Belfast, the city with the highest population density in the UK at the time, also had the lowest proportion of public air-raid shelters. No significant cut was made in necessary social services, and public and private premises, except when irreparably damaged, were repaired as speedily as possible. The M.V. 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. Yesterday the hand of good-fellowship was reached across the Border. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Maps and documents uncovered at Gatow Airfield near Berlin in 1945 showed the level of detail involved. These private air-raid shelters were Anderson shelters, constructed of sheets of corrugated galvanised iron covered in earth. The firm had produced Handley Page Hereford bombers since 1936. The shipyard was among the largest in the world, producing merchant vessels and military shipping. These balloons, the largest of which were some 60 feet (18 metres) long, were essentially an airspace denial tool. Some are a total loss; others are already under repair with little outward sign of the damage sustained: Besides Buckingham palace, the chapel of which was wrecked, and Guildhall (the six-centuries old centre of London civic ceremonies and of great architectural beauty), which was destroyed by fire, Kensington palace (the London home of the earl of Athlone, governor general of Canada, and the birthplace of Queen Mary and Queen Victoria), the banqueting hall of Eltham palace (dating from King Johns time and long a royal residence), Lambeth palace (the archbishop of Canterbury), and Holland house (famous for its 17th century domestic architecture, its political associations, and its art treasures), suffered, the latter severely. Jimmy Doherty, an air raid warden (who later served in London during the V1 and V2 blitz), who wrote a book on the Belfast blitz; 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. In the west and north of the city, streets heavily bombed included Percy Street, York Park, York Crescent, Eglinton Street, Carlisle Street, Ballyclare, Ballycastle and Ballynure Streets off the Oldpark Road; Southport Street, Walton Street, Antrim Road, Annadale Street, Cliftonville Road, Hillman Street, Atlantic Avenue, Hallidays Road, Hughenden Avenue, Sunningdale Park, Shandarragh Park, and Whitewell Road. But Mr Freeburn's research casts doubt on this. A short respite followed, until a widespread series of night raids on April 7 included some targets in the London area. The Germans, however, saw Belfast as a legitimate target due to the shipyards in the city that were contributing to Britain's war efforts. The raids on London primarily targeted the Docklands area of the East End. And even then, Westminster stated it was not ample provision; Stormont still worried about the costs to industry. Over 150 people died in what became known as the 'Fire Blitz'. Since 1:45am all telephones had been cut. Fortunately, the railway telegraphy link between Belfast and Dublin was still operational. The Luftwaffe crews returned to their base in Northern France and reported that Belfast's defences were, "inferior in quality, scanty and insufficient". Belfast Blitz: Facts In total there were four attacks on the County Antrim city. 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. 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. 13 died, including a soldier killed when an anti-aircraft gun, at the Balmoral show-grounds, misfired. "A lot of the people I spoke to were relatives who ended up donating images and handwritten letters from before and after the Blitz. Belfast - Kids | Britannica Kids | Homework Help Air power alone had failed to knock the United Kingdom out of the war. Video, 00:00:51, Australia's 'biggest drug bust' nets $700m of cocaine, Thanks, but no big speech, in Ken Bruce's sign off. Nearby residential areas in east Belfast were also hit when "203 metric tonnes of high explosive bombs, 80 land mines attached to parachutes, and 800 firebomb canisters containing 96,000 incendiary bombs"[16] were dropped. The first attack was against the city's waterworks, which had been attacked in the previous raid. department distributed more than two million Anderson shelters (named after Sir John Anderson, head of the A.R.P.) By the end of the attacks, between 900 and 1,000 people were dead and thousands more were injured, homeless and displaced. Hundreds of incendiary and many high-explosive bombs were dropped, doing little material damage but causing many casualties. 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. On the 60th anniversary of the Belfast Blitz, Luftwaffe Pilot Gerhardt Becker spoke to BBC Northern Ireland about his mission over Belfast in 1941. Another attacked Bangor, killing five. Belfast | History, Population, Map, Landmarks, & Facts The creeping TikTok bans, Hong Kong skyscraper fire seen on city's skyline. C.S Lewis was born in Belfast, and the nearby countryside helped inspire The Chronicles of Narnia. Guided by Davies, the people of the shelter created an ad hoc government and established a set of rules. Harland and Wolff: The troubled history of Belfast's shipyard Van Morrison is from the east part of the city. Clydeside got its blitz during the period of the last moon. The most heavily bombed area was that which lay between York Street and the Antrim Road, north of the city centre. 2023 BBC. Can Nigeria's election result be overturned? Around 20,000 people were employed on the site with 35,000 further along in the shipyard. 1. In late August the Germans dropped some bombs, apparently by accident, on civilian areas in London. The most heavily bombed cities outside London were Liverpool and Birmingham. Belfast Blitz - Wikipedia The next took place on Easter Tuesday, 15 April 1941, when 200 Luftwaffe bombers attacked military and manufacturing targets in the city of Belfast. An earlier flight on Oct. 18 allowed the crew to plot several targets in the city. Again the Irish emergency services crossed the border, this time without waiting for an invitation. An air raid shelter on Hallidays Road received a direct hit, killing all those in it. MacDermott would be proved right. Blitz Fibre UK Blitz Fibre UK Published Mar 1, 2023 + Follow Fact 1- Small but Mighty . 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}. When the bombing began, 76-year-old William and 72-year-old Harriette took refuge under the stairs along with Dorothy, Dot and Isa. The first day of the Blitz is remembered as Black Saturday. Gring had insisted that such an attack was an impossibility, because of the citys formidable air defense network. Many "arrived in Fermanagh having nothing with them only night shirts". [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. 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. With the surrender of France in June 1940, Germanys sole remaining enemy lay across the English Channel. 10,000 "officially" crossed the border. There was unease with the complacent attitude of the government, which led to resignations: Craigavon died on 24 November 1940. 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. He successfully busied himself with the task of making Northern Ireland a major supplier of food to Britain in her time of need.[5]. There is no slacking in our loyalty. Mr Freeburn set out to find out more about those who died, their personal stories and the tales of those left behind. Streetlights, car headlights, and illuminated signs were kept off. Video, 00:02:12, Isabel Oakeshott: Why I leaked Hancock's messages, Tears of relief after man found in Amazon jungle. You can see the difference in those letters - post-Blitz is very much a grieving tone. Simpson shot down one of the Heinkels over Downpatrick. Apart from one or two false alarms in the early days of the war, no sirens wailed in London until June 25. 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. Accounts differ as to when flares were dropped to light up the city. Some had received food, others were famished. Morale did suffer amid the death and devastation, but there were few calls for surrender. 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. On 4-5 May, another raid, made up of 204 bombers, killed another 203 people and the following night 22 more died. Wherever Churchill is hiding his war material we will go. along with England, Scotland, and Wales. Yesterday for once the people of Ireland were united under the shadow of a national blow. In clear weather, targets were easily identifiable. Reviewed by: Geoffrey Roberts. The Blitz | Facts, History, Damage, & Casualties | Britannica When the war began, Belfast, like many other cities, adopted the wartime practices of rationing and blackouts. 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. 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 South Hallsville School disaster prompted Londoners, especially residents of the East End, to find safer shelters, on their own if necessary. Other Belfast factories manufactured gun mountings. [citation needed]. 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. It lies where the Lagan River flows into a part of the Irish Sea. When Germany bombed Belfast as part of the Blitz during World War Two, the massive air raids left more than a thousand people dead. O'Sullivan felt that the whole civil defence sector was utterly overwhelmed. Nevertheless, for all the hardship it caused, the campaign proved to be a strategic mistake by the Germans. Read about our approach to external linking. It was not the first time the alarm had sounded to signify the presence of Luftwaffe bombers over the city. 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. 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. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Fiber-optic cables are made from thin strings of glass and are generally about one-tenth the width of a . Belfast Blitz: Remembering the ordinary people who lost their lives 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. After the war, instructions from Joseph Goebbels were discovered ordering it not to be mentioned. In the first days of the Blitz, a tragic incident in the East End stoked public anger over the governments shelter policy. The devastation was so great that the Germans coined a new verb, to coventrate, to describe it. There [is] ground for thinking that the enemy could not easily reach Belfast in force except during a period of moonlight. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). The attacks by both V1's and V2's only ended as the Allies advanced up through Western Europe . "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. People hung black curtains in their windows so that no lights showed outside their houses. Three nights later (April 1920) London was again subjected to a seven-hour raid, and the loss of life was considerable, especially among firefighters and the A.R.P. parliament: "if the government realized 'that these fast bombers can come to Northern Ireland in two and three quarter hours'". Everything on wheels is being pressed into service. As the UK was preparing for the conflict, the factories and shipyards of Belfast were gearing up. In the subsequent years, this lack of preparation has often dominated the discussion about the Belfast Blitz, but a new project led by Alan Freeburn from the Northern Ireland War Memorial aims to shift the focus back to the ordinary men, women and children who lost their lives. Belfast suffered a series of bombing raids in the spring of 1941, which became known as the 'Blitz of Belfast'. 10 Facts about Belfast City | Fun Facts About Belfast | Europa Hotel Many in Northern Ireland thought that Belfast was outside the range of the Luftwaffe. After his optician business was destroyed by a bomb, Mickey Davies led an effort to organize the Spitalfield Shelter. Fewer than 4,000 women and children were evacuated. wardens, and members of the Home Guard drilling in the parks, life went on much as usual. 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. 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. On August 25 the British retaliated by launching a bombing raid on Berlin. Liverpool, for example, protected by 100 guns. The bombs caused death and destruction across the city, affecting those of all religions and political backgrounds. Video, 00:01:41NI WW2 veterans honoured by France, The Spitfire turns 80. 55,000 British civilian casualties were sustained through German bombing before the end of 1940 This included 23,000 deaths. The first (April 7 -8), a small attack, was most likely carried out to test the city's defenses. The winter of 193940 was severe, but the summer was pleasant, and in their leisure hours Londoners thronged the parks or worked in their gardens. 50,000 houses, more than half the houses in the city, were damaged. The Titanic was built in Belfast. Despite the military and industrial importance of the city, the Luftwaffe described the defences asweak, scanty, insufficient. While the balloons themselves were an obvious deterrent, they were anchored to the ground by steel tethers that were strong enough to damage or destroy any aircraft that flew into them. Belfast was Ireland's industrial home, famous for tobacco, rope-making, linen, and ship-building, which made it the powerhouse it was. Anna and Billy returned to England and continued running the children's home. After the passing of the Government of Ireland Act, 1920, it became the seat of the government of Northern Ireland. Video, 00:00:26, Living through the London Blitz. The British, on the other hand, were supremely well prepared for the kind of battle in which they now found themselves. After a brief lull, the Luftwaffe returned in force on February 17. St George's Church in High Street was damaged by fire. On September 1, 1939, the day World War II began with Germanys invasion of Poland, the British government implemented a massive evacuation plan. The offensive came to be called the Blitz after the German word blitzkrieg ("lightning war"). There were still 80,000 more in Belfast. It was not the last time Belfast would suffer. Blitz, The - Kids | Britannica Kids | Homework Help A charitable relief fund for the people of London was opened September 10. The district of Belfast has an area of 44 square miles (115 square km). Heavy jacks were unavailable. Moya Woodside[23] noted in her diary: "Evacuation is taking on panic proportions. 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. They all say the same thing, that the government is no good. Dissatisfaction with public shelters also led to another notable development in the East EndMickeys Shelter. Video, 00:01:37Thanks, but no big speech, in Ken Bruce's sign off, Tear gas fired at Greece train crash protesters. No searchlights were set up in the city at the time, and these only arrived on 10 April. 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 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. ", Mapping the lives lost in the Belfast Blitz. After the war, when the first girl from the home got married Billy gave her away, having lost his only daughter. Here are 10 facts about both the German Blitzkrieg and the Allied bombing of Germany. In many cases the daily life of the city was able to resume with delays of only hours. 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. There wasn't enough room for Anna or Billy, so they sheltered elsewhere, a twist of fate that would save their lives. There [is] ground for thinking that the enemy could not easily reach Belfast in force except during a period of moonlight. Learn how your comment data is processed. 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. This type of shelteressentially a low steel cage large enough to contain two adults and two small childrenwas designed to be set up indoors and could serve as a refuge if the building began to collapse. The youngest victim was just six-weeks-old. It is situated at on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. Half of the city's housing was damaged over the course of all the raids.