Outside of London, with some 900 dead, this was the greatest loss of life in a night raid during the Blitz. ISBN 9781909556324. KS3 History (Environment and society) The Belfast Blitz learning resources for adults, children, parents and teachers. The offensive came to be called the Blitz after the German word blitzkrieg ("lightning war"). 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. Another defensive measure employed by the British was barrage balloonslarge oval-shaped unmanned balloons with stabilizing tail finsinstalled in and around major target areas. THE BELFAST BLITZ was a series of four air raids over Northern Ireland during the spring of 1941. When a bombing raid was imminent, air-raid sirens were set off to sound a warning. Heavy jacks were unavailable. 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. The youngest victim was just six-weeks-old. Belfast's Albert Clock tower is sinking - it leans by four feet. Many of the surface shelters built by local authorities were flimsy and provided little protection from bombs, falling debris, and fire. ", 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 Belfast blitz devastated a city that up until 1941 had remained unscathed during World War Two. 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. Anna and Billy were buried up their necks in sewage but were rescued and survived. That night almost 300 people, many from the Protestant Shankill area, took refuge in the Clonard Monastery in the Catholic Falls Road. But the Luftwaffe was ready. "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. The Belfast Blitz: April-May 1941 - History Ireland 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). Maps and documents uncovered at Gatow Airfield near Berlin in 1945 showed the level of detail involved. Thank you. Beginning in September 1940, the Blitz was an aerial bombing campaign conducted by the Luftwaffe against British cities. By 1941, production of the Short Stirling Bomber and the Short Sunderland Flying Boat was underway. 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. Fortunately, the railway telegraphy link between Belfast and Dublin was still operational. 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. During the whole period, although the citys operation was disrupted in ways that were sometimes serious, no essential service was more than temporarily impaired. The danger faced in London was greatly increased when the V2 attacks started and the casualty figures mirrored those of the Blitz.. 2. The mortuary services had emergency plans to deal with only 200 bodies. [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." 29 - Belfast was once bigger than Dublin Tragically 35 were crushed to death when the mill wall collapsed. 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. 255 corpses were laid out in St George's Market. Beginning on Black Saturday, London was attacked on 57 straight nights. There was unease with the complacent attitude of the government, which led to resignations: Craigavon died on 24 November 1940. This part of Belfast was the only one required to provide air raid shelters for workers. The first (April 7 -8), a small attack, was most likely carried out to test the city's defenses. The Blitz of Belfast 1941 - History Learning Site Other targets included Sheffield, Manchester, Coventry, and Southampton. It was solemn, tragic, dignified, but here it was grotesque, repulsive, horrible. [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]. 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. St George's Church in High Street was damaged by fire. 8. 7. Train after train and bus after bus were filled with those next in line. Video, 00:02:54Living through the London Blitz, At least 17 dead in Jakarta fuel storage depot fire. [27] One widespread criticism was that the Germans located Belfast by heading for Dublin and following the railway lines north. 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. For more than six months, German planes had flown reconnaissance flights over Belfast. More than 1,000 people were killed, and the damage was more widespread than on any previous occasion. 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. Yesterday the hand of good-fellowship was reached across the Border. Your donations help keep MHN afloat. 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. After his optician business was destroyed by a bomb, Mickey Davies led an effort to organize the Spitalfield Shelter. So had Clydeside until recently. Harland and Wolff: The troubled history of Belfast's shipyard Belfast is famous for being the birthplace of the Titanic. Over a period of nine months, over 43,500 civilians were killed in the raids, which focused on major cities and industrial centres. Video, 00:01:09The Spitfire turns 80, The German bombing of Coventry. 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. It targeted the docks. The town of Dromara saw its population increase from 500 to 2,500. The Blitz began at around 4 pm on September 7, 1940, when German bomber planes first appeared over London. At conservative gathering, Trump is still the favourite. "But there is no such equivalent in Belfast. 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. But Mr Freeburn's research casts doubt on this. Major O'Sullivan reported that "In the heavily 'blitzed' areas people ran panic-stricken into the streets and made for the open country. Around 1am, Luftwaffe bombers flew over the city, concentrating their attack on the Harbour Estate and Queen's Island. The city has been a leader in women's rights. 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.. For eight months the Luftwaffe dropped bombs on London and other strategic cities across Britain. London seemed ablaze from the docks to Westminster, much damage was done, and casualties were high. In late August the Germans dropped some bombs, apparently by accident, on civilian areas in London. After the passing of the Government of Ireland Act, 1920, it became the seat of the government of Northern Ireland. 1. 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 raids on London primarily targeted the Docklands area of the East End. Hitlers intention had been to break the morale of the British people so they would pressure their government to surrender. This amounted to nearly half of Britains total civilian deaths for the whole war. 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." IWM C 5424 1. 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. 10 Facts About the Blitz and the Bombing of Germany It was the worst wartime raid outside of London in the UK. Everything on wheels is being pressed into service. Van Morrison is from the east part of the city. THE BELFAST BLITZ was a series of four air raids over Northern Ireland during the spring of 1941. 7. Even the children of soldiers had not been evacuated, with calamitous results when the married quarters of Victoria Barracks received a direct hit. Video, 00:01:37, Thanks, but no big speech, in Ken Bruce's sign off, Tear gas fired at Greece train crash protesters. 29 interesting facts about Belfast you never knew - BeeLoved City 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. 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. Video, 00:01:41, The German bombing of Coventry. The Air Raid Precautions (A.R.P.) 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. Compared to other cities, Belfast was virtually undefended. The Belfast blitz devastated a city that up until 1941 had remained unscathed during World War Two. The Germans, however, saw Belfast as a legitimate target due to the shipyards in the city that were contributing to Britain's war efforts. 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 first was on the night of 7-8 April 1941, a small attack which probably took place only to test Belfast's defences. Around 20,000 people were employed on the site with 35,000 further along in the shipyard. By the time the raid was over, at least 744 people had lost their lives, including some living in places such as Newtownards, Bangor and Londonderry. 50,000 houses, more than half the houses in the city, were damaged. Unlike N Ireland, the Irish Free State was no longer part of the UK. Subs offer. It remains a high death toll - a shocking number of people killed in just a few weeks. Fewer than 4,000 women and children were evacuated. 13 died, including a soldier killed when an anti-aircraft gun, at the Balmoral show-grounds, misfired. The creeping TikTok bans, Hong Kong skyscraper fire seen on city's skyline. The attack on Coventry was particularly destructive. On Nov. 30, 1940, a lone Luftwaffe plane flew across the Ards Peninsula unobserved and reported back to Berlin. He gave an interview saying: "the people of Belfast are Irish people too". 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". I felt outraged, I should have felt sympathy, grief, but instead feelings of revulsion and disgust assailed me. 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]. Instead of pressing his advantage, however, Hitler abruptly changed his strategy. The Luftwaffe crews returned to their base in Northern France and reported that Belfast's defences were, "inferior in quality, scanty and insufficient". 15 Powerful Photos Of The WW2 Blitz | Imperial War Museums Video, 00:00:46Hong Kong skyscraper fire seen on city's skyline, Watch: Matt Hancock message row in 83 seconds. They are sleeping in the same sheugh (ditch), below the same tree or in the same barn. Protection of the city fell to seven anti-aircraft batteries of 16 heavy guns and six light guns. 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. Both planes quickly proved their mettle against German bombers, and Germanys best fighter, the Bf 109, was of limited use as an escort due to its relatively short operating range. In Newtownards, Bangor, Larne, Carrickfergus, Lisburn and Antrim many thousands of Belfast citizens took refuge either with friends or strangers. Another attacked Bangor, killing five. The most significant loss was a 4.5-acre (1.8ha) factory floor for manufacturing the fuselages of Short Stirling bombers. Streets heavily bombed in the city centre included High Street, Ann Street, Callender Street, Chichester Street, Castle Street, Tomb Street, Bridge Street (effectively obliterated), Rosemary Street, Waring Street, North Street, Victoria Street, Donegall Street, York Street, Gloucester Street, and East Bridge Street. 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. continuous trek to railway stations. "They have never been published before, never seen the light of day.". The Belfast Blitz: the city in the war years - History Ireland 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. After a brief lull, the Luftwaffe returned in force on February 17. 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. Liverpool, for example, protected by 100 guns. Video, 00:01:23Watch: Matt Hancock message row in 83 seconds, One-minute World News. Read about our approach to external linking. A victory for the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain would indeed have exposed Great Britain to invasion and occupation. "We can still see the physical scars of the Blitz in Belfast, that is what is left. 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." 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. In early 1941 the Germans launched another wave of attacks, this time focusing on ports. Video, 00:01:38At least 17 dead in Jakarta fuel storage depot fire, Australia's 'biggest drug bust' nets $700m of cocaine. Up Next. It is perhaps true that many saved their lives running but I am afraid a much greater number lost them or became casualties."[20]. In the eight months of attacks, some 43,000 civilians were killed. Up to now, we have escaped an attack, said John MacDermott, the Minister for Security, Belfast, on March 24, 1941. Belfast has the world's largest dry dock. 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. Updates? When Germany bombed Belfast as part of the Blitz during World War Two, the massive air raids left more than a thousand people dead. Morale did suffer amid the death and devastation, but there were few calls for surrender. On 4-5 May, another raid, made up of 204 bombers, killed another 203 people and the following night 22 more died. Belfast is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland. It is situated at on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. A charitable relief fund for the people of London was opened September 10. O'Sullivan reported: "There were many terrible mutilations among both living and dead heads crushed, ghastly abdominal and face wounds, penetration by beams, mangled and crushed limbs etc.". . "There are plans for one but there isn't one yet. Nine were registered on three separate occasions, and from the start of the Blitz until November 30 there were more than 350 alerts. Strand Public Elementary school, York Road railway station, the adjacent Midland Hotel on York Road, and Salisbury Avenue tram depot were all hit. 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. 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. The "Hiram Plan" initiated by Dawson Bates, the Home Affairs Minister, had failed to materialise. 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. The national government also provided funds to local municipalities to construct public air-raid shelters. 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. Video, 00:00:51Australia's 'biggest drug bust' nets $700m of cocaine, Thanks, but no big speech, in Ken Bruce's sign off. He was replaced by 54-year-old Sir Basil Brooke on 1 May. C.S Lewis was born in Belfast, and the nearby countryside helped inspire The Chronicles of Narnia. The devastation was so great that the Germans coined a new verb, to coventrate, to describe it. John Wood Dunlop invented the pneumatic tyre in Belfast in 1887. 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. 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. Major Sen O'Sullivan reported on the intensity of the bombing in some areas, such as the Antrim Road, where bombs "fell within fifteen to twenty yards of one another." The "pothole blitz" is a common short-term initiative to combat storm weather damage. The Premier Online Military History Magazine, Re-printed with permission fromWartimeNI.com. Belfast confetti," said one archive news report. There [is] ground for thinking that the enemy could not easily reach Belfast in force except during a period of moonlight. The mass relocation, called Operation Pied Piper, was the largest internal migration in British history. 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. The Blitz was devastating for the people of London and other cities. The sense of relative calm was abruptly shattered in the first week of September 1940, when the war came to London in earnest. ", Dawson Bates informed the Cabinet of rack-renting of barns, and over thirty people per house in some areas.[24]. As more and more people began sleeping on the platforms, however, the government relented and provided bunk beds and bathrooms for the underground communities. Blitz, The - Kids | Britannica Kids | Homework Help A short respite followed, until a widespread series of night raids on April 7 included some targets in the London area. On 24 March 1941, John MacDermott, Minister for Security, wrote to Prime Minister John Andrews, expressing his concerns that Belfast was so poorly protected: "Up to now we have escaped attack. "It says a lot about how these people are forgotten that there is no Blitz memorial in Belfast," Mr Freeburn says. An air raid shelter on Hallidays Road received a direct hit, killing all those in it. The firm had produced Handley Page Hereford bombers since 1936. Belfast, the city with the highest population density in the UK at the time, also had the lowest proportion of public air-raid shelters. He successfully busied himself with the task of making Northern Ireland a major supplier of food to Britain in her time of need.[5]. By the end of the attacks, between 900 and 1,000 people were dead and thousands more were injured, homeless and displaced. 150 corpses remained in the Falls Road baths for three days before they were buried in a mass grave, with 123 still unidentified. The South Hallsville School disaster prompted Londoners, especially residents of the East End, to find safer shelters, on their own if necessary. Video, 00:01:03One-minute World News, Isabel Oakeshott: Why I leaked Hancock's messages. 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. A Raid From Above They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Several theatres and many cinemas were open, and there were even a few sporting events. With the surrender of France in June 1940, Germanys sole remaining enemy lay across the English Channel. The attacks were authorized by Germanys chancellor, Adolf Hitler, after the British carried out a nighttime air raid on Berlin. Some 900 people died as a result of the bombing and 1,500 were injured. The city covers a total area of 132.5 square kilometers (51 square miles). But these people all had families and friends and they had to deal with their loss for the rest of their lives.". By 1940, Short and Harland could shelter its entire workforce and Harland and Wolff had provision to shelter 16,000 workers. [citation needed], There was a second massive air raid on Belfast on Sunday 45 May 1941, three weeks after that of Easter Tuesday. Those who sought refuge at the school were told that they would quickly be relocated to a safer area, but the evacuation was delayed. While Anderson shelters offered good protection from bomb fragments and debris, they were cold and damp and generally ill-suited for prolonged occupancy. 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. MacDermott would be proved right. By British mainland blitz standards, casualties were light. Over 150 people died in what became known as the 'Fire Blitz'. Over 500 received care from the Irish Red Cross in Dublin. Contributions poured in from every part of the world in such profusion that on October 28 its scope was extended to cover the whole of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland. As the UK was preparing for the conflict, the factories and shipyards of Belfast were gearing up. The British thus fought with the advantage of superior equipment and undivided aim against an enemy with inconsistent objectives. The famous Harland and Wolff cranes are called Samson and Goliath. From papers recovered after the war, we know of a Luftwaffe reconnaissance flight over Belfast on 30 November 1940. At 10:40 on the evening of Easter Tuesday 1941 air raid sirens sounded across Belfast, sending people across the city scrambling for safety - in one of the 200 public shelters in the city or the thousands of shelters or other "safe" spaces in private homes. 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. 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. Guided by Davies, the people of the shelter created an ad hoc government and established a set of rules. 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. 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. When incendiaries were dropped, the city burned as water pressure was too low for effective firefighting. Prayers were said and hymns sung by the mainly Protestant women and children during the bombing. He described some distressing consequences, such as how "in one case the leg and arm of a child had to be amputated before it could be extricated. sprang into action, and Londoners, while maintaining the work, business, and efficiency of their city, displayed remarkable fortitude. Video, 00:00:26The German bombing of Coventry, Living through the London Blitz. James Craig, Lord Craigavon, had been Prime Minister of Northern Ireland since its inception in 1921 up until his death in 1940. Clydeside got its blitz during the period of the last moon. However Belfast was not mentioned again by the Nazis. Singer-songwriter Van Morrison was born here. He was succeeded by J. M. Andrews, then 69 years old, who was no more capable of dealing with the situation than his predecessor. 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. 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.