Belfast is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland. For two hours on the first day, 348 German bombers and 617 fighters blasted London. The bombing of British cities - Swansea, Belfast, Glasgow 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. After his optician business was destroyed by a bomb, Mickey Davies led an effort to organize the Spitalfield Shelter. The sense of relative calm was abruptly shattered in the first week of September 1940, when the war came to London in earnest. Belfast was largely unprepared for an attack of such a scale as 200 German bombers shelled the city on 15 April 1941. 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. The creeping TikTok bans, Hong Kong skyscraper fire seen on city's skyline. High explosive bombs predominated in this raid. The Blitz was devastating for the people of London and other cities. The shipyard was among the largest in the world, producing merchant vessels and military shipping. An earlier flight on Oct. 18 allowed the crew to plot several targets in the city. Apart from those on London, this was the greatest loss of life in any night raid during the Blitz. And even then, Westminster stated it was not ample provision; Stormont still worried about the costs to industry. Despite the attacks, Belfast continued to contribute to the war effort, and within less than a year the city witnessed the arrival of thousands of American troops. In the first days of the Blitz, a tragic incident in the East End stoked public anger over the governments shelter policy. devised the Morrison shelter (named for Home Secretary Herbert Stanley Morrison) as an alternative to the Anderson shelter. The Belfast Blitzconsisted of four German air raids on strategic targets in the city of Belfastin Northern Ireland, in April and May 1941 during World War II, causing high casualties. 10,000 "officially" crossed the border. Even the children of soldiers had not been evacuated, with calamitous results when the married quarters of Victoria Barracks received a direct hit. No attendant nurse had soothed the last moments of these victims; no gentle reverent hand had closed their eyes or crossed their hands. Video, 00:00:46, Hong Kong skyscraper fire seen on city's skyline, Watch: Matt Hancock message row in 83 seconds. When Germany bombed Belfast as part of the Blitz during World War Two, the massive air raids left more than a thousand people dead. That night almost 300 people, many from the Protestant Shankill area, took refuge in the Clonard Monastery in the Catholic Falls Road. The Belfast blitz during World War Two - BBC News Fortunately, the railway telegraphy link between Belfast and Dublin was still operational. Video, 00:01:09The Spitfire turns 80, The German bombing of Coventry. C.S Lewis was born in Belfast, and the nearby countryside helped inspire The Chronicles of Narnia. Three vessels nearing completion at Harland and Wolff's were hit as was its power station. He was asked, in the N.I. This raid overall caused relatively little damage, but a lot was revealed about Belfast's inadequate defences. In each station volunteers were asked for, as it was beyond their normal duties. 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. Belfast is as worthy a target as Coventry, Birmingham, Bristol or Glasgow.. By 4 am the entire city seemed to be in flames. Very early in the German bombing campaign, it became clear that the preparationshowever extensive they seemed to have beenwere inadequate. With the surrender of France in June 1940, Germanys sole remaining enemy lay across the English Channel. By the end of the attacks, between 900 and 1,000 people were dead and thousands more were injured, homeless and displaced. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. As the UK was preparing for the conflict, the factories and shipyards of Belfast were gearing up. During the first year of the war, behind-the-lines conditions prevailed in London. Corrections? Because basements, a logical destination in the event of an air raid, were a relative rarity in Britain, the A.R.P. A short respite followed, until a widespread series of night raids on April 7 included some targets in the London area. After the war, instructions from Joseph Goebbels were discovered ordering it not to be mentioned. But the Luftwaffe was ready. The success of Mickeys Shelter was another factor that urged the government to improve existing deep shelters and to create new ones. There was no opposition. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. 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. Thank you. 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. 13 died, including a soldier killed when an anti-aircraft gun, at the Balmoral show-grounds, misfired. The Belfast Blitz - Inside the Deadly 1941 Luftwaffe Raids on Northern Protection of the city fell to seven anti-aircraft batteries of 16 heavy guns and six light guns. 19.99. These balloons, the largest of which were some 60 feet (18 metres) long, were essentially an airspace denial tool. As many as 5,000 people had packed into this network of underground tunnels, which was dangerously overcrowded, dirty, and dark. The nights of November 3 and 28 were the only occasions during this period in which Londons peace was unbroken by siren or bomb. 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. 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. Horrendous Belfast losses during World War Two bombing blitz That evening over 150 bombers left their bases in northern France and the Netherlands and headed for Belfast. 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. Read about our approach to external linking. Up to now, we have escaped an attack, said John MacDermott, the Minister for Security, Belfast, on March 24, 1941. "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. In his interview, Becker stated that only military objectives were aimed for. On May 11, 1941, Hitler called off the Blitz as he shifted his forces eastward against the Soviet Union. department distributed more than two million Anderson shelters (named after Sir John Anderson, head of the A.R.P.) Several accounts point out that Belfast, standing at the end of the long inlet of Belfast Lough, would be easily located. "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. Read about our approach to external linking. Belfast is famous for being the birthplace of the Titanic. The Belfast Blitz consisted of four German air raids on strategic targets in the city of Belfast in Northern Ireland, in April and May 1941 during World War II, causing high casualties. In early 1941 the Germans launched another wave of attacks, this time focusing on ports. Yesterday the hand of good-fellowship was reached across the Border. The mortuary services had emergency plans to deal with only 200 bodies. 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." John Wood Dunlop invented the pneumatic tyre in Belfast in 1887. 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. Similar initiatives bearing the same name were ordered in the past decade by former mayors Libby . But these people all had families and friends and they had to deal with their loss for the rest of their lives.". 55,000 British civilian casualties were sustained through German bombing before the end of 1940 This included 23,000 deaths. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. The Premier Online Military History Magazine, Re-printed with permission fromWartimeNI.com. The Titanic was built in Belfast. [9], War materials and food were sent by sea from Belfast to Great Britain, some under the protection of the neutral Irish tricolour. Over a period of nine months, over 43,500 civilians were killed in the raids, which focused on major cities and industrial centres. 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. From papers recovered after the war, we know of a Luftwaffe reconnaissance flight over Belfast on 30 November 1940. Barton insisted that Belfast was "too far north" to use radio guidance. The city covers a total area of 132.5 square kilometers (51 square miles). 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 . 10 Awesome Facts About Fibre - linkedin.com Belfast was Ireland's industrial home, famous for tobacco, rope-making, linen, and ship-building, which made it the powerhouse it was. Death had to a certain extent been made decent. Instead of pressing his advantage, however, Hitler abruptly changed his strategy. The bombs continued to fall until 5am. Belfast confetti," said one archive news report. 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. It was not the last time Belfast would suffer. 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." 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. 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. 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. During what was known as the "Belfast Blitz," 1,000 people were killed by bombs dropped by the Nazis in 1941 during the Second World War. Poor visibility on the night meant that the accuracy of the bombers was hampered and the explosives were dropped on densely populated areas of Belfast. Video, 00:02:12Isabel Oakeshott: Why I leaked Hancock's messages, Tears of relief after man found in Amazon jungle. There are other diarists and narratives. The attacks were authorized by Germany's chancellor, Adolf Hitler, after the British carried out a nighttime air raid on Berlin. [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." "A lot of the people I spoke to were relatives who ended up donating images and handwritten letters from before and after the Blitz. 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. 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. [19], 220,000 people fled from the city. 6. 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. 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. More than 1,000 people were killed, and the damage was more widespread than on any previous occasion. Many bodies and body parts could not be identified. Over 150 people died in what became known as the 'Fire Blitz'. Video, 00:01:41NI WW2 veterans honoured by France, The Spitfire turns 80. BBC News | NORTHERN IRELAND | The Belfast blitz is remembered wardens, and members of the Home Guard drilling in the parks, life went on much as usual. No searchlights were set up in the city at the time, and these only arrived on 10 April. 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. Everything on wheels is being pressed into service. The first day of the Blitz is remembered as Black Saturday. When the Blitz began, the government enforced a blackout in an attempt to make targeting more difficult for German night bombers. On July 16, 1940, Hitler issued a directive ordering the preparation and, if necessary, execution of Operation Sea Lion, the amphibious invasion of Great Britain. [citation needed]. The Blitz began at about 4:00 in the afternoon on September 7, 1940, when German planes appeared over London. Many "arrived in Fermanagh having nothing with them only night shirts". THE BELFAST BLITZ was a series of four air raids over Northern Ireland during the spring of 1941. Another attacked Bangor, killing five. Clydeside got its blitz during the period of the last moon. By 1941, production of the Short Stirling Bomber and the Short Sunderland Flying Boat was underway. In a survey of shelter use, it was found that, although the public shelters were fully occupied every night, just 9 percent of Londoners made use of them. When the bombing began, 76-year-old William and 72-year-old Harriette took refuge under the stairs along with Dorothy, Dot and Isa. Belfast | History, Population, Map, Landmarks, & Facts Over 20 hospitals were hit, among them the London (many times), St. Thomass, St. Bartholomews, and the childrens hospital in Great Ormond st., as well as Chelsea hospital, the home for the aged and invalid soldiers, built by Wren. Strand Public Elementary school, York Road railway station, the adjacent Midland Hotel on York Road, and Salisbury Avenue tram depot were all hit. The attack on Coventry was particularly destructive. As well as photographs, the Luftwaffe gathered information on landmarks, potential targets and defences or lack thereof. Beginning on Black Saturday, London was attacked on 57 straight nights. 2023 BBC. On 28 April 1943, six members of the Government threatened to resign, forcing him from office. The "Hiram Plan" initiated by Dawson Bates, the Home Affairs Minister, had failed to materialise. 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 district of Belfast has an area of 44 square miles (115 square km). Sixty years after the Germans bombed Belfast in World War II BBC News Online looks back and remembers the anniversary of the blitz. 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. Since 1:45am all telephones had been cut. continuous trek to railway stations. Outside of London, with some 900 dead, this was the greatest loss of life in a night raid during the Blitz. 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. 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. 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. Streetlights, car headlights, and illuminated signs were kept off. 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. The House of Commons, Westminster Abbey, and the British Museum were severely damaged, and The Temple was almost completely destroyed. Richard Dawson Bates was the Home Affairs Minister. 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 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. 2. Government apathy, a lack of leadership and a belief the Luftwaffe could not reach Belfast lead to the city lagging behind in terms of basic defences.
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