St. Giles, Cripplegate, and St. Mary Wolnooth, also in the city, were damaged, while the Dutch church in Austin Friars, dating from the 14th century and covering a larger area than any church in the city of London, St. Pauls alone excepted, was totally destroyed. The Belfast blitz. 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. 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). Unauthorized use and/or duplication of any material on this site without expressand written permission from the author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Barton insisted that Belfast was "too far north" to use radio guidance. [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. It lies where the Lagan River flows into a part of the Irish Sea. In early 1941 the Germans launched another wave of attacks, this time focusing on ports. 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. 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 "pothole blitz" is a common short-term initiative to combat storm weather damage. 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 British government had anticipated air attacks on its population centres, and it had predicted catastrophic casualties. [citation needed], There was a second massive air raid on Belfast on Sunday 45 May 1941, three weeks after that of Easter Tuesday. Children and World War Two - History Learning Site ", Mapping the lives lost in the Belfast Blitz. Since 1:45am all telephones had been cut. By British mainland blitz standards, casualties were light. No searchlights were set up in the city at the time, and these only arrived on 10 April. London seemed ablaze from the docks to Westminster, much damage was done, and casualties were high. 1. This hub of industry and trade represented a legitimate military target for the Germans, and some 25,000 bombs were dropped on the Port of London alone. As well as these two major targets, other firms in Belfast produced valuable materials for the war effort including munitions, linen, ropes, food supplies and, of course, cigarettes. Added to this was the repair and refitting of 22,000 more vessels. [27] One widespread criticism was that the Germans located Belfast by heading for Dublin and following the railway lines north. Prayers were said and hymns sung by the mainly Protestant women and children during the bombing. The first day of the Blitz is remembered as Black Saturday. 7. He spoke with Professor Flynn, (Theodore Thomson Flynn, an Australian based at the Mater Hospital and father of actor Errol Flynn), head of the casualty service for the city, who told him of "casualties due to shock, blast and secondary missiles, such as glass, stones, pieces of piping, etc." Interesting facts about Belfast. In each station volunteers were asked for, as it was beyond their normal duties. The Belfast Blitz: April-May 1941 - History Ireland 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. On May 11, 1941, Hitler called off the Blitz as he shifted his forces eastward against the Soviet Union. ISBN 9781909556324. After the war, when the first girl from the home got married Billy gave her away, having lost his only daughter. Since most casualties were caused by falling masonry rather than by blast, they provided effective shelter for those who had them. Train after train and bus after bus were filled with those next in line. 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. The Royal Air Force announced that Squadron Leader J.W.C. Corrections? They remained for three days, until they were sent back by the Northern Ireland government. 6. 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. 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. Tommy Henderson, an Independent Unionist MP in the House of Commons of Northern Ireland, summed up the feeling when he invited the Minister of Home Affairs to Hannahstown and the Falls Road, saying "The Catholics and the Protestants are going up there mixed and they are talking to one another. 3. On September 1, 1939, the day World War II began with Germanys invasion of Poland, the British government implemented a massive evacuation plan. Belfast Blitz: The Luftwaffe attacks Northern Ireland - WartimeNI Another attacked Bangor, killing five. Moya Woodside[23] noted in her diary: "Evacuation is taking on panic proportions. The M.V. There [is] ground for thinking that the enemy could not easily reach Belfast in force except during a period of moonlight. 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. From September 1940 until May 1941, Britain was subjected to sustained enemy bombing campaign, now known as the Blitz. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Read about our approach to external linking. 4. Fiber-optic cables are made from thin strings of glass and are generally about one-tenth the width of a . 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. The offensive came to be called the Blitz after the German word blitzkrieg ("lightning war"). The seeming normality of life on the Home Front was shattered in 1944 when the first of the V1's landed. The first was on the night of 7-8 April 1941, a small attack which probably took place only to test Belfast's defences. 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. It was the worst wartime raid outside of London in the UK. The next took. Morale did suffer amid the death and devastation, but there were few calls for surrender. Just before Easter 1941, Anna and Billy Burdett and their 12-year-old daughter, Dorothy, returned to Belfast from England to visit Anna's family. In spite of blackouts, ubiquitous shelters and sandbags, the visible effects of mass evacuation, the presence of A.R.P. 13 Facts You Didn't Know About Belfast Belfast is as worthy a target as Coventry, Birmingham, Bristol or Glasgow.. From a purely military perspective, the Blitz was entirely counterproductive to the main purpose of Germanys air offensiveto dominate the skies in advance of an invasion of England. After the passing of the Government of Ireland Act, 1920, it became the seat of the government of Northern Ireland. Blitz Fibre UK Blitz Fibre UK Published Mar 1, 2023 + Follow Fact 1- Small but Mighty . On 28 April 1943, six members of the Government threatened to resign, forcing him from office. The Premier Online Military History Magazine, Re-printed with permission fromWartimeNI.com. 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. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. But the RAF had not responded. Video, 00:02:12Isabel Oakeshott: Why I leaked Hancock's messages, Tears of relief after man found in Amazon jungle. St George's Church in High Street was damaged by fire. The first attack was against the city's waterworks, which had been attacked in the previous raid. Anna and Billy were buried up their necks in sewage but were rescued and survived. 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. The attacks by both V1's and V2's only ended as the Allies advanced up through Western Europe . The devastation was so great that the Germans coined a new verb, to coventrate, to describe it. The South Hallsville School disaster prompted Londoners, especially residents of the East End, to find safer shelters, on their own if necessary. It targeted the docks. 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. [citation needed]. 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. It is perhaps true that many saved their lives running but I am afraid a much greater number lost them or became casualties."[20]. By then 250 firemen from Clydeside had arrived. The Blitz was devastating for the people of London and other cities. Again the Irish emergency services crossed the border, this time without waiting for an invitation. "It says a lot about how these people are forgotten that there is no Blitz memorial in Belfast," Mr Freeburn says. Revised estimates made decades later indicated that close to 600 men, women, and children had been killed in the bombing. workers. [citation needed]. Brooke noted in his diary "I gave him authority as it is obviously a question of expediency". continuous trek to railway stations. Belfast Blitz - Wikipedia High explosive bombs predominated in this raid. Humanity knows no borders, no politics, no differences of religious belief. In addition, there simply was not enough space for everyone who needed shelter in one of the largest and most densely populated cities in the world. 2023 BBC. 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. 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. Horrendous Belfast losses during World War Two bombing blitz [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 Belfast blitz devastated a city that up until 1941 had remained unscathed during World War Two. His report concluded with: "a second Belfast would be too horrible to contemplate". The British, on the other hand, were supremely well prepared for the kind of battle in which they now found themselves. The youngest victim was just six-weeks-old. This amounted to nearly half of Britains total civilian deaths for the whole war. 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. The Blitz began at around 4 pm on September 7, 1940, when German bomber planes first appeared over London. 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. After his optician business was destroyed by a bomb, Mickey Davies led an effort to organize the Spitalfield Shelter. Accounts differ as to when flares were dropped to light up the city. High explosives were dropped. Video, 00:00:51Australia's 'biggest drug bust' nets $700m of cocaine, Thanks, but no big speech, in Ken Bruce's sign off. He successfully busied himself with the task of making Northern Ireland a major supplier of food to Britain in her time of need.[5]. Maps and documents uncovered at Gatow Airfield near Berlin in 1945 showed the level of detail involved. along with England, Scotland, and Wales. 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. Interesting facts about Belfast | Just Fun Facts [9], War materials and food were sent by sea from Belfast to Great Britain, some under the protection of the neutral Irish tricolour. Video, 00:01:38At least 17 dead in Jakarta fuel storage depot fire, Australia's 'biggest drug bust' nets $700m of cocaine. 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. 2023 BBC. 10 Facts about Belfast City | Fun Facts About Belfast | Europa Hotel 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. Wherever Churchill is hiding his war material we will go Belfast is as worthy a target as Coventry, Birmingham, Bristol or Glasgow." 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? (Some authors count this as the second raid of four). Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. There were few bomb shelters. The Belfast Blitz - KS3 History (Environment and society) - BBC ", Dawson Bates informed the Cabinet of rack-renting of barns, and over thirty people per house in some areas.[24]. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Video, 00:01:37, Thanks, but no big speech, in Ken Bruce's sign off, Tear gas fired at Greece train crash protesters. More than 1,000 people were killed, and the damage was more widespread than on any previous occasion. 10 Facts About the Blitz and the Bombing of Germany Video, 00:00:46Hong Kong skyscraper fire seen on city's skyline, Watch: Matt Hancock message row in 83 seconds. Where they are going, what they will find to eat when they get there, nobody knows. The initial human cost of the Blitz was lower than the government had expected, but the level of destruction exceeded the governments dire predictions. The Luftwaffe crews returned to their base in Northern France and reported that Belfast's defences were, "inferior in quality, scanty and insufficient". Read about our approach to external linking. Fewer than 4,000 women and children were evacuated. 55,000 houses were damaged leaving 100,000 temporarily homeless. 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; C.S Lewis was born in Belfast, and the nearby countryside helped inspire The Chronicles of Narnia. Several theatres and many cinemas were open, and there were even a few sporting events. John Clarke MacDermott, the Minister of Public Security, after the first bombing, initiated the "Hiram Plan" to evacuate the city and to return Belfast to 'normality' as quickly as possible. Gring had insisted that such an attack was an impossibility, because of the citys formidable air defense network. Over a period of nine months, over 43,500 civilians were killed in the raids, which focused on major cities and industrial centres. He believed that key targets identified across the city were hit. No significant cut was made in necessary social services, and public and private premises, except when irreparably damaged, were repaired as speedily as possible. 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. On August 25 the British retaliated by launching a bombing raid on Berlin. "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. 14 Breathtaking Facts about Belfast - Fact City 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. 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. 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. By mid-September 1940 the RAF had won the Battle of Britain, and the invasion was postponed indefinitely. It was not the first time the alarm had sounded to signify the presence of Luftwaffe bombers over the city. 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. 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. 10 Awesome Facts About Fibre - linkedin.com Nine were registered on three separate occasions, and from the start of the Blitz until November 30 there were more than 350 alerts. When the war began, Belfast, like many other cities, adopted the wartime practices of rationing and blackouts. They are sleeping in the same sheugh (ditch), below the same tree or in the same barn. Emma Duffin, a nurse at the Queen's University Hospital, (who previously served during the Great War), who kept a diary; As many as 5,000 people had packed into this network of underground tunnels, which was dangerously overcrowded, dirty, and dark. They prevented low-flying aircraft from approaching their targets at optimal altitudes and angles of attack. On the 60th anniversary of the Belfast Blitz, Luftwaffe Pilot Gerhardt Becker spoke to BBC Northern Ireland about his mission over Belfast in 1941. By then most of the major fires were under control and the firemen from Clydeside and other British cities were arriving. 150 corpses remained in the Falls Road baths for three days before they were buried in a mass grave, with 123 still unidentified. About 1,000 people were killed and bombs hit half of the houses in the city, leaving 100,000 people homeless. Indeed, on the night of the first raid, no Royal Air Force (RAF) aircraft took to the air to intercept German planes. When the house was hit William, Harriette, Dorothy, 36-year-old Dot and 41-year-old Isa were all killed. Most of the objectives laid out by the reconnaissance crews were of either military or industrial importance. In The Blitz: Belfast in the War Years, Brian Barton wrote: "Government Ministers felt with justification, that the Germans were able to use the unblacked out lights in the south to guide them to their targets in the North." On August 2, Luftwaffe commander Hermann Gring issued his Eagle Day directive, laying down a plan of attack in which a few massive blows from the air were to destroy British air power and so open the way for the invasion. For more than six months, German planes had flown reconnaissance flights over Belfast. [26], Initial German radio broadcasts celebrated the raid. The famous Harland and Wolff cranes are called Samson and Goliath. People are leaving from all parts of town and not only from the bombed areas. Video, 00:01:23, Watch: Matt Hancock message row in 83 seconds, Isabel Oakeshott: Why I leaked Hancock's messages. 15 Powerful Photos Of The WW2 Blitz | Imperial War Museums The mass relocation, called Operation Pied Piper, was the largest internal migration in British history. During the first year of the war, behind-the-lines conditions prevailed in London. The "Hiram Plan" initiated by Dawson Bates, the Home Affairs Minister, had failed to materialise. And even then, Westminster stated it was not ample provision; Stormont still worried about the costs to industry. Video, 00:00:36, Tears of relief after man found in Amazon jungle. An earlier flight on Oct. 18 allowed the crew to plot several targets in the city. The offensive came to be called the Blitz after the German word blitzkrieg (lightning war). 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.