By then most of the major fires were under control and the firemen from Clydeside and other British cities were arriving. Video, 00:00:51, Australia's 'biggest drug bust' nets $700m of cocaine, Thanks, but no big speech, in Ken Bruce's sign off. Video, 00:00:36Tears of relief after man found in Amazon jungle. 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. C.S Lewis was born in Belfast, and the nearby countryside helped inspire The Chronicles of Narnia. 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. It was solemn, tragic, dignified, but here it was grotesque, repulsive, horrible. Video, 00:00:46, Hong Kong skyscraper fire seen on city's skyline, Watch: Matt Hancock message row in 83 seconds. 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. 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. Eduard Hempel, the German Minister to Ireland, visited the Irish Ministry for External Affairs to offer sympathy and attempt an explanation. The creeping TikTok bans. 13 Facts You Didn't Know About Belfast 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. Nevertheless, through sheer weight of numbers, the Germans were on the brink of victory in late August 1940. department distributed more than two million Anderson shelters (named after Sir John Anderson, head of the A.R.P.) Tragically 35 were crushed to death when the mill wall collapsed. Maps and documents uncovered at Gatow Airfield near Berlin in 1945 showed the level of detail involved. Since most casualties were caused by falling masonry rather than by blast, they provided effective shelter for those who had them. BBC News | NORTHERN IRELAND | The Belfast blitz is remembered Video, 00:02:54, At least 17 dead in Jakarta fuel storage depot fire. As many as 5,000 people had packed into this network of underground tunnels, which was dangerously overcrowded, dirty, and dark. 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. Blitz, The - Kids | Britannica Kids | Homework Help Belfast Blitz - Wikipedia He was asked, in the N.I. It is situated at on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. The attacks were authorized by Germany's chancellor, Adolf Hitler, after the British carried out a nighttime air raid on Berlin. 55,000 houses were damaged leaving 100,000 temporarily homeless. 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. By mid-September 1940 the RAF had won the Battle of Britain, and the invasion was postponed indefinitely. Belfast has the world's largest dry dock. You can see the difference in those letters - post-Blitz is very much a grieving tone. 14 Breathtaking Facts about Belfast - Fact City 11 churches, two hospitals and two schools were destroyed. 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. Where they are going, what they will find to eat when they get there, nobody knows. This raid overall caused relatively little damage, but a lot was revealed about Belfast's inadequate defences. Belfast, the city with the highest population density in the UK at the time, also had the lowest proportion of public air-raid shelters. A victory for the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain would indeed have exposed Great Britain to invasion and occupation. Video, 00:02:54Living through the London Blitz, At least 17 dead in Jakarta fuel storage depot fire. The success of Mickeys Shelter was another factor that urged the government to improve existing deep shelters and to create new ones. Although there were some comparatively slight raids later in 1941, the most notable one on July 27, the May 1011 attack marked the conclusion of the Blitz. 10 fascinating facts about Belfast that you probably didn't know The Battle of Britain There was no opposition. Fortunately, the railway telegraphy link between Belfast and Dublin was still operational. That contrasts with the figure that is often given of more than 900 killed on Easter Tuesday alone. Similar initiatives bearing the same name were ordered in the past decade by former mayors Libby . The danger faced in London was greatly increased when the V2 attacks started and the casualty figures mirrored those of the Blitz.. The telegram was sent at 4:35am,[citation needed] asking the Irish Taoiseach, amon de Valera for assistance. Belfast was Ireland's industrial home, famous for tobacco, rope-making, linen, and ship-building, which made it the powerhouse it was. 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. Oakland plans to unleash 'pothole blitz' to fix notorious street damage With the surrender of France in June 1940, Germanys sole remaining enemy lay across the English Channel. "Liverpool, Clydebank and Portsmouth all have a memorial to their victims of the Blitz. Belfast is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland . Harland and Wolff: The troubled history of Belfast's shipyard St George's Church in High Street was damaged by fire. Most of the objectives laid out by the reconnaissance crews were of either military or industrial importance. London was bombed for 57 consecutive nights from 7 September 1940 Air power alone had failed to knock the United Kingdom out of the war. [18], Over 900 people died, 1,500 people were injured, 400 of them seriously. NI WW2 veterans honoured by France. Beginning on Black Saturday, London was attacked on 57 straight nights. By the middle of December it had reached nearly 1,700,000 (adjusted for inflation, this was the equivalent of roughly 100 million in 2020). That evening over 150 bombers left their bases in northern France and the Netherlands and headed for 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. Video, 00:00:26The German bombing of Coventry, Living through the London Blitz. 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. Wave after wave of bombers dropped their incendiaries, high explosives and land-mines. The seeming normality of life on the Home Front was shattered in 1944 when the first of the V1's landed. 19.99. James Craig, Lord Craigavon, had been Prime Minister of Northern Ireland since its inception in 1921 up until his death in 1940. The next took. [27] One widespread criticism was that the Germans located Belfast by heading for Dublin and following the railway lines north. ", 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]. Many bodies and body parts could not be identified. 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. Belfast is located on the island of Ireland. London seemed ablaze from the docks to Westminster, much damage was done, and casualties were high. The government was blamed by some for inadequate precautions. 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. The Belfast blitz is remembered. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Humanity knows no borders, no politics, no differences of religious belief. Incendiary bombs predominated in this raid. The attacks by both V1's and V2's only ended as the Allies advanced up through Western Europe . 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. A Raid From Above 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. [citation needed]. Islington parish church, the rebuilt Our Lady of Victories (Kensington), the French church by Leicester square, St. Annes, Soho (famous for its music), All Souls, Langham place, and Christ Church in Westminster Bridge road (whose towerfortunately savedcommemorates President Lincolns abolition of slavery), were among a large number of others. The Belfast blitz during World War Two - BBC News Revised estimates made decades later indicated that close to 600 men, women, and children had been killed in the bombing. The Blitz began at about 4:00 in the afternoon on September 7, 1940, when German planes appeared over London. On 4-5 May, another raid, made up of 204 bombers, killed another 203 people and the following night 22 more died. In every instance, all stepped forward. Because basements, a logical destination in the event of an air raid, were a relative rarity in Britain, the A.R.P. The Blitz began at around 4 pm on September 7, 1940, when German bomber planes first appeared over London. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. 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. Video, 00:01:03One-minute World News, Isabel Oakeshott: Why I leaked Hancock's messages. Many of the surface shelters built by local authorities were flimsy and provided little protection from bombs, falling debris, and fire. Fighter Commands efforts were greatly aided by the lack of any consistent plan of action on the part of the Germans. 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]. Video, 00:00:51Australia's 'biggest drug bust' nets $700m of cocaine, Thanks, but no big speech, in Ken Bruce's sign off. Over 100 German planes made contact with barrage balloon cables during the Blitz, and two-thirds of them crashed or made forced landings on British soil. Video, 00:01:23Watch: Matt Hancock message row in 83 seconds, One-minute World News. Belfast, Irish Bal Feirste, city, district, and capital of Northern Ireland, on the River Lagan, at its entrance to Belfast Lough (inlet of the sea). Accounts differ as to when flares were dropped to light up the city. 10 Facts about Belfast City | Fun Facts About Belfast | Europa Hotel Subs offer. For 57 nightsuntil November 2more than 1 million bombs were dropped on the capital 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. Singer-songwriter Van Morrison was born here. 29 interesting facts about Belfast you never knew - BeeLoved City Belfast | History, Population, Map, Landmarks, & Facts [12], There was little preparation for the conflict with Germany. This view was probably influenced by the decision of the IRA Army Council to support Germany. 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. Those who sought refuge at the school were told that they would quickly be relocated to a safer area, but the evacuation was delayed. In each station volunteers were asked for, as it was beyond their normal duties. 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. ", Dawson Bates informed the Cabinet of rack-renting of barns, and over thirty people per house in some areas.[24]. The offensive came to be called the Blitz after the German word blitzkrieg ("lightning war"). "But there is no such equivalent in Belfast. However that attack was not an error. For eight months the Luftwaffe dropped bombs on London and other strategic cities across Britain. It lies where the Lagan River flows into a part of the Irish Sea. 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. No attendant nurse had soothed the last moments of these victims; no gentle reverent hand had closed their eyes or crossed their hands. As the UK was preparing for the conflict, the factories and shipyards of Belfast were gearing up. The shipyard was among the largest in the world, producing merchant vessels and military shipping. About 1,000 people were killed and bombs hit half of the houses in the city, leaving 100,000. Prayers were said and hymns sung by the mainly Protestant women and children during the bombing. Video, 00:00:26, Living through the London Blitz. The Germans, however, saw Belfast as a legitimate target due to the shipyards in the city that were contributing to Britain's war efforts. An earlier flight on Oct. 18 allowed the crew to plot several targets in the city. Guided by Davies, the people of the shelter created an ad hoc government and established a set of rules. The attack on Coventry was particularly destructive. These private air-raid shelters were Anderson shelters, constructed of sheets of corrugated galvanised iron covered in earth. 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. "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. 55,000 British civilian casualties were sustained through German bombing before the end of 1940 This included 23,000 deaths. 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. The government announced that 77 people had died, but for years local residents insisted the toll was much higher. The city covers a total area of 132.5 square kilometers (51 square miles). 7. The attacks were authorized by Germanys chancellor, Adolf Hitler, after the British carried out a nighttime air raid on Berlin. The Blitz: When Was It, Why Did It Begin And How Did It End He gave an interview saying: "the people of Belfast are Irish people too". Over 500 received care from the Irish Red Cross in Dublin. What happened in 1941 changed the city forever. Video, 00:01:38, At least 17 dead in Jakarta fuel storage depot fire, Australia's 'biggest drug bust' nets $700m of cocaine. 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." Apart from those on London, this was the greatest loss of life in any night raid during the Blitz. 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. There are other diarists and narratives. Rescue workers search through the rubble of Eglington Street in Belfast, Northern Ireland, after a German Luftwaffe air raid, 7 May 1941, Anna (left) and her husband Billy (back right) survived while Harriette, Dorothy and Billy were killed along with Dot and Isa, Dot and Isa, with Dorothy when she was a toddler, Royal Welch Fusiliers assist in clearing bomb damage in Belfast, Northern Ireland, 7 May 1941, Mapping the lives lost in the Belfast Blitz. Video, 00:01:37, Thanks, but no big speech, in Ken Bruce's sign off, Tear gas fired at Greece train crash protesters. 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. 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. Wherever Churchill is hiding his war material we will go. There was unease with the complacent attitude of the government, which led to resignations: Craigavon died on 24 November 1940. 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; "There will always be people who will slip through the net but I am able to say at least 987 were killed across all raids.". The first was on the night of 78 April 1941, a small attack which probably took place only to test Belfast's defences. 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. Added to this was the repair and refitting of 22,000 more vessels. The nights of November 3 and 28 were the only occasions during this period in which Londons peace was unbroken by siren or bomb. 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." 2. When incendiaries were dropped, the city burned as water pressure was too low for effective firefighting. O'Sullivan felt that the whole civil defence sector was utterly overwhelmed. The most significant loss was a 4.5-acre (1.8ha) factory floor for manufacturing the fuselages of Short Stirling bombers. By the end of the attacks, between 900 and 1,000 people were dead and thousands more were injured, homeless and displaced. In early 1941 the Germans launched another wave of attacks, this time focusing on ports. Indeed, on the night of the first raid, no Royal Air Force (RAF) aircraft took to the air to intercept German planes. The higher the German planes had to fly to avoid the balloons, the less accurate they were when dropping their bombs. 1. 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. The Blitz of Belfast 1941 - History Learning Site The first attack was against the city's waterworks, which had been attacked in the previous raid. [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." 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. His report concluded with: "a second Belfast would be too horrible to contemplate". Omissions? It was the worst wartime raid outside of London in the UK. Another claim was that the Catholic population in general and the IRA in particular guided the bombers. MacDermott would be proved right. 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. along with England, Scotland, and Wales. 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. There [is] ground for thinking that the enemy could not easily reach Belfast in force except during a period of moonlight. Blitz Fibre UK Blitz Fibre UK Published Mar 1, 2023 + Follow Fact 1- Small but Mighty . Please select which sections you would like to print: Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. On August 25 the British retaliated by launching a bombing raid on Berlin. 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. Major O'Sullivan reported that "In the heavily 'blitzed' areas people ran panic-stricken into the streets and made for the open country. "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. Belfast's Albert Clock tower is sinking - it leans by four feet. 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 Blitz | Facts, History, Damage, & Casualties | Britannica They all say the same thing, that the government is no good. A charitable relief fund for the people of London was opened September 10. 2023 BBC. The 2017 film Zoo depicts an air raid during the Belfast Blitz. Belfast is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland. 10 Awesome Facts About Fibre - linkedin.com Up to now, we have escaped an attack, said John MacDermott, the Minister for Security, Belfast, on March 24, 1941. to households. The Germans expanded the Blitz to other cities in November 1940. Two of the crews received refreshments in Banbridge; others were entertained in the Ancient Order of Hibernians hall in Newry. Corrections? Hitlers intention had been to break the morale of the British people so they would pressure their government to surrender. During the first year of the war, behind-the-lines conditions prevailed in London. This option had been forbidden by city officials, who feared that once people began sleeping in Underground stations, they would be reluctant to return to the surface and resume daily life. As of October 2020, the population of Belfast is about 350,000 people. 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".