10 facts about the belfast blitz 10 facts about the belfast blitz

[26], Initial German radio broadcasts celebrated the raid. 29 - Belfast was once bigger than Dublin But the authorities were afraid that bombs might not be the. 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. 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. The government was blamed by some for inadequate precautions. The period of the next moon from say the 7th to the 16th of April may well bring our turn.. The Blitz was devastating for the people of London and other cities. Blitz, The - Kids | Britannica Kids | Homework Help The Air Raid Precautions (A.R.P.) The bombs caused death and destruction across the city, affecting those of all religions and political backgrounds. Indeed, on the night of the first raid, no Royal Air Force (RAF) aircraft took to the air to intercept German planes. When a bombing raid was imminent, air-raid sirens were set off to sound a warning. Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom . Belfast's Albert Clock tower is sinking - it leans by four feet. By 1941, production of the Short Stirling Bomber and the Short Sunderland Flying Boat was underway. Rescue workers search through the rubble of Eglington Street in Belfast, Northern Ireland, after a German Luftwaffe air raid, 7 May 1941, Anna (left) and her husband Billy (back right) survived while Harriette, Dorothy and Billy were killed along with Dot and Isa, Dot and Isa, with Dorothy when she was a toddler, Royal Welch Fusiliers assist in clearing bomb damage in Belfast, Northern Ireland, 7 May 1941, Mapping the lives lost in the Belfast Blitz. The most significant loss was a 4.5-acre (1.8ha) factory floor for manufacturing the fuselages of Short Stirling bombers. 10 fascinating facts about Belfast that you probably didn't know [13] However at the time Lord Craigavon, Prime Minister of Northern Ireland since its inception in 1921, said: "Ulster is ready when we get the word and always will be." These figures are based on newspaper reports of the time, personal recollections and other primary sources, such as:- 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. One, Tom Coleman, attended to receive recognition for his colleagues' solidarity at such a critical time. The British thus fought with the advantage of superior equipment and undivided aim against an enemy with inconsistent objectives. Protection of the city fell to seven anti-aircraft batteries of 16 heavy guns and six light guns. The most heavily bombed area was that which lay between York Street and the Antrim Road, north of the city centre. However Belfast was not mentioned again by the Nazis. The next took place on Easter Tuesday, 15 April 1941, when 200 Luftwaffe bombers attacked military and manufacturing targets in the city of Belfast. 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. More than 1,000 people were killed, and the damage was more widespread than on any previous occasion. The firm had produced Handley Page Hereford bombers since 1936. On August 25 the British retaliated by launching a bombing raid on Berlin. 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. They all say the same thing, that the government is no good. The seeming normality of life on the Home Front was shattered in 1944 when the first of the V1's landed. After a brief lull, the Luftwaffe returned in force on February 17. The Belfast Blitz - KS3 History (Environment and society) - BBC Authorities had noted Queens Island in the cityas a vulnerable point as early as 1929. Another claim was that the Catholic population in general and the IRA in particular guided the bombers. Your donations help keep MHN afloat. Death should be dignified, peaceful; Hitler had made even death grotesque. Belfast's Albert Clock tower is sinking - it leans by four feet. At conservative gathering, Trump is still the favourite. [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 British, on the other hand, were supremely well prepared for the kind of battle in which they now found themselves. 11 churches, two hospitals and two schools were destroyed. John Wood Dunlop invented the pneumatic tyre in Belfast in 1887. 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. 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. And even then, Westminster stated it was not ample provision; Stormont still worried about the costs to industry. 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. For more than six months, German planes had flown reconnaissance flights over Belfast. The Belfast Blitz: the city in the war years - History Ireland 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. It has been reported that on Easter Tuesday, Belfast suffered the highest loss of life of any city in the UK in a single raid. Video, 00:02:54, At least 17 dead in Jakarta fuel storage depot fire. Video, 00:01:03One-minute World News, Isabel Oakeshott: Why I leaked Hancock's messages. People are leaving from all parts of town and not only from the bombed areas. It became a city by royal charter in 1888. As more and more people began sleeping on the platforms, however, the government relented and provided bunk beds and bathrooms for the underground communities. Beginning on Black Saturday, London was attacked on 57 straight nights. Strand Public Elementary school, York Road railway station, the adjacent Midland Hotel on York Road, and Salisbury Avenue tram depot were all hit. Around 20,000 people were employed on the site with 35,000 further along in the shipyard. 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. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. The Blitz of Belfast 1941 - History Learning Site The database Mr Freeburn has compiled is, he believes, the most accurate list of those killed and includes 222 children aged 16 or under. High explosives were dropped. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. The devastation was so great that the Germans coined a new verb, to coventrate, to describe it. About 1,000 people were killed and bombs hit half of the houses in the city, leaving 100,000 people homeless. 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. It is situated at on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. 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.. Video, 00:01:09The Spitfire turns 80, The German bombing of Coventry. 3. On September 10, 1940, the school was flattened by a German bomb, and people huddled in the basement were killed or trapped in the rubble. There was no smokescreen ability, however there were some barrage balloons positioned strategically for protection. Video, 00:02:12, Isabel Oakeshott: Why I leaked Hancock's messages, Tears of relief after man found in Amazon jungle. Hitlers intention had been to break the morale of the British people so they would pressure their government to surrender. [27] One widespread criticism was that the Germans located Belfast by heading for Dublin and following the railway lines north. Wherever Churchill is hiding his war material we will go. The telegram was sent at 4:35am,[citation needed] asking the Irish Taoiseach, amon de Valera for assistance. Many of those who died as a result of enemy action lived in tightly packed, poorly constructed, terraced housing. Air power alone had failed to knock the United Kingdom out of the war. The Belfast blitz devastated a city that up until 1941 had remained unscathed during World War Two. 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. Belfast is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland . [citation needed], There was a second massive air raid on Belfast on Sunday 45 May 1941, three weeks after that of Easter Tuesday. sprang into action, and Londoners, while maintaining the work, business, and efficiency of their city, displayed remarkable fortitude. The mass relocation, called Operation Pied Piper, was the largest internal migration in British history. Richard Dawson Bates was the Home Affairs Minister. "They have never been published before, never seen the light of day.". After the bombing began on September 7, local authorities urged displaced people to take shelter at South Hallsville School. Victory for the Royal Air Forces (RAFs) Fighter Command blocked this possibility and, in fact, created the conditions for Britains survival and the eventual destruction of the Third Reich. In Newtownards, Bangor, Larne, Carrickfergus, Lisburn and Antrim many thousands of Belfast citizens took refuge either with friends or strangers. 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. Instead of pressing his advantage, however, Hitler abruptly changed his strategy. London seemed ablaze from the docks to Westminster, much damage was done, and casualties were high. 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. There [is] ground for thinking that the enemy could not easily reach Belfast in force except during a period of moonlight. 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. Under the leadership of Prime Minister John Miller Andrews, Northern Ireland remained unprepared. The Titanic was built in Belfast. Davies also set up medical stations and persuaded off-duty medical personnel to treat the sick and wounded. 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The World's Most-Famous Ship, The Titanic, was constructed here. The working-class living close to industrial centres suffered more than anyone over the course of the four raids. A short respite followed, until a widespread series of night raids on April 7 included some targets in the London area. Over 150 people died in what became known as the 'Fire Blitz'. For 57 nightsuntil November 2more than 1 million bombs were dropped on the capital city. 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. German bombing of London during the Blitz, Discover how the Third Reich attacked Great Britain during World War II's Battle of Britain, atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Watch President Roosevelt outline his Four Freedoms and learn how Britain defeated Germany's Luftwaffe. 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, the city with the highest population density in the UK at the time, also had the lowest proportion of public air-raid shelters. Incendiary bombs predominated in this raid. The most heavily bombed cities outside London were Liverpool and Birmingham. 150 corpses remained in the Falls Road baths for three days before they were buried in a mass grave, with 123 still unidentified. Video, 00:00:51Australia's 'biggest drug bust' nets $700m of cocaine, Thanks, but no big speech, in Ken Bruce's sign off. An earlier flight on Oct. 18 allowed the crew to plot several targets in the city. 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. ISBN 9781909556324. 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. The Blitz began at around 4 pm on September 7, 1940, when German bomber planes first appeared over London. Barton insisted that Belfast was "too far north" to use radio guidance. That contrasts with the figure that is often given of more than 900 killed on Easter Tuesday alone. On 28 April 1943, six members of the Government threatened to resign, forcing him from office. 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. Belfast Blitz: Facts In total there were four attacks on the County Antrim city. [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. wardens, and members of the Home Guard drilling in the parks, life went on much as usual. Omissions? 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. 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. [17] A stray bomber attacked Derry, killing 15. The creeping TikTok bans. IWM C 5424 1. But the Luftwaffe was ready. The Blitz began at about 4:00 in the afternoon on September 7, 1940, when German planes appeared over London. The shipyard was among the largest in the world, producing merchant vessels and military shipping. Video, 00:01:15The Belfast blitz, Up Next. Elsewhere in the skies over Britain, Nazi official Rudolph Hess chose that same evening to parachute into Scotland on a quixotic and wholly unauthorized peace mission. For two hours, 348 German bombers and 617 fighters targeted the city, dropping high-explosive bombs as well as incendiary devices. By mid-September 1940 the RAF had won the Battle of Britain, and the invasion was postponed indefinitely. 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}. The creeping TikTok bans. 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. The Belfast blitz is remembered. 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. The first deliberate raid took place on the night of 7 April. At the time of the first attack in April 1941, there were no operational searchlights, too few anti-aircraft batteries and scarcely enough public air raid shelters for a quarter of the population. He was replaced by 54-year-old Sir Basil Brooke on 1 May. The national government also provided funds to local municipalities to construct public air-raid shelters. 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. Although casualties were heavy, at no time did they approach the estimates that had been made before the war, and only a fraction of the available hospital and ambulance capacity was ever utilized. 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. Nine were registered on three separate occasions, and from the start of the Blitz until November 30 there were more than 350 alerts. By the end of the attacks, between 900 and 1,000 people were dead and thousands more were injured, homeless and displaced. [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. 8. 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. "[22], In his opinion, the greatest want was the lack of hospital facilities. The first (April 7 -8), a small attack, was most likely carried out to test the city's defenses. C.S Lewis was born in Belfast, and the nearby countryside helped inspire The Chronicles of Narnia. Targets identified included: the Short and Harland Ltd. Aircraft Factory; the Belfast power station and waterworks; Other maps uncovered following the Second World War also showed the parliament and city hall, Belfast gasworks, a rope factory and the Royal Belfast Academical Institution. No searchlights were set up in the city at the time, and these only arrived on 10 April. Clydeside got its blitz during the period of the last moon. Video, 00:01:38, At least 17 dead in Jakarta fuel storage depot fire, Australia's 'biggest drug bust' nets $700m of cocaine. These private air-raid shelters were Anderson shelters, constructed of sheets of corrugated galvanised iron covered in earth. 10 Facts about Belfast City | Fun Facts About Belfast | Europa Hotel The attacks were authorized by Germanys chancellor, Adolf Hitler, after the British carried out a nighttime air raid on Berlin. William Joyce (known as "Lord Haw-Haw") announced in radio broadcasts from Hamburg that there will be "Easter eggs for Belfast". Subs offer. Updates? The British government had anticipated air attacks on its population centres, and it had predicted catastrophic casualties. 55,000 houses were damaged leaving 100,000 temporarily homeless. "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. "But there is no such equivalent in Belfast. 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. By the. "It says a lot about how these people are forgotten that there is no Blitz memorial in Belfast," Mr Freeburn says. However, the Docklands was also a densely populated and impoverished area where thousands of working-class Londoners lived in run-down housing. ", 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.