About 1,000 people were killed during the Belfast Blitz of 1941, with Harland and Wolff among the buildings that were hit by the Luftwaffe. . Hundreds of incendiary and many high-explosive bombs were dropped, doing little material damage but causing many casualties. He believed that key targets identified across the city were hit. People are leaving from all parts of town and not only from the bombed areas. 2. This raid overall caused relatively little damage, but a lot was revealed about Belfast's inadequate defences. 29 - Belfast was once bigger than Dublin 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. "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 danger faced in London was greatly increased when the V2 attacks started and the casualty figures mirrored those of the Blitz.. The devastation was so great that the Germans coined a new verb, to coventrate, to describe it. 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. There were Heinkel He 111s, Junkers Ju 88s and Dornier Do 17s. Richard Dawson Bates was the Home Affairs Minister. 7. In clear weather, targets were easily identifiable. The city has been a leader in women's rights. Ulster Historical Foundation. In late August the Germans dropped some bombs, apparently by accident, on civilian areas in London. 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. It was the worst wartime raid outside of London in the UK. VideoRussian minister laughed at for Ukraine war claims, The children left behind in Cuba's mass exodus, Xi Jinping's power grab - and why it matters, Snow, Fire and Lights: Photos of the Week. ", 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]. Published: September 7, 2020 at 12:00 pm. Clydeside got its blitz during the period of the last moon. By then most of the major fires were under control and the firemen from Clydeside and other British cities were arriving. Similar initiatives bearing the same name were ordered in the past decade by former mayors Libby . He was asked, in the N.I. 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. [25] He followed up with his "they are our people" speech, made in Castlebar, County Mayo, on Sunday 20 April 1941 (Quoted in the Dundalk Democrat dated Saturday 26 April 1941): In the past, and probably in the present, too, a number of them did not see eye to eye with us politically, but they are our people we are one and the same people and their sorrows in the present instance are also our sorrows; and I want to say to them that any help we can give to them in the present time we will give to them whole-heartedly, believing that were the circumstances reversed they would also give us their help whole-heartedly Frank Aiken, the Irish Minister for the Co-ordination of Defensive Measures was in Boston, Massachusetts at the time. Video, 00:01:23Watch: Matt Hancock message row in 83 seconds, One-minute World News. The Blitz began at about 4:00 in the afternoon on September 7, 1940, when German planes appeared over London. 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. along with England, Scotland, and Wales. The attacks were authorized by Germanys chancellor, Adolf Hitler, after the British carried out a nighttime air raid on Berlin. Weighing 46,328 tonnes, Titanic was to be the largest manmade moveable object the world had ever seen. Belfast suffered a series of bombing raids in the spring of 1941, which became known as the 'Blitz of Belfast'. Air power alone had failed to knock the United Kingdom out of the war. One of every six Londoners was made homeless at some point during the Blitz, and at least 1.1 million houses and flats were damaged or destroyed. It became a city by royal charter in 1888. Eduard Hempel, the German Minister to Ireland, visited the Irish Ministry for External Affairs to offer sympathy and attempt an explanation. 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. These figures are based on newspaper reports of the time, personal recollections and other primary sources, such as:- After the first week of September, although night bombing on a large scale continued, the large mass attacks by day, which had proved so costly to the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain, were replaced by smaller parties coming over in successive waves. continuous trek to railway stations. 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. Death should be dignified, peaceful; Hitler had made even death grotesque. Nine were registered on three separate occasions, and from the start of the Blitz until November 30 there were more than 350 alerts. In the New Lodge area people had taken refuge in a mill. The mortuary services had emergency plans to deal with only 200 bodies. In 1995, on the 50th anniversary of the ending of the Second World War, an invitation was received by the Dublin Fire Brigade for any survivors of that time to attend a function at Hillsborough Castle and meet Prince Charles. The nights of November 3 and 28 were the only occasions during this period in which Londons peace was unbroken by siren or bomb. The fourth and final Belfast raid took place on the following night, 56 May. Video, 00:02:12, Isabel Oakeshott: Why I leaked Hancock's messages, Tears of relief after man found in Amazon jungle. Brian Barton of Queen's University, Belfast, has written most on this topic.[19]. Protection of the city fell to seven anti-aircraft batteries of 16 heavy guns and six light guns. The telegram was sent at 4:35am,[citation needed] asking the Irish Taoiseach, amon de Valera for assistance. 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. Video, 00:00:36Tears of relief after man found in Amazon jungle. Video, 00:00:26, Living through the London Blitz. (Some authors count this as the second raid of four). Dissatisfaction with public shelters also led to another notable development in the East EndMickeys Shelter. There [is] ground for thinking that the enemy could not easily reach Belfast in force except during a period of moonlight. 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. The government was blamed by some for inadequate precautions. The Royal Air Force announced that Squadron Leader J.W.C. Maps and documents uncovered at Gatow Airfield near Berlin in 1945 showed the level of detail involved. Death had to a certain extent been made decent. Corrections? Since most casualties were caused by falling masonry rather than by blast, they provided effective shelter for those who had them. The bombs caused death and destruction across the city, affecting those of all religions and political backgrounds. Belfast, the city with the highest population density in the UK at the time, also had the lowest proportion of public air-raid shelters. As the UK was preparing for the conflict, the factories and shipyards of Belfast were gearing up. Video, 00:01:23, Watch: Matt Hancock message row in 83 seconds, Isabel Oakeshott: Why I leaked Hancock's messages. 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.". The offensive came to be called the Blitz after the German word blitzkrieg ("lightning war"). The mass relocation, called Operation Pied Piper, was the largest internal migration in British history. "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. wardens, and members of the Home Guard drilling in the parks, life went on much as usual. The Germans, however, saw Belfast as a legitimate target due to the shipyards in the city that were contributing to Britain's war efforts. Clydeside got its blitz during the period of the last moon. From papers recovered after the war, we know of a Luftwaffe reconnaissance flight over Belfast on 30 November 1940. About 1,000 people were killed and bombs hit half of the houses in the city, leaving 100,000. The Germans expanded the Blitz to other cities in November 1940. 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. 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; Authorities quickly implemented plans to protect Londoners from bombs and to house those left homeless by the attacks. On April 16 an attack even fiercer and more indiscriminate than those of the previous autumn started at 9:00 pm and continued until 5:00 the following morning; 500 aircraft were believed to have flown over in continuous waves, raining an estimated 450 tons of bombs across the city. 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. 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 not the first time the alarm had sounded to signify the presence of Luftwaffe bombers over the city. 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. 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. 2. In the course of four Luftwaffe attacks on the nights of 7-8 April, 15-16 April, 4-5 May and 5-6 May 1941, lasting ten hours in total, 1,100 people died, over 56,000 houses in the city were damaged (53 per cent of its entire housing stock), roughly 100,000 made temporarily homeless and 20 million damage was caused to property at wartime values. Gring had insisted that such an attack was an impossibility, because of the citys formidable air defense network. (Great War casualties) had died in hospital beds, their eyes had been reverently closed, their hands crossed to their breasts. Video, 00:00:51, Australia's 'biggest drug bust' nets $700m of cocaine, Thanks, but no big speech, in Ken Bruce's sign off. 6. 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. 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. The South Hallsville School disaster prompted Londoners, especially residents of the East End, to find safer shelters, on their own if necessary. Updates? The town of Dromara saw its population increase from 500 to 2,500. 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. and Major Sen O'Sullivan, who produced a detailed report for the Dublin government. IWM C 5424 1. On November 14, 1940, a German force of more than 500 bombers destroyed much of the old city centre and killed more than 550 people. Many of the surface shelters built by local authorities were flimsy and provided little protection from bombs, falling debris, and fire. The A.R.P. By then 250 firemen from Clydeside had arrived. Up Next. 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." 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. Davies also set up medical stations and persuaded off-duty medical personnel to treat the sick and wounded. 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. the Blitz, (September 7, 1940May 11, 1941), intense bombing campaign undertaken by Nazi Germany against the United Kingdom during World War II. Emma Duffin, a nurse at the Queen's University Hospital, (who previously served during the Great War), who kept a diary; In every instance, all stepped forward. 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]. High explosives were dropped. However Belfast was not mentioned again by the Nazis. At 10:40pm the air raid sirens sounded. Under the leadership of amon de Valera it had declared its neutrality during the Second World War. As many as 5,000 people had packed into this network of underground tunnels, which was dangerously overcrowded, dirty, and dark. 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. Instead of pressing his advantage, however, Hitler abruptly changed his strategy. NI WW2 veterans honoured by France. For eight months the Luftwaffe dropped bombs on London and other strategic cities across Britain. O'Sullivan felt that the whole civil defence sector was utterly overwhelmed. 1. A short respite followed, until a widespread series of night raids on April 7 included some targets in the London area. And even then, Westminster stated it was not ample provision; Stormont still worried about the costs to industry. When incendiaries were dropped, the city burned as water pressure was too low for effective firefighting. His report concluded with: "a second Belfast would be too horrible to contemplate". Men from the South worked with men from the North in the universal cause of the relief of suffering. Nevertheless, for all the hardship it caused, the campaign proved to be a strategic mistake by the Germans. The Battle of Britain sprang into action, and Londoners, while maintaining the work, business, and efficiency of their city, displayed remarkable fortitude. 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. [1][2], The third raid on Belfast took place over the evening and morning of 45 May 1941; 150 were killed. Belfast was ill-prepared for the blitz. The sense of relative calm was abruptly shattered in the first week of September 1940, when the war came to London in earnest. By Jonathan Bardon. 55,000 British civilian casualties were sustained through German bombing before the end of 1940 This included 23,000 deaths. In each station volunteers were asked for, as it was beyond their normal duties. Under the leadership of Prime Minister John Miller Andrews, Northern Ireland remained unprepared. Government ministers in Northern Ireland began to realise the Luftwaffe may launch an attack, but it was too little, too late. 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. However that attack was not an error. Author Lawrence H. Dawson detailed the damage to Londons historic buildings for the 1941 Britannica Book of the Year: The following curtailed list identifies some of the better known places in inner London that have been damaged by enemy action. There were few bomb shelters. 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. Once more, London was targeted and children were victims. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. While Anderson shelters offered good protection from bomb fragments and debris, they were cold and damp and generally ill-suited for prolonged occupancy. Read about our approach to external linking. During the first year of the war, behind-the-lines conditions prevailed in London. It was solemn, tragic, dignified, but here it was grotesque, repulsive, horrible. 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. 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. Initially it was thought that the Germans had mistaken this reservoir for the harbour and shipyards, where many ships, including HMS Ark Royal were being repaired. The British thus fought with the advantage of superior equipment and undivided aim against an enemy with inconsistent objectives. The offensive came to be called the Blitz after the German word blitzkrieg (lightning war). The first attack was against the city's waterworks, which had been attacked in the previous raid. [6] It was MacDermott who sent a telegram to de Valera seeking assistance. The World's Most-Famous Ship, The Titanic, was constructed here. 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. On May 11, 1941, Hitler called off the Blitz as he shifted his forces eastward against the Soviet Union. 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. 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. For two hours on the first day, 348 German bombers and 617 fighters blasted London. Strand Public Elementary school, York Road railway station, the adjacent Midland Hotel on York Road, and Salisbury Avenue tram depot were all hit. The Luftwaffe never attacked the city after May 1941, but it would be many years before life returned to normal for many in the city. For eight months the Luftwaffe dropped bombs on London and other strategic cities across Britain. 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. Video, 00:01:03One-minute World News, Isabel Oakeshott: Why I leaked Hancock's messages. These balloons, the largest of which were some 60 feet (18 metres) long, were essentially an airspace denial tool. William Joyce (known as "Lord Haw-Haw") announced in radio broadcasts from Hamburg that there will be "Easter eggs for Belfast". It was not the last time Belfast would suffer. "It says a lot about how these people are forgotten that there is no Blitz memorial in Belfast," Mr Freeburn says. Can Nigeria's election result be overturned? [27] One widespread criticism was that the Germans located Belfast by heading for Dublin and following the railway lines north. Yesterday for once the people of Ireland were united under the shadow of a national blow. Video, 00:01:38At least 17 dead in Jakarta fuel storage depot fire, Australia's 'biggest drug bust' nets $700m of cocaine. These shelters, made of corrugated steel, were designed to be dug into a garden and then covered with dirt. Fewer than 4,000 women and children were evacuated. That evening over 150 bombers left their bases in northern France and the Netherlands and headed for Belfast. 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." The creeping TikTok bans, Hong Kong skyscraper fire seen on city's skyline. 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. 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. 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. Sir Basil Brooke, the Minister of Agriculture, was the only active minister. Yesterday the hand of good-fellowship was reached across the Border. That night almost 300 people, many from the Protestant Shankill area, took refuge in the Clonard Monastery in the Catholic Falls Road. These private air-raid shelters were Anderson shelters, constructed of sheets of corrugated galvanised iron covered in earth. Belfast was not properly prepared for the attacks, with too few shelters and not enough anti-aircraft guns. Video, 00:00:46Hong Kong skyscraper fire seen on city's skyline, Watch: Matt Hancock message row in 83 seconds. Anna and Billy returned to England and continued running the children's home. The youngest victim was just six-weeks-old. 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. Find out how it began, what the Germans hoped to achieve and how it severe it was, plus we visit nine places affected by the attacks. During the whole period, although the citys operation was disrupted in ways that were sometimes serious, no essential service was more than temporarily impaired. There were still 80,000 more in Belfast. They prevented low-flying aircraft from approaching their targets at optimal altitudes and angles of attack. After the bombing began on September 7, local authorities urged displaced people to take shelter at South Hallsville School. Around 1am, Luftwaffe bombers flew over the city, concentrating their attack on the Harbour Estate and Queen's Island. Nevertheless, through sheer weight of numbers, the Germans were on the brink of victory in late August 1940. Over 150 people died in what became known as the 'Fire Blitz'. In just these few hours, 430 people were killed and 1,600 were badly injured. The Blitz was devastating for the people of London and other cities. By mid-September 1940 the RAF had won the Battle of Britain, and the invasion was postponed indefinitely. 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. Also, on Queens Island, stood the Short and Harland Ltd. Aircraft Factory. The next took place on Easter Tuesday, 15 April 1941, when 200 Luftwaffe bombers attacked military and manufacturing targets in the city of Belfast. 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. A modern bomb census has attempted to pinpoint the location of every bomb dropped on London during the Blitz, and the visualization of that data makes clear how thoroughly the Luftwaffe saturated the city. A Raid From Above The attack on Coventry was particularly destructive. Many of those who died as a result of enemy action lived in tightly packed, poorly constructed, terraced housing. But the Luftwaffe was ready. 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]. Major O'Sullivan reported that "In the heavily 'blitzed' areas people ran panic-stricken into the streets and made for the open country. 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. A force of 180 bombers dropped 750 bombs - including 203 tonnes of high explosives - and 29,000 incendiaries over a five-hour period. 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. These shelters were vital as these factories had many employees working late at night and early in the morning when Luftwaffe attacks were likely. Three vessels nearing completion at Harland and Wolff's were hit as was its power station. 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. Video, 00:00:26The German bombing of Coventry, Living through the London Blitz. By the. Over 500 received care from the Irish Red Cross in Dublin. 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. 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. Apart from one or two false alarms in the early days of the war, no sirens wailed in London until June 25. Revised estimates made decades later indicated that close to 600 men, women, and children had been killed in the bombing. Another defensive measure employed by the British was barrage balloonslarge oval-shaped unmanned balloons with stabilizing tail finsinstalled in and around major target areas.
Andrew Ellis Obituary,
Joe Nagy Obituary,
Snohomish County Mask Mandate 2022,
Articles OTHER