10 facts about the belfast blitz

A charitable relief fund for the people of London was opened September 10. The Belfast blitz devastated a city that up until 1941 had remained unscathed during World War Two. St George's Church in High Street was damaged by fire. On the 60th anniversary of the Belfast Blitz, Luftwaffe Pilot Gerhardt Becker spoke to BBC Northern Ireland about his mission over Belfast in 1941. The first was on the night of 7-8 April 1941, a small attack which probably took place only to test Belfast's defences. NI WW2 veterans honoured by France. 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. (Great War casualties) had died in hospital beds, their eyes had been reverently closed, their hands crossed to their breasts. 2. There were few bomb shelters. In many cases the daily life of the city was able to resume with delays of only hours. The next took. 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 danger faced in London was greatly increased when the V2 attacks started and the casualty figures mirrored those of the Blitz.. So had Clydeside until recently. During the first year of the war, behind-the-lines conditions prevailed in London. Belfast Blitz: The Luftwaffe attacks Northern Ireland - WartimeNI 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." They prevented low-flying aircraft from approaching their targets at optimal altitudes and angles of attack. 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). ", Mapping the lives lost in the Belfast 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. 10 Facts about Belfast City. By British mainland blitz standards, casualties were light. Humanity knows no borders, no politics, no differences of religious belief. 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. After the war, when the first girl from the home got married Billy gave her away, having lost his only daughter. ISBN 9781909556324. Published: September 7, 2020 at 12:00 pm. Compared to other cities, Belfast was virtually undefended. Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom . 15 Powerful Photos Of The WW2 Blitz | Imperial War Museums 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. There is no slacking in our loyalty. The database Mr Freeburn has compiled is, he believes, the most accurate list of those killed and includes 222 children aged 16 or under. Video, 00:01:38At least 17 dead in Jakarta fuel storage depot fire, Australia's 'biggest drug bust' nets $700m of cocaine. Fewer than 4,000 women and children were evacuated. Another attacked Bangor, killing five. Video, 00:03:09Mapping the lives lost in the Belfast Blitz, Belfast City Hall in darkness as the Blitz is marked, Street fighting in Bakhmut but Russia not in control, Russian minister laughed at for Ukraine war claims. That evening over 150 bombers left their bases in northern France and the Netherlands and headed for Belfast. [1][2], The third raid on Belfast took place over the evening and morning of 45 May 1941; 150 were killed. Belfast Blitz: Marking the lost lives 80 years on. Around 20,000 people were employed on the site with 35,000 further along in the shipyard. NI WW2 veterans honoured by France. At conservative gathering, Trump is still the favourite. That night almost 300 people, many from the Protestant Shankill area, took refuge in the Clonard Monastery in the Catholic Falls Road. Video, 00:01:09The Spitfire turns 80, The German bombing of Coventry. 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. "They have never been published before, never seen the light of day.". On Nov. 30, 1940, a lone Luftwaffe plane flew across the Ards Peninsula unobserved and reported back to Berlin. Reviewed by: Geoffrey Roberts. From September 1940 until May 1941, Britain was subjected to sustained enemy bombing campaign, now known as the Blitz. 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. 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. The Belfast Blitz: the city in the war years - History Ireland Over 500 received care from the Irish Red Cross in Dublin. 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. Thank you. Churches destroyed or wrecked included Macrory Memorial Presbyterian in Duncairn Gardens; Duncairn Methodist, Castleton Presbyterian on York Road; St Silas's on the Oldpark Road; St James's on the Antrim Road; Newington Presbyterian on Limestone Road; Crumlin Road Presbyterian; Holy Trinity on Clifton Street and Clifton Street Presbyterian; York Street Presbyterian and York Street Non-Subscribing Presbyterian; Newtownards Road Methodist and Rosemary Street Presbyterian (the last of which was not rebuilt). Video, 00:02:54, At least 17 dead in Jakarta fuel storage depot fire. It became a city by royal charter in 1888. Over 150 people died in what became known as the 'Fire Blitz'. The first attack was against the city's waterworks, which had been attacked in the previous raid. 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. People are leaving from all parts of town and not only from the bombed areas. MacDermott would be proved right. Belfast was the birthplace of the RMS Titanic, the world' most famous ship which, when it was constructed in the early 1900s, was longer than the height of the world's tallest building at 882 feet and six inches in length. The first (April 7 -8), a small attack, was most likely carried out to test the city's defenses. Interesting facts about Belfast | Just Fun Facts 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. In late August the Germans dropped some bombs, apparently by accident, on civilian areas in London. About 1,000 people were killed and bombs hit half of the houses in the city, leaving 100,000 people homeless. . The initial human cost of the Blitz was lower than the government had expected, but the level of destruction exceeded the governments dire predictions. However that attack was not an error. The famous places damaged include the palace of Westminster and Westminster hall, the County hall, the Public Record office, the Law Courts, the Temple and the Inner Temple library; Somerset house, Burlington house, the tower of London, Greenwich observatory, Hogarths house; the Carlton, Reform, American, Savage, Arts and Orleans clubs; the Royal College of Surgeons, University college and its library, Stationers hall, the Y.M.C.A. The creeping TikTok bans, Hong Kong skyscraper fire seen on city's skyline. Several theatres and many cinemas were open, and there were even a few sporting events. Heinkel He 111 and Dornier Do 17 planes fitted with Zeiss cameras captured high-quality aerial imagery. 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. 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. 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. Neighbouring residential areas were also hit. In Bristol, the bombed-out ruins of St Peter's Church were left standing with added memorial plaques to the civilians who were killed. 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 Raid From Above 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. IWM C 5424 1. Video, 00:02:12Isabel Oakeshott: Why I leaked Hancock's messages, Tears of relief after man found in Amazon jungle. When a bombing raid was imminent, air-raid sirens were set off to sound a warning. After the bombing began on September 7, local authorities urged displaced people to take shelter at South Hallsville School. The Blitz | Facts, History, Damage, & Casualties | Britannica However Belfast was not mentioned again by the Nazis. But Mr Freeburn's research casts doubt on this. They remained for three days, until they were sent back by the Northern Ireland government. 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. J.P. Walshe, assistant secretary, recorded that Hempel was "clearly distressed by the news of the severe raid on Belfast and especially of the number of civilian casualties." 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. Corrections? 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. Belfast was largely unprepared for an attack of such a scale as 200 German bombers shelled the city on 15 April 1941. 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. 8. Read about our approach to external linking. These shelters, made of corrugated steel, were designed to be dug into a garden and then covered with dirt. When the Blitz began, the government enforced a blackout in an attempt to make targeting more difficult for German night bombers. Sometimes they were trying establish a blockade by destroying shipping and port facilities, sometimes they were directly attacking Fighter Command ground installations, sometimes they were targeting aircraft factories, and sometimes they were attempting to engage Fighter Command in the skies. Richard Dawson Bates was the Home Affairs Minister. In the first days of the Blitz, a tragic incident in the East End stoked public anger over the governments shelter policy. [12], There was little preparation for the conflict with Germany. Read about our approach to external linking. THE BELFAST BLITZ was a series of four air raids over Northern Ireland during the spring of 1941. No attendant nurse had soothed the last moments of these victims; no gentle reverent hand had closed their eyes or crossed their hands. 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. Belfast has the world's largest dry dock. 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. 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. 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]. Men from the South worked with men from the North in the universal cause of the relief of suffering. Nearby were the citys main power station, gasworks, telephone house and the Sirocco Engineering works. Harland and Wolff: The troubled history of Belfast's shipyard 10 Facts about Belfast City | Fun Facts About Belfast | Europa Hotel Few children had been successfully evacuated. A victory for the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain would indeed have exposed Great Britain to invasion and occupation. 2. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. 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. 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. TOP 10: Facts About Belfast You Didn't Know - Ireland Before You Die Can Nigeria's election result be overturned? Government ministers in Northern Ireland began to realise the Luftwaffe may launch an attack, but it was too little, too late. devised the Morrison shelter (named for Home Secretary Herbert Stanley Morrison) as an alternative to the Anderson shelter. [citation needed], On Easter Tuesday, 15 April 1941, spectators watching a football match at Windsor Park noticed a lone Luftwaffe Junkers Ju 88 aircraft circling overhead.[15]. 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. "[22], In his opinion, the greatest want was the lack of hospital facilities. There was no opposition. The South Hallsville School disaster prompted Londoners, especially residents of the East End, to find safer shelters, on their own if necessary. Belfast is famous for being the birthplace of the Titanic. KS3 History (Environment and society) The Belfast Blitz learning resources for adults, children, parents and teachers. Instead of pressing his advantage, however, Hitler abruptly changed his strategy. In spite of blackouts, ubiquitous shelters and sandbags, the visible effects of mass evacuation, the presence of A.R.P. 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. During the whole period, although the citys operation was disrupted in ways that were sometimes serious, no essential service was more than temporarily impaired. Despite the military and industrial importance of the city, the Luftwaffe described the defences asweak, scanty, insufficient. 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.

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10 facts about the belfast blitz

10 facts about the belfast blitz