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Many "arrived in Fermanagh having nothing with them only night shirts". 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." 10 Facts about Belfast City. These shelters, made of corrugated steel, were designed to be dug into a garden and then covered with dirt. The 2017 film Zoo depicts an air raid during the Belfast Blitz. Read about our approach to external linking. 255 corpses were laid out in St George's Market. The firm had produced Handley Page Hereford bombers since 1936. The refugees looked dazed and horror stricken and many had neglected to bring more than a few belongings Any and every means of exit from the city was availed of and the final destination appeared to be a matter of indifference. "There will always be people who will slip through the net but I am able to say at least 987 were killed across all raids.". [citation needed]. Some 900 people died as a result of the bombing and 1,500 were injured. Several theatres and many cinemas were open, and there were even a few sporting events. Sir Basil Brooke, the Minister of Agriculture, was the only active minister. However, the Docklands was also a densely populated and impoverished area where thousands of working-class Londoners lived in run-down housing. In late August the Germans dropped some bombs, apparently by accident, on civilian areas in London. For more than six months, German planes had flown reconnaissance flights over Belfast. Belfast was not properly prepared for the attacks, with too few shelters and not enough anti-aircraft guns. The most heavily bombed area was that which lay between York Street and the Antrim Road, north of the city centre. Davies also set up medical stations and persuaded off-duty medical personnel to treat the sick and wounded. Wave after wave of bombers dropped their incendiaries, high explosives and land-mines. 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". 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. Sometimes they were trying establish a blockade by destroying shipping and port facilities, sometimes they were directly attacking Fighter Command ground installations, sometimes they were targeting aircraft factories, and sometimes they were attempting to engage Fighter Command in the skies. By mid-September 1940 the RAF had won the Battle of Britain, and the invasion was postponed indefinitely. 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. 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. More than 1,000 people were killed, and the damage was more widespread than on any previous occasion. They all say the same thing, that the government is no good. 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. 7. 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. Neighbouring residential areas were also hit. These shelters were vital as these factories had many employees working late at night and early in the morning when Luftwaffe attacks were likely. London seemed ablaze from the docks to Westminster, much damage was done, and casualties were high. Government apathy, a lack of leadership and a belief the Luftwaffe could not reach Belfast lead to the city lagging behind in terms of basic defences. 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. The next took place on Easter Tuesday, 15 April 1941, when 200 Luftwaffe bombers attacked military and manufacturing targets in the city of Belfast. Clydeside got its blitz during the period of the last moon. After the bombing began on September 7, local authorities urged displaced people to take shelter at South Hallsville School. By then most of the major fires were under control and the firemen from Clydeside and other British cities were arriving. By then 250 firemen from Clydeside had arrived. Churches destroyed or wrecked included Macrory Memorial Presbyterian in Duncairn Gardens; Duncairn Methodist, Castleton Presbyterian on York Road; St Silas's on the Oldpark Road; St James's on the Antrim Road; Newington Presbyterian on Limestone Road; Crumlin Road Presbyterian; Holy Trinity on Clifton Street and Clifton Street Presbyterian; York Street Presbyterian and York Street Non-Subscribing Presbyterian; Newtownards Road Methodist and Rosemary Street Presbyterian (the last of which was not rebuilt). As more and more people began sleeping on the platforms, however, the government relented and provided bunk beds and bathrooms for the underground communities. The South Hallsville School disaster prompted Londoners, especially residents of the East End, to find safer shelters, on their own if necessary. Dissatisfaction with public shelters also led to another notable development in the East EndMickeys Shelter. Instead of pressing his advantage, however, Hitler abruptly changed his strategy. 19.99. workers. Can Nigeria's election result be overturned? 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. Most of the objectives laid out by the reconnaissance crews were of either military or industrial importance. Six Heinkel He 111 bombers, from Kampfgruppe 26, flying at 7,000 feet (2,100m), dropped incendiaries, high explosive and parachute-mines. 9. Mr Freeburn set out to find out more about those who died, their personal stories and the tales of those left behind. 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. Two of the crews received refreshments in Banbridge; others were entertained in the Ancient Order of Hibernians hall in Newry. There were still 80,000 more in Belfast. This amounted to nearly half of Britains total civilian deaths for the whole war. No significant cut was made in necessary social services, and public and private premises, except when irreparably damaged, were repaired as speedily as possible. By 4 am the entire city seemed to be in flames. Maps and documents uncovered at Gatow Airfield near Berlin in 1945 showed the level of detail involved. 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. When the Blitz began, the government enforced a blackout in an attempt to make targeting more difficult for German night bombers. Brian Barton of Queen's University, Belfast, has written most on this topic.[19]. Half of the city's housing was damaged over the course of all the raids. The bombs caused death and destruction across the city, affecting those of all religions and political backgrounds. 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." Fighter Commands efforts were greatly aided by the lack of any consistent plan of action on the part of the Germans. Death had to a certain extent been made decent. Fiber-optic cables are made from thin strings of glass and are generally about one-tenth the width of a . As many were caught in the open by blast and secondary missiles, the enormous number of casualties can be readily accounted for. No searchlights were set up in the city at the time, and these only arrived on 10 April. In his interview, Becker stated that only military objectives were aimed for. The higher the German planes had to fly to avoid the balloons, the less accurate they were when dropping their bombs. 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. Many bodies and body parts could not be identified. A Luftwaffe terror bombing attack on the Spanish city of Guernica (April 26, 1937) during the Spanish Civil War had killed hundreds of civilians and destroyed much of the town. While Anderson shelters offered good protection from bomb fragments and debris, they were cold and damp and generally ill-suited for prolonged occupancy. Thank you. That contrasts with the figure that is often given of more than 900 killed on Easter Tuesday alone. The first was on the night of 78 April 1941, a small attack which probably took place only to test Belfast's defences. By the end of the attacks, between 900 and 1,000 people were dead and thousands more were injured, homeless and displaced. Many of those who died as a result of enemy action lived in tightly packed, poorly constructed, terraced housing. Moya Woodside[23] noted in her diary: "Evacuation is taking on panic proportions. Belfast suffered a series of bombing raids in the spring of 1941, which became known as the 'Blitz of Belfast'. Jimmy Doherty, an air raid warden (who later served in London during the V1 and V2 blitz), who wrote a book on the Belfast blitz; Brides, Fleet St.; St. Lawrence Jewry; St. Magnus the Martyr; St. Mary-at-hill; St. Dunstan in the East; St. Clement [Eastcheap] and St. Jamess, Piccadilly). Compared to other cities, Belfast was virtually undefended. 2023 BBC. Belfast is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland. Blitz Fibre UK Blitz Fibre UK Published Mar 1, 2023 + Follow Fact 1- Small but Mighty . The past doesnt change, its just over.. The British thus fought with the advantage of superior equipment and undivided aim against an enemy with inconsistent objectives. On August 25 the British retaliated by launching a bombing raid on Berlin. [citation needed]. 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. "It says a lot about how these people are forgotten that there is no Blitz memorial in Belfast," Mr Freeburn says. The creeping TikTok bans, Hong Kong skyscraper fire seen on city's skyline. People hung black curtains in their windows so that no lights showed outside their houses. The Premier Online Military History Magazine, Re-printed with permission fromWartimeNI.com. Beginning on Black Saturday, London was attacked on 57 straight nights. That evening over 150 bombers left their bases in northern France and the Netherlands and headed for Belfast. High explosive bombs predominated in this raid. 50,000 houses, more than half the houses in the city, were damaged. Belfast confetti," said one archive news report. Hundreds of incendiary and many high-explosive bombs were dropped, doing little material damage but causing many casualties. [citation needed], There was a second massive air raid on Belfast on Sunday 45 May 1941, three weeks after that of Easter Tuesday. In many cases the daily life of the city was able to resume with delays of only hours. Where they are going, what they will find to eat when they get there, nobody knows. Another defensive measure employed by the British was barrage balloonslarge oval-shaped unmanned balloons with stabilizing tail finsinstalled in and around major target areas. All were exhausted. Again the Irish emergency services crossed the border, this time without waiting for an invitation. NI WW2 veterans honoured by France. The RAFs Spitfire was a superlative fighter, and it was not always easy for the Germans to distinguish it from the slightly less maneuverable but much more numerous Hurricanes. The M.V. 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). The raids on London primarily targeted the Docklands area of the East End. Apart from those on London, this was the greatest loss of life in any night raid during the Blitz. Some had received food, others were famished. For two hours on the first day, 348 German bombers and 617 fighters blasted London. Humanity knows no borders, no politics, no differences of religious belief. Emma Duffin, a nurse at the Queen's University Hospital, (who previously served during the Great War), who kept a diary; The House of Commons, Westminster Abbey, and the British Museum were severely damaged, and The Temple was almost completely destroyed. The city has been a leader in women's rights. 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. And even then, Westminster stated it was not ample provision; Stormont still worried about the costs to industry. Video, 00:00:26, Living through the London Blitz. There were Heinkel He 111s, Junkers Ju 88s and Dornier Do 17s. Hitlers intention had been to break the morale of the British people so they would pressure their government to surrender. This part of Belfast was the only one required to provide air raid shelters for workers. (Some authors count this as the second raid of four). His report concluded with: "a second Belfast would be too horrible to contemplate". 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. 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. [6] It was MacDermott who sent a telegram to de Valera seeking assistance. Video, 00:01:15The Belfast blitz, Up Next. "These people are often seen as a statistic but they were human beings, people who lived and grew up in - or moved to - Belfast and died in Belfast," Mr Freeburn, the museum's collections officer, says. 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. What happened in 1941 changed the city forever. 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. Here are 10 facts about both the German Blitzkrieg and the Allied bombing of Germany. As well as photographs, the Luftwaffe gathered information on landmarks, potential targets and defences or lack thereof. London was bombed for 57 consecutive nights from 7 September 1940 The telegram was sent at 4:35am,[citation needed] asking the Irish Taoiseach, amon de Valera for assistance. Nevertheless, for all the hardship it caused, the campaign proved to be a strategic mistake by the Germans. 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. During the whole period, although the citys operation was disrupted in ways that were sometimes serious, no essential service was more than temporarily impaired. Ulster Historical Foundation. Between Black Saturday and December 2, there was no 24-hour period without at least one alertas the alarms came to be calledand generally far more. He was succeeded by J. M. Andrews, then 69 years old, who was no more capable of dealing with the situation than his predecessor. Very early in the German bombing campaign, it became clear that the preparationshowever extensive they seemed to have beenwere inadequate. Men from the South worked with men from the North in the universal cause of the relief of suffering. The town of Dromara saw its population increase from 500 to 2,500. O'Sullivan felt that the whole civil defence sector was utterly overwhelmed. Heinkel He 111 and Dornier Do 17 planes fitted with Zeiss cameras captured high-quality aerial imagery. Air-raid damage was widespread; hospitals, clubs, churches, museums, residential and shopping streets, hotels, public houses, theatres, schools, monuments, newspaper offices, embassies, and the London Zoo were bombed. Protection of the city fell to seven anti-aircraft batteries of 16 heavy guns and six light guns. In the first days of the Blitz, a tragic incident in the East End stoked public anger over the governments shelter policy. As well as these two major targets, other firms in Belfast produced valuable materials for the war effort including munitions, linen, ropes, food supplies and, of course, cigarettes. Corrections? Belfast has the world's largest dry dock. St George's Church in High Street was damaged by fire. In the eight months of attacks, some 43,000 civilians were killed. 13 died, including a soldier killed when an anti-aircraft gun, at the Balmoral show-grounds, misfired. He was asked, in the N.I. During the first year of the war, behind-the-lines conditions prevailed in London. But the Luftwaffe was ready. 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. At the start of World War Two, Belfast had considered itself safe from an aerial attack, as the city's leaders believed that Belfast was simply too far away for Luftwaffe bombers to reach - assuming that they would have to fly from Nazi Germany. The ill-fated ship was built in the city in 1912, and to this day, there is a museum dedicated to its building and the lives of all of those on board. The Luftwaffe crews returned to their base in Northern France and reported that Belfast's defences were, "inferior in quality, scanty and insufficient". Streetlights, car headlights, and illuminated signs were kept off. [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. The famous Harland and Wolff cranes are called Samson and Goliath. Belfast Blitz: Marking the lost lives 80 years on. Outside of London, with some 900 dead, this was the greatest loss of life in a night raid during the Blitz. [citation needed], On Easter Tuesday, 15 April 1941, spectators watching a football match at Windsor Park noticed a lone Luftwaffe Junkers Ju 88 aircraft circling overhead.[15]. Only four were known still to be alive. They prevented low-flying aircraft from approaching their targets at optimal altitudes and angles of attack. There was no smokescreen ability, however there were some barrage balloons positioned strategically for protection. 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. The most significant loss was a 4.5-acre (1.8ha) factory floor for manufacturing the fuselages of Short Stirling bombers. This view was probably influenced by the decision of the IRA Army Council to support Germany. 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. Singer-songwriter Van Morrison was born here. Belfast, the city with the highest population density in the UK at the time, also had the lowest proportion of public air-raid shelters. The creeping TikTok bans. That night almost 300 people, many from the Protestant Shankill area, took refuge in the Clonard Monastery in the Catholic Falls Road. For 57 nightsuntil November 2more than 1 million bombs were dropped on the capital city. The first deliberate raid took place on the night of 7 April. [27] One widespread criticism was that the Germans located Belfast by heading for Dublin and following the railway lines north. Under the leadership of Prime Minister John Miller Andrews, Northern Ireland remained unprepared. ", Dawson Bates informed the Cabinet of rack-renting of barns, and over thirty people per house in some areas.[24]. But Mr Freeburn's research casts doubt on this. 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 . 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. After the war, when the first girl from the home got married Billy gave her away, having lost his only daughter. The database Mr Freeburn has compiled is, he believes, the most accurate list of those killed and includes 222 children aged 16 or under. On May 11, 1941, Hitler called off the Blitz as he shifted his forces eastward against the Soviet Union. Over the course of three days, some 1.5 million civiliansthe overwhelming majority of them childrenwere transported from urban centres to rural areas that were believed to be safe. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. 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. 2. wardens, and members of the Home Guard drilling in the parks, life went on much as usual. THE BELFAST BLITZ was a series of four air raids over Northern Ireland during the spring of 1941. devised the Morrison shelter (named for Home Secretary Herbert Stanley Morrison) as an alternative to the Anderson shelter. The offensive came to be called the Blitz after the German word blitzkrieg (lightning war). Few children had been successfully evacuated. THE BELFAST BLITZ was a series of four air raids over Northern Ireland during the spring of 1941. department distributed more than two million Anderson shelters (named after Sir John Anderson, head of the A.R.P.) Brooke noted in his diary "I gave him authority as it is obviously a question of expediency". Prayers were said and hymns sung by the mainly Protestant women and children during the bombing. The Air Raid Precautions (A.R.P.) As many as 5,000 people had packed into this network of underground tunnels, which was dangerously overcrowded, dirty, and dark. The district of Belfast has an area of 44 square miles (115 square km). At the core of this book is a compelling account of the Luftwaffe's blitz on Belfast in April-May 1941. So had Clydeside until recently. Over 100 German planes made contact with barrage balloon cables during the Blitz, and two-thirds of them crashed or made forced landings on British soil. The Belfast blitz is remembered. 10,000 "officially" crossed the border. 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.. 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. The seeming normality of life on the Home Front was shattered in 1944 when the first of the V1's landed. Around 1am, Luftwaffe bombers flew over the city, concentrating their attack on the Harbour Estate and Queen's Island. About 1,000 people were killed and bombs hit half of the houses in the city, leaving 100,000 people homeless. Video, 00:01:38, At least 17 dead in Jakarta fuel storage depot fire, Australia's 'biggest drug bust' nets $700m of cocaine. Richard Dawson Bates was the Home Affairs Minister. From September 1940 until May 1941, Britain was subjected to sustained enemy bombing campaign, now known as the Blitz. The first was on the night of 7-8 April 1941, a small attack which probably took place only to test Belfast's defences. It is perhaps true that many saved their lives running but I am afraid a much greater number lost them or became casualties."[20]. Islington parish church, the rebuilt Our Lady of Victories (Kensington), the French church by Leicester square, St. Annes, Soho (famous for its music), All Souls, Langham place, and Christ Church in Westminster Bridge road (whose towerfortunately savedcommemorates President Lincolns abolition of slavery), were among a large number of others. At 10:40pm the air raid sirens sounded. [1][2], The third raid on Belfast took place over the evening and morning of 45 May 1941; 150 were killed. 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." It was not the first time the alarm had sounded to signify the presence of Luftwaffe bombers over the city. Over 500 received care from the Irish Red Cross in Dublin. 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. 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. Liverpool, for example, protected by 100 guns. In clear weather, targets were easily identifiable. It remains a high death toll - a shocking number of people killed in just a few weeks. The shipyard was among the largest in the world, producing merchant vessels and military shipping. Because basements, a logical destination in the event of an air raid, were a relative rarity in Britain, the A.R.P. He stated that "he would once more tell his government how he felt about the matter and he would ask them to confine the operations to military objectives as far as it was humanly possible. As the UK was preparing for the conflict, the factories and shipyards of Belfast were gearing up. Train after train and bus after bus were filled with those next in line. 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. On 4-5 May, another raid, made up of 204 bombers, killed another 203 people and the following night 22 more died. The period of the next moon from say the 7th to the 16th of April may well bring our turn." 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). ISBN 9781909556324. Read about our approach to external linking. 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. 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. Belfast was bombed by the Nazis in World War II. It is situated at on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. Unlike N Ireland, the Irish Free State was no longer part of the UK. Weighing 46,328 tonnes, Titanic was to be the largest manmade moveable object the world had ever seen.