Minister for the Co-ordination of Defensive Measures was in Boston, Massachusetts at the time. [1][2], The third raid on Belfast took place over the evening and morning of 45 May 1941; 150 were killed. Many of the surface shelters built by local authorities were flimsy and provided little protection from bombs, falling debris, and fire. In the mistaken belief that they might damage RAF fighters, the anti-aircraft batteries ceased firing. We were in exceptional good humour knowing that we were going for a new target, one of Englands last hiding places, said one pilot of the raid. [9], War materials and food were sent by sea from Belfast to Great Britain, some under the protection of the neutral Irish tricolour. In Newtownards, Bangor, Larne, Carrickfergus, Lisburn and Antrim many thousands of Belfast citizens took refuge either with friends or strangers. Just before Easter 1941, Anna and Billy Burdett and their 12-year-old daughter, Dorothy, returned to Belfast from England to visit Anna's family. Another defensive measure employed by the British was barrage balloonslarge oval-shaped unmanned balloons with stabilizing tail finsinstalled in and around major target areas. 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. Given Belfast's geographic position, it was considered to be at the fringe of the operational range of German bombers and hence there was no provision for night-fighter aerial cover. Very early in the German bombing campaign, it became clear that the preparationshowever extensive they seemed to have beenwere inadequate. I was definitely one of the first over the target and as I flew in there was no great defence because there were not a great many aircraft over the target at that point, recalled Becker. 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]. "[22], In his opinion, the greatest want was the lack of hospital facilities. 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. These shelters were vital as these factories had many employees working late at night and early in the morning when Luftwaffe attacks were likely. The Belfast Blitz consisted of four German air raids on strategic targets in the city of Belfast in Northern Ireland, in April and May 1941 during World War II, causing high casualties. 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. Men from the South worked with men from the North in the universal cause of the relief of suffering. There are other diarists and narratives. The Blitz began at around 4 pm on September 7, 1940, when German bomber planes first appeared over London. No significant cut was made in necessary social services, and public and private premises, except when irreparably damaged, were repaired as speedily as possible. About 1,000 people were killed and bombs hit half of the houses in the city, leaving 100,000. [27] One widespread criticism was that the Germans located Belfast by heading for Dublin and following the railway lines north. He was replaced by 54-year-old Sir Basil Brooke on 1 May. 14 Breathtaking Facts about Belfast - Fact City J.P. Walshe, assistant secretary, recorded that Hempel was "clearly distressed by the news of the severe raid on Belfast and especially of the number of civilian casualties." 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. to households. There was no opposition. By then 250 firemen from Clydeside had arrived. They are sleeping in the same sheugh (ditch), below the same tree or in the same barn. Revised estimates made decades later indicated that close to 600 men, women, and children had been killed in the bombing. Video, 00:01:23Watch: Matt Hancock message row in 83 seconds, One-minute World News. [citation needed]. THE BELFAST BLITZ was a series of four air raids over Northern Ireland during the spring of 1941. 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. Another large-scale attack followed on March 19, when hundreds of houses and shops, many churches, six hospitals, and other public buildings were destroyed or seriously damaged. The Luftwaffe crews returned to their base in Northern France and reported that Belfast's defences were, "inferior in quality, scanty and insufficient". Video, 00:01:41NI WW2 veterans honoured by France, The Spitfire turns 80. He spoke with Professor Flynn, (Theodore Thomson Flynn, an Australian based at the Mater Hospital and father of actor Errol Flynn), head of the casualty service for the city, who told him of "casualties due to shock, blast and secondary missiles, such as glass, stones, pieces of piping, etc." "We can still see the physical scars of the Blitz in Belfast, that is what is left. At 4:15am John MacDermott, the Minister of Public Security, managed to contact Basil Brooke (then Agriculture Minister), seeking permission to seek help from the Irish government. O'Sullivan felt that the whole civil defence sector was utterly overwhelmed. Both planes quickly proved their mettle against German bombers, and Germanys best fighter, the Bf 109, was of limited use as an escort due to its relatively short operating range. Video, 00:01:09The Spitfire turns 80, The German bombing of Coventry. "There are plans for one but there isn't one yet. Even the children of soldiers had not been evacuated, with calamitous results when the married quarters of Victoria Barracks received a direct hit. They remained for three days, until they were sent back by the Northern Ireland government. By the time the raid was over, at least 744 people had lost their lives, including some living in places such as Newtownards, Bangor and Londonderry. MacDermott would be proved right. What's the least amount of exercise we can get away with? Yesterday the hand of good-fellowship was reached across the Border. Other Belfast factories manufactured gun mountings. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). 15 Powerful Photos Of The WW2 Blitz | Imperial War Museums Read about our approach to external linking. This amounted to nearly half of Britains total civilian deaths for the whole war. Anna and Billy returned to England and continued running the children's home. Morale did suffer amid the death and devastation, but there were few calls for surrender. 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]. It remains a high death toll - a shocking number of people killed in just a few weeks. He believed that this was being done already but it was inevitable that a certain number of civilian lives should be lost in the course of heavy bombing from the air". Belfast, the city with the highest population density in the UK at the time, also had the lowest proportion of public air-raid shelters. In the New Lodge area people had taken refuge in a mill. 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. When a bombing raid was imminent, air-raid sirens were set off to sound a warning. The Belfast Blitz - KS3 History (Environment and society) - BBC Initially it was thought that the Germans had mistaken this reservoir for the harbour and shipyards, where many ships, including HMS Ark Royal were being repaired. Londoners enjoyed three weeks of uneasy peace until May 1011, the night of a full moon, when the Luftwaffe launched the most intense raid of the Blitz. 3. devised the Morrison shelter (named for Home Secretary Herbert Stanley Morrison) as an alternative to the Anderson shelter. The Luftwaffe had lost more than 600 aircraft, and, although the RAF had lost fewer than half that many, the battle was claiming British fighters and experienced pilots at too great a rate. On the 17th I heard that hundreds who either could not get away or could not leave for other reasons simply went out into the fields and remained in the open all night with whatever they could take in the way of covering. So had Clydeside until recently. The bombs caused death and destruction across the city, affecting those of all religions and political backgrounds. 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. Video, 00:01:37, Thanks, but no big speech, in Ken Bruce's sign off, Tear gas fired at Greece train crash protesters. Interesting facts about Belfast. and Major Sen O'Sullivan, who produced a detailed report for the Dublin government. The Germans expanded the Blitz to other cities in November 1940. Barton insisted that Belfast was "too far north" to use radio guidance. While the balloons themselves were an obvious deterrent, they were anchored to the ground by steel tethers that were strong enough to damage or destroy any aircraft that flew into them. 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). Belfast Blitz: Remembering the ordinary people who lost their lives . The Belfast Blitz was a series of devastating Luftwaffe air raids that took place in Northern Ireland during the Second World War. Many "arrived in Fermanagh having nothing with them only night shirts". Corrections? Belfast was not properly prepared for the attacks, with too few shelters and not enough anti-aircraft guns. The Luftwaffe never attacked the city after May 1941, but it would be many years before life returned to normal for many in the city. 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. 7. By the end of the attacks, between 900 and 1,000 people were dead and thousands more were injured, homeless and displaced. Belfast is located on the island of Ireland. Can Nigeria's election result be overturned? But the RAF had not responded. 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. The government was blamed by some for inadequate precautions. And then naturally as I was over the target, I did pick up flak but I have no sense of exactly how weak or how strong it was, because every bit of flak you get is dangerous.. However, the Docklands was also a densely populated and impoverished area where thousands of working-class Londoners lived in run-down housing. ISBN 9781909556324. Video, 00:00:26The German bombing of Coventry, Living through the London Blitz. 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. Richard Dawson Bates was the Home Affairs Minister. In spite of blackouts, ubiquitous shelters and sandbags, the visible effects of mass evacuation, the presence of A.R.P. Video, 00:00:36Tears of relief after man found in Amazon jungle. 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. They all say the same thing, that the government is no good. Some are a total loss; others are already under repair with little outward sign of the damage sustained: Besides Buckingham palace, the chapel of which was wrecked, and Guildhall (the six-centuries old centre of London civic ceremonies and of great architectural beauty), which was destroyed by fire, Kensington palace (the London home of the earl of Athlone, governor general of Canada, and the birthplace of Queen Mary and Queen Victoria), the banqueting hall of Eltham palace (dating from King Johns time and long a royal residence), Lambeth palace (the archbishop of Canterbury), and Holland house (famous for its 17th century domestic architecture, its political associations, and its art treasures), suffered, the latter severely. WW2: How did an elephant beat the Belfast Blitz? - BBC Teach 24 - The tyres Dunlop were invented in Belfast in 1887 25 - The two H&W cranes are named Samson and Goliath 26 - The Albert Clock is Ireland's leaning tower 27 - The mobile defibrillator was invented in Belfast 28 - Belfast's ice hockey team, the Giants, is one of the best in Europe. From September 1940 until May 1941, Britain was subjected to sustained enemy bombing campaign, now known as the Blitz. The fall of France in June, 1940, enabled the Luftwaffe to establish airfields across the north of the country, leaving Ulster within reach of bombers. Just eight days earlier, eight planes destroyed the aircraft fuselage factory and damaged the docks, with 15 people ultimately killed as a result of that raid. The South Hallsville School disaster prompted Londoners, especially residents of the East End, to find safer shelters, on their own if necessary. Interesting facts about Belfast | Just Fun Facts A modern bomb census has attempted to pinpoint the location of every bomb dropped on London during the Blitz, and the visualization of that data makes clear how thoroughly the Luftwaffe saturated the city. The Belfast Blitz: April-May 1941 - History Ireland 13 Facts You Didn't Know About Belfast Nevertheless, through sheer weight of numbers, the Germans were on the brink of victory in late August 1940. In the first days of the Blitz, a tragic incident in the East End stoked public anger over the governments shelter policy. 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). Nine were registered on three separate occasions, and from the start of the Blitz until November 30 there were more than 350 alerts. [citation needed], Casualties were lower than at Easter, partly because the sirens had sounded at 11.45pm while the Luftwaffe attacked more cautiously from a greater height. By the. 10,000 "officially" crossed the border. Video, 00:03:09, Mapping the lives lost in the Belfast Blitz, Russian minister laughed at for Ukraine war claims. Video, 00:02:54Living through the London Blitz, At least 17 dead in Jakarta fuel storage depot fire. Video, 00:02:12Isabel Oakeshott: Why I leaked Hancock's messages, Tears of relief after man found in Amazon jungle. Still, many in Northern Ireland believed no Luftwaffe attack would come. Emma Duffin, a nurse at the Queen's University Hospital, (who previously served during the Great War), who kept a diary; The area included the Harland and Wolff Ltd. Shipyard, the Short and Harland Ltd. Aircraft Factory, and the airfield at RAF Sydenham. Incendiary bombs predominated in this raid. "Liverpool, Clydebank and Portsmouth all have a memorial to their victims of the Blitz. Reviewed by: Geoffrey Roberts. In late August the Germans dropped some bombs, apparently by accident, on civilian areas in London. The offensive came to be called the Blitz after the German word blitzkrieg ("lightning war"). By 1940, Short and Harland could shelter its entire workforce and Harland and Wolff had provision to shelter 16,000 workers.

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