Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, Historical Topics Series 2, The Belfast Blitz, 2007, This page was last edited on 31 January 2023, at 20:18. London seemed ablaze from the docks to Westminster, much damage was done, and casualties were high. Clydeside got its blitz during the period of the last moon. 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. Video, 00:01:03One-minute World News, Isabel Oakeshott: Why I leaked Hancock's messages. However that attack was not an error. [12], There was little preparation for the conflict with Germany. Half of the city's housing was damaged over the course of all the raids. Many in Northern Ireland thought that Belfast was outside the range of the Luftwaffe. 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. 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]. 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. After the passing of the Government of Ireland Act, 1920, it became the seat of the government of Northern Ireland. Can Nigeria's election result be overturned? The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. 55,000 British civilian casualties were sustained through German bombing before the end of 1940 This included 23,000 deaths. Harland and Wolff: The troubled history of Belfast's shipyard With Britains powerful Royal Navy controlling the surface approaches in the Channel and the North Sea, it fell to the Luftwaffe to establish dominance of the skies above the battle zone. 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. 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. About 1,000 people were killed and bombs hit half of the houses in the city, leaving 100,000 people homeless. "They have never been published before, never seen the light of day.". Moya Woodside[23] noted in her diary: "Evacuation is taking on panic proportions. Streetlights, car headlights, and illuminated signs were kept off. ", Dawson Bates informed the Cabinet of rack-renting of barns, and over thirty people per house in some areas.[24]. There was no smokescreen ability, however there were some barrage balloons positioned strategically for protection. 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. A Raid From Above The government announced that 77 people had died, but for years local residents insisted the toll was much higher. People hung black curtains in their windows so that no lights showed outside their houses. The next took place on Easter Tuesday, 15 April 1941, when 200 Luftwaffe bombers attacked military and manufacturing targets in the city of Belfast. These figures are based on newspaper reports of the time, personal recollections and other primary sources, such as:- Very early in the German bombing campaign, it became clear that the preparationshowever extensive they seemed to have beenwere inadequate. Hitlers intention had been to break the morale of the British people so they would pressure their government to surrender. Under the leadership of amon de Valera it had declared its neutrality during the Second World War. It was not the first time the alarm had sounded to signify the presence of Luftwaffe bombers over the city. But the raid of 15-16 April - the Easter Tuesday Raid - was on another scale. [citation needed], There was a second massive air raid on Belfast on Sunday 45 May 1941, three weeks after that of Easter Tuesday. headquarters, Toynbee hall and St. Dunstans; the American, Spanish, Japanese and Peruvian embassies and the buildings of the Times newspaper, the Associated Press of America, and the National City bank of New York; the centre court at Wimbledon, Wembley stadium, the Ring (Blackfriars); Drury Lane, the Queens and the Saville theatres; Rotten row, Lambeth walk, the Burlington arcade and Madame Tussauds. It was not the last time Belfast would suffer. These shelters were vital as these factories had many employees working late at night and early in the morning when Luftwaffe attacks were likely. 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. Here are 10 facts about both the German Blitzkrieg and the Allied bombing of Germany. Compared to other cities, Belfast was virtually undefended. Nearby were the citys main power station, gasworks, telephone house and the Sirocco Engineering works. The British thus fought with the advantage of superior equipment and undivided aim against an enemy with inconsistent objectives. Video, 00:02:54Living through the London Blitz, At least 17 dead in Jakarta fuel storage depot fire. 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. Similar initiatives bearing the same name were ordered in the past decade by former mayors Libby . By then 250 firemen from Clydeside had arrived. Belfast Blitz: Remembering the ordinary people who lost their lives On 4-5 May, another raid, made up of 204 bombers, killed another 203 people and the following night 22 more died. 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. Emma Duffin, a nurse at the Queen's University Hospital, (who previously served during the Great War), who kept a diary; Even the children of soldiers had not been evacuated, with calamitous results when the married quarters of Victoria Barracks received a direct hit. One, Tom Coleman, attended to receive recognition for his colleagues' solidarity at such a critical time. continuous trek to railway stations. 10 Facts about Belfast City. (Great War casualties) had died in hospital beds, their eyes had been reverently closed, their hands crossed to their breasts. There are other diarists and narratives. 2. Eduard Hempel, the German Minister to Ireland, visited the Irish Ministry for External Affairs to offer sympathy and attempt an explanation. Belfast is famous for being the birthplace of the Titanic. Their Chain Home early warning radar, the most advanced system in the world, gave Fighter Command adequate notice of where and when to direct their forces, and the Luftwaffe never made a concerted effort to neutralize it. By mid-September 1940 the RAF had won the Battle of Britain, and the invasion was postponed indefinitely. But the RAF had not responded. Most of the objectives laid out by the reconnaissance crews were of either military or industrial importance. Wherever Churchill is hiding his war material we will go Belfast is as worthy a target as Coventry, Birmingham, Bristol or Glasgow." There [is] ground for thinking that the enemy could not easily reach Belfast in force except during a period of moonlight. 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. Fighter Commands efforts were greatly aided by the lack of any consistent plan of action on the part of the Germans. By 1940, Short and Harland could shelter its entire workforce and Harland and Wolff had provision to shelter 16,000 workers. "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.". 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 Belfast blitz. 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. Also, on Queens Island, stood the Short and Harland Ltd. Aircraft Factory. 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. Once more, London was targeted and children were victims. [6] It was MacDermott who sent a telegram to de Valera seeking assistance. On Nov. 30, 1940, a lone Luftwaffe plane flew across the Ards Peninsula unobserved and reported back to Berlin. Added to this was the repair and refitting of 22,000 more vessels. The House of Commons, Westminster Abbey, and the British Museum were severely damaged, and The Temple was almost completely destroyed. the Blitz, (September 7, 1940May 11, 1941), intense bombing campaign undertaken by Nazi Germany against the United Kingdom during World War II. The Belfast blitz during World War Two - BBC News The Belfast Blitz - Inside the Deadly 1941 Luftwaffe Raids on Northern The British government had anticipated air attacks on its population centres, and it had predicted catastrophic casualties. The area included the Harland and Wolff Ltd. Shipyard, the Short and Harland Ltd. Aircraft Factory, and the airfield at RAF Sydenham. Men from the South worked with men from the North in the universal cause of the relief of suffering. Video, Russian minister laughed at for Ukraine war claims, US-made cheese can be called 'gruyere' - court, AOC under investigation for Met Gala dress, Saving Private Ryan actor Tom Sizemore dies at 61, The children left behind in Cuba's exodus, Walkie Talkie architect Rafael Violy dies aged 78, Alex Murdaugh's legal troubles are far from over, Mother who killed her five children euthanised. 19.99. 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. The nights of November 3 and 28 were the only occasions during this period in which Londons peace was unbroken by siren or bomb. On April 16 an attack even fiercer and more indiscriminate than those of the previous autumn started at 9:00 pm and continued until 5:00 the following morning; 500 aircraft were believed to have flown over in continuous waves, raining an estimated 450 tons of bombs across the city. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/event/the-Blitz, National Museums Liverpool - Merseyside Maritime Museum - The Blitz, The History Learning Site - The Blitz and World War Two. There was no opposition. 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. As many as 5,000 people had packed into this network of underground tunnels, which was dangerously overcrowded, dirty, and dark. [27] One widespread criticism was that the Germans located Belfast by heading for Dublin and following the railway lines north. 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. There were still 80,000 more in Belfast. 6. 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. By British mainland blitz standards, casualties were light. The use of the Tube system as a shelter saved thousands of lives, and images of Londoners huddled in Underground stations would become an indelible image of British life during World War II. As the UK was preparing for the conflict, the factories and shipyards of Belfast were gearing up. A charitable relief fund for the people of London was opened September 10. Video, 00:01:37Thanks, but no big speech, in Ken Bruce's sign off, Tear gas fired at Greece train crash protesters. Davies also set up medical stations and persuaded off-duty medical personnel to treat the sick and wounded. The Premier Online Military History Magazine, Re-printed with permission fromWartimeNI.com. The Titanic was built in Belfast. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. 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." Video, 00:02:54, At least 17 dead in Jakarta fuel storage depot fire. 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. They prevented low-flying aircraft from approaching their targets at optimal altitudes and angles of attack. Belfast confetti," said one archive news report. Tommy Henderson, an Independent Unionist MP in the House of Commons of Northern Ireland, summed up the feeling when he invited the Minister of Home Affairs to Hannahstown and the Falls Road, saying "The Catholics and the Protestants are going up there mixed and they are talking to one another. The attacks were authorized by Germanys chancellor, Adolf Hitler, after the British carried out a nighttime air raid on Berlin. They all say the same thing, that the government is no good. 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. ", 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. The "Hiram Plan" initiated by Dawson Bates, the Home Affairs Minister, had failed to materialise. What happened in 1941 changed the city forever. About 1,000 people were killed and bombs hit half of the houses in the city, leaving 100,000. For 57 nightsuntil November 2more than 1 million bombs were dropped on the capital city. 1. After the bombing began on September 7, local authorities urged displaced people to take shelter at South Hallsville School. 11 churches, two hospitals and two schools were destroyed. Interesting facts about Belfast | Just Fun Facts High explosives were dropped. Strand Public Elementary school, York Road railway station, the adjacent Midland Hotel on York Road, and Salisbury Avenue tram depot were all hit. On occasion, forces consisting of as many as 300 to 400 aircraft would cross the coast by day and split into small groups, and a few planes would succeed in penetrating Londons outer defenses. Again the Irish emergency services crossed the border, this time without waiting for an invitation. Under the leadership of Prime Minister John Miller Andrews, Northern Ireland remained unprepared. 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. About 1,000 people were killed during the Belfast Blitz of 1941, with Harland and Wolff among the buildings that were hit by the Luftwaffe. Guided by Davies, the people of the shelter created an ad hoc government and established a set of rules. Government ministers in Northern Ireland began to realise the Luftwaffe may launch an attack, but it was too little, too late. 2023 BBC. The creeping TikTok bans. [18], Over 900 people died, 1,500 people were injured, 400 of them seriously. Video, 00:01:23Watch: Matt Hancock message row in 83 seconds, One-minute World News. There was unease with the complacent attitude of the government, which led to resignations: Craigavon died on 24 November 1940. London was bombed for 57 consecutive nights from 7 September 1940 For eight months the Luftwaffe dropped bombs on London and other strategic cities across Britain. 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. High explosive bombs predominated in this raid. Many of those who died as a result of enemy action lived in tightly packed, poorly constructed, terraced housing. 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. Belfast was ill-prepared for the blitz. So had Clydeside until recently. Roads out of town are still one stream of cars, with mattresses and bedding tied on top. 150 corpses remained in the Falls Road baths for three days before they were buried in a mass grave, with 123 still unidentified. At 10:40pm the air raid sirens sounded. On 28 April 1943, six members of the Government threatened to resign, forcing him from office. Belfast is as worthy a target as Coventry, Birmingham, Bristol or Glasgow.. It would appear that Adolf Hitler, in view of de Valera's negative reaction, was concerned that de Valera and Irish American politicians might encourage the United States to enter the war. parliament: "if the government realized 'that these fast bombers can come to Northern Ireland in two and three quarter hours'". He was replaced by 54-year-old Sir Basil Brooke on 1 May. The Germans established that Belfast was defended by only seven anti-aircraft batteries, which made it the most poorly defended city in the United Kingdom. C.S Lewis was born in Belfast, and the nearby countryside helped inspire The Chronicles of Narnia. Clydeside got its blitz during the period of the last moon. The bombing of British cities - Swansea, Belfast, Glasgow Before the war broke out, civilians had been issued with gas masks and Anderson shelters, which people were encouraged to build at the. In the mistaken belief that they might damage RAF fighters, the anti-aircraft batteries ceased firing. You can see the difference in those letters - post-Blitz is very much a grieving tone. Around 20,000 people were employed on the site with 35,000 further along in the shipyard. "There are plans for one but there isn't one yet. It is perhaps true that many saved their lives running but I am afraid a much greater number lost them or became casualties."[20]. The first (April 7 -8), a small attack, was most likely carried out to test the city's defenses. Ulster Historical Foundation. Humanity knows no borders, no politics, no differences of religious belief. Hundreds of incendiary and many high-explosive bombs were dropped, doing little material damage but causing many casualties. The telegram was sent at 4:35am,[citation needed] asking the Irish Taoiseach, amon de Valera for assistance. 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 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. 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. The offensive came to be called the Blitz after the German word blitzkrieg (lightning war). The Belfast blitz is remembered. 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. Video, 00:00:51Australia's 'biggest drug bust' nets $700m of cocaine, Thanks, but no big speech, in Ken Bruce's sign off. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. The youngest victim was just six-weeks-old. Video, 00:00:46, Hong Kong skyscraper fire seen on city's skyline, Watch: Matt Hancock message row in 83 seconds. The sense of relative calm was abruptly shattered in the first week of September 1940, when the war came to London in earnest. The government was blamed by some for inadequate precautions. 1. During the first year of the war, behind-the-lines conditions prevailed in London. Air power alone had failed to knock the United Kingdom out of the war. 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. NI WW2 veterans honoured by France. 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.. 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. Video, 00:00:51, Australia's 'biggest drug bust' nets $700m of cocaine, Thanks, but no big speech, in Ken Bruce's sign off. The national government also provided funds to local municipalities to construct public air-raid shelters. After his optician business was destroyed by a bomb, Mickey Davies led an effort to organize the Spitalfield Shelter. The Blitz of Belfast 1941 - History Learning Site 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. Morale did suffer amid the death and devastation, but there were few calls for surrender. Video, 00:02:12Isabel Oakeshott: Why I leaked Hancock's messages, Tears of relief after man found in Amazon jungle. The Belfast blitz devastated a city that up until 1941 had remained unscathed during World War Two. 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. Some 900 people died as a result of the bombing and 1,500 were injured. It lies where the Lagan River flows into a part of the Irish Sea. A Luftwaffe pilot gave this description "We were in exceptional good humour knowing that we were going for a new target, one of England's last hiding places. Belfast | History, Population, Map, Landmarks, & Facts The winter of 193940 was severe, but the summer was pleasant, and in their leisure hours Londoners thronged the parks or worked in their gardens. 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. [19], 220,000 people fled from the city. Authorities had noted Queens Island in the cityas a vulnerable point as early as 1929. Apart from one or two false alarms in the early days of the war, no sirens wailed in London until June 25. Belfast has the world's largest dry dock. [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. A victory for the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain would indeed have exposed Great Britain to invasion and occupation. [1][2], The third raid on Belfast took place over the evening and morning of 45 May 1941; 150 were killed. 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 the 60th anniversary of the Belfast Blitz, Luftwaffe Pilot Gerhardt Becker spoke to BBC Northern Ireland about his mission over Belfast in 1941. There [is] ground for thinking that the enemy could not easily reach Belfast in force except during a period of moonlight. The bombs continued to fall until 5am. When the bombing began, 76-year-old William and 72-year-old Harriette took refuge under the stairs along with Dorothy, Dot and Isa. The shipyard was among the largest in the world, producing merchant vessels and military shipping. ", Dawson Bates, the Home Affairs Minister, apparently refused to reply to army correspondence and when the Ministry of Home Affairs was informed by imperial defence experts in 1939 that Belfast was regarded as "a very definite German objective", little was done outside providing shelters in the Harbour area.[14]. The M.V. Corrections? After the war, instructions from Joseph Goebbels were discovered ordering it not to be mentioned. Another defensive measure employed by the British was barrage balloonslarge oval-shaped unmanned balloons with stabilizing tail finsinstalled in and around major target areas.
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