NI WW2 veterans honoured by France. Only four were known still to be alive. ISBN 9781909556324. 6. 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. The bombs continued to fall until 5am. 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. But these people all had families and friends and they had to deal with their loss for the rest of their lives.". Streetlights, car headlights, and illuminated signs were kept off. parliament: "if the government realized 'that these fast bombers can come to Northern Ireland in two and three quarter hours'". The devastation was so great that the Germans coined a new verb, to coventrate, to describe it. 2023 BBC. A victory for the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain would indeed have exposed Great Britain to invasion and occupation. The past doesnt change, its just over.. It was not the last time Belfast would suffer. The raids hurt Britains war production, but they also killed many civilians and left many others homeless. James Craig, Lord Craigavon, had been Prime Minister of Northern Ireland since its inception in 1921 up until his death in 1940. 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 . [citation needed]. 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". The district of Belfast has an area of 44 square miles (115 square km). People are leaving from all parts of town and not only from the bombed areas. By 4 am the entire city seemed to be in flames. 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. Hitlers intention had been to break the morale of the British people so they would pressure their government to surrender. After a brief lull, the Luftwaffe returned in force on February 17. A force of 180 bombers dropped 750 bombs - including 203 tonnes of high explosives - and 29,000 incendiaries over a five-hour period. Emma Duffin, a nurse at the Queen's University Hospital, (who previously served during the Great War), who kept a diary; One, Tom Coleman, attended to receive recognition for his colleagues' solidarity at such a critical time. A short respite followed, until a widespread series of night raids on April 7 included some targets in the London area. Again the Irish emergency services crossed the border, this time without waiting for an invitation. 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. Those who sought refuge at the school were told that they would quickly be relocated to a safer area, but the evacuation was delayed. Simpson shot down one of the Heinkels over Downpatrick. The attacks were authorized by Germanys chancellor, Adolf Hitler, after the British carried out a nighttime air raid on Berlin. 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. Video, 00:00:46Hong Kong skyscraper fire seen on city's skyline, Watch: Matt Hancock message row in 83 seconds. During the first year of the war, behind-the-lines conditions prevailed in London. Belfast suffered a series of bombing raids in the spring of 1941, which became known as the 'Blitz of Belfast'. Three vessels nearing completion at Harland and Wolff's were hit as was its power station. No attendant nurse had soothed the last moments of these victims; no gentle reverent hand had closed their eyes or crossed their hands. THE BELFAST BLITZ was a series of four air raids over Northern Ireland during the spring of 1941. 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. 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. Incendiary bombs predominated in this raid. Prior to the "Belfast Blitz" there were only 200 public shelters in the city, although around 4,000 households had built their own private shelters. Video, 00:00:51, Australia's 'biggest drug bust' nets $700m of cocaine, Thanks, but no big speech, in Ken Bruce's sign off. Similar initiatives bearing the same name were ordered in the past decade by former mayors Libby . He was replaced by 54-year-old Sir Basil Brooke on 1 May. There is no slacking in our loyalty. By Jonathan Bardon. As many as 5,000 people had packed into this network of underground tunnels, which was dangerously overcrowded, dirty, and dark. Unlike N Ireland, the Irish Free State was no longer part of the UK. Many bodies and body parts could not be identified. For 57 nightsuntil November 2more than 1 million bombs were dropped on the capital city. Updates? Video, 00:03:09, Mapping the lives lost in the Belfast Blitz, Russian minister laughed at for Ukraine war claims. 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. The Blitz was devastating for the people of London and other cities. "Through resources such as the Public Records Office and ancestry and genealogy websites I managed to get about 100 photos - which is about one tenth of the victims," he says. The city has been a leader in women's rights. In every instance, all stepped forward. The Titanic was built in Belfast. By the middle of December it had reached nearly 1,700,000 (adjusted for inflation, this was the equivalent of roughly 100 million in 2020). 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. Under the leadership of Prime Minister John Miller Andrews, Northern Ireland remained unprepared. Fiber-optic cables are made from thin strings of glass and are generally about one-tenth the width of a . 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. Ulster Historical Foundation. 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. The famous places damaged include the palace of Westminster and Westminster hall, the County hall, the Public Record office, the Law Courts, the Temple and the Inner Temple library; Somerset house, Burlington house, the tower of London, Greenwich observatory, Hogarths house; the Carlton, Reform, American, Savage, Arts and Orleans clubs; the Royal College of Surgeons, University college and its library, Stationers hall, the Y.M.C.A. Around 20,000 people were employed on the site with 35,000 further along in the shipyard. Has it taken bursting bombs to remind the people of this little country that they have common tradition, a common genius and a common home? By then 250 firemen from Clydeside had arrived. Thank you. 11 churches, two hospitals and two schools were destroyed. Indeed, on the night of the first raid, no Royal Air Force (RAF) aircraft took to the air to intercept German planes. Despite the military and industrial importance of the city, the Luftwaffe described the defences asweak, scanty, insufficient. 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. However Belfast was not mentioned again by the Nazis. Since most casualties were caused by falling masonry rather than by blast, they provided effective shelter for those who had them. [17] A stray bomber attacked Derry, killing 15. The initial human cost of the Blitz was lower than the government had expected, but the level of destruction exceeded the governments dire predictions. In late August the Germans dropped some bombs, apparently by accident, on civilian areas in London. Neighbouring residential areas were also hit. For eight months the Luftwaffe dropped bombs on London and other strategic cities across Britain. Prayers were said and hymns sung by the mainly Protestant women and children during the bombing. So had Clydeside until recently. Over 150 people died in what became known as the 'Fire Blitz'. 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. It targeted the docks. 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). 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. After the passing of the Government of Ireland Act, 1920, it became the seat of the government of Northern Ireland. 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. Nevertheless, for all the hardship it caused, the campaign proved to be a strategic mistake by the Germans. 10,000 "officially" crossed the border. . Video, 00:02:54Living through the London Blitz, At least 17 dead in Jakarta fuel storage depot fire. along with England, Scotland, and Wales. It became a city by royal charter in 1888. [12], There was little preparation for the conflict with Germany. workers. By 1940, Short and Harland could shelter its entire workforce and Harland and Wolff had provision to shelter 16,000 workers. 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. Belfast was bombed by the Nazis in World War II. 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. Read about our approach to external linking. The "pothole blitz" is a common short-term initiative to combat storm weather damage. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Another defensive measure employed by the British was barrage balloonslarge oval-shaped unmanned balloons with stabilizing tail finsinstalled in and around major target areas. Video, 00:01:23Watch: Matt Hancock message row in 83 seconds, One-minute World News. 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 sense of relative calm was abruptly shattered in the first week of September 1940, when the war came to London in earnest. The Germans, however, saw Belfast as a legitimate target due to the shipyards in the city that were contributing to Britain's war efforts. 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]. Government ministers in Northern Ireland began to realise the Luftwaffe may launch an attack, but it was too little, too late. High explosive bombs predominated in this raid. 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. Belfast is as worthy a target as Coventry, Birmingham, Bristol or Glasgow.. At the beginning of the Blitz, British ack ack gunners struggled to inflict meaningful damage on German bombers, but later developments in radar guidance greatly improved the effectiveness of both antiaircraft artillery and searchlights. Instead of pressing his advantage, however, Hitler abruptly changed his strategy. wardens, and members of the Home Guard drilling in the parks, life went on much as usual. ", Mapping the lives lost in the Belfast Blitz. 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. 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. As the UK was preparing for the conflict, the factories and shipyards of Belfast were gearing up. 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." The working-class living close to industrial centres suffered more than anyone over the course of the four raids. The British thus fought with the advantage of superior equipment and undivided aim against an enemy with inconsistent objectives. In each station volunteers were asked for, as it was beyond their normal duties. The South Hallsville School disaster prompted Londoners, especially residents of the East End, to find safer shelters, on their own if necessary. So had Clydeside until recently. Protection of the city fell to seven anti-aircraft batteries of 16 heavy guns and six light guns. [27] One widespread criticism was that the Germans located Belfast by heading for Dublin and following the railway lines north. From papers recovered after the war, we know of a Luftwaffe reconnaissance flight over Belfast on 30 November 1940. 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. 2. After the war, instructions from Joseph Goebbels were discovered ordering it not to be mentioned. The Belfast blitz devastated a city that up until 1941 had remained unscathed during World War Two. 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]. The attacks by both V1's and V2's only ended as the Allies advanced up through Western Europe . When the house was hit William, Harriette, Dorothy, 36-year-old Dot and 41-year-old Isa were all killed. (Great War casualties) had died in hospital beds, their eyes had been reverently closed, their hands crossed to their breasts. He was succeeded by J. M. Andrews, then 69 years old, who was no more capable of dealing with the situation than his predecessor. Some had received food, others were famished. 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. The mass relocation, called Operation Pied Piper, was the largest internal migration in British history. "[22], In his opinion, the greatest want was the lack of hospital facilities. Video, 00:01:37Thanks, but no big speech, in Ken Bruce's sign off, Tear gas fired at Greece train crash protesters. 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. The attack on Coventry was particularly destructive. "A lot of the people I spoke to were relatives who ended up donating images and handwritten letters from before and after the Blitz. However they were not in a position to communicate with the Germans, and information recovered from Germany after the war showed that the planning of the blitz was based entirely on German aerial reconnaissance. Video, 00:01:03One-minute World News, Isabel Oakeshott: Why I leaked Hancock's messages. Omissions? The next took. Wherever Churchill is hiding his war material we will go. Once more, London was targeted and children were victims. Singer-songwriter Van Morrison was born here. Video, 00:00:26, Living through the London Blitz. He was asked, in the N.I. 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. 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. It was the worst wartime raid outside of London in the UK. [citation needed]. "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. It lies where the Lagan River flows into a part of the Irish Sea. Weighing 46,328 tonnes, Titanic was to be the largest manmade moveable object the world had ever seen. 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. The creeping TikTok bans, Hong Kong skyscraper fire seen on city's skyline. During the whole period, although the citys operation was disrupted in ways that were sometimes serious, no essential service was more than temporarily impaired. Moya Woodside[23] noted in her diary: "Evacuation is taking on panic proportions. He believed that key targets identified across the city were hit. 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 is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland . It was not the first time the alarm had sounded to signify the presence of Luftwaffe bombers over the city. This part of Belfast was the only one required to provide air raid shelters for workers. 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. [9], War materials and food were sent by sea from Belfast to Great Britain, some under the protection of the neutral Irish tricolour. 4. Read about our approach to external linking. On September 1, 1939, the day World War II began with Germanys invasion of Poland, the British government implemented a massive evacuation plan. The most heavily bombed cities outside London were Liverpool and Birmingham. These shelters were vital as these factories had many employees working late at night and early in the morning when Luftwaffe attacks were likely. By 1941, production of the Short Stirling Bomber and the Short Sunderland Flying Boat was underway. There was no smokescreen ability, however there were some barrage balloons positioned strategically for protection. Video, 00:02:12Isabel Oakeshott: Why I leaked Hancock's messages, Tears of relief after man found in Amazon jungle. Belfast's Albert Clock tower is sinking - it leans by four feet. William Joyce "Lord Haw-Haw" announced that "The Fhrer will give you time to bury your dead before the next attack Tuesday was only a sample." Belfast is famous for being the birthplace of the Titanic. Anna and Billy were buried up their necks in sewage but were rescued and survived. Train after train and bus after bus were filled with those next in line. Around 1am, Luftwaffe bombers flew over the city, concentrating their attack on the Harbour Estate and Queen's Island. Corrections? St George's Church in High Street was damaged by fire. As of October 2020, the population of Belfast is about 350,000 people. 50,000 houses, more than half the houses in the city, were damaged. Yesterday for once the people of Ireland were united under the shadow of a national blow. The phrase Business as usual, written in chalk on boarded-up shop windows, exemplified the British determination to keep calm and carry on as best they could. 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. Even the children of soldiers had not been evacuated, with calamitous results when the married quarters of Victoria Barracks received a direct hit. The British government had anticipated air attacks on its population centres, and it had predicted catastrophic casualties. All were exhausted. Anna and Billy returned to England and continued running the children's home. Belfast was largely unprepared for an attack of such a scale as 200 German bombers shelled the city on 15 April 1941. Some 27 percent of Londoners utilized private shelters, such as Anderson shelters, while the remaining 64 percent spent their evenings on duty with some branch of the civil defense or remained in their own homes. Fortunately, the railway telegraphy link between Belfast and Dublin was still operational. On 28 April 1943, six members of the Government threatened to resign, forcing him from office. 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." Nearby were the citys main power station, gasworks, telephone house and the Sirocco Engineering works. It is perhaps true that many saved their lives running but I am afraid a much greater number lost them or became casualties."[20]. enable dapp browser on trust wallet ios,