The raid so infuriated Hitler that he ordered the Luftwaffe to shift its attacks from RAF sites to London and other cities. 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. Taoiseach amon de Valera formally protested to Berlin. Everything on wheels is being pressed into service. THE BELFAST BLITZ was a series of four air raids over Northern Ireland during the spring of 1941. 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. Your donations help keep MHN afloat. 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. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Heavy jacks were unavailable. Video, 00:00:51Australia'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. The raids hurt Britains war production, but they also killed many civilians and left many others homeless. You can see the difference in those letters - post-Blitz is very much a grieving tone. With the surrender of France in June 1940, Germanys sole remaining enemy lay across the English Channel. 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). The creeping TikTok bans, Hong Kong skyscraper fire seen on city's skyline. Only four were known still to be alive. Video, 00:00:51, Australia's 'biggest drug bust' nets $700m of cocaine, Thanks, but no big speech, in Ken Bruce's sign off. The database Mr Freeburn has compiled is, he believes, the most accurate list of those killed and includes 222 children aged 16 or under. Death should be dignified, peaceful; Hitler had made even death grotesque. and Major Sen O'Sullivan, who produced a detailed report for the Dublin government. About 1,000 people were killed and bombs hit half of the houses in the city, leaving 100,000. 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. 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. They remained for three days, until they were sent back by the Northern Ireland government. 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. Train after train and bus after bus were filled with those next in line. His death (along with preceding ill-health) came at a bad time and arguably inadvertently caused a leadership vacuum. The most significant loss was a 4.5-acre (1.8ha) factory floor for manufacturing the fuselages of Short Stirling bombers. 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.". And even then, Westminster stated it was not ample provision; Stormont still worried about the costs to industry. As many as 5,000 people had packed into this network of underground tunnels, which was dangerously overcrowded, dirty, and dark. Richard Dawson Bates was the Home Affairs Minister. 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. High explosive bombs predominated in this raid. "But there is no such equivalent in Belfast. And then naturally as I was over the target, I did pick up flak but I have no sense of exactly how weak or how strong it was, because every bit of flak you get is dangerous.. Prayers were said and hymns sung by the mainly Protestant women and children during the bombing. 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. The most heavily bombed area was that which lay between York Street and the Antrim Road, north of the city centre. 3. Few children had been successfully evacuated. Authorities had noted Queens Island in the cityas a vulnerable point as early as 1929. So had Clydeside until recently. [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. What happened in 1941 changed the city forever. Air-raid damage was widespread; hospitals, clubs, churches, museums, residential and shopping streets, hotels, public houses, theatres, schools, monuments, newspaper offices, embassies, and the London Zoo were bombed. The past doesnt change, its just over.. 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. 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. The district of Belfast has an area of 44 square miles (115 square km). William Joyce (known as "Lord Haw-Haw") announced in radio broadcasts from Hamburg that there will be "Easter eggs for Belfast". As many were caught in the open by blast and secondary missiles, the enormous number of casualties can be readily accounted for. The attacks by both V1's and V2's only ended as the Allies advanced up through Western Europe . Video, 00:02:12, Isabel Oakeshott: Why I leaked Hancock's messages, Tears of relief after man found in Amazon jungle. Under the leadership of Prime Minister John Miller Andrews, Northern Ireland remained unprepared. These shelters were vital as these factories had many employees working late at night and early in the morning when Luftwaffe attacks were likely. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Video, 00:03:09, Mapping the lives lost in the Belfast Blitz, Russian minister laughed at for Ukraine war claims. 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. St George's Church in High Street was damaged by fire. . 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. Streetlights, car headlights, and illuminated signs were kept off. Once more, London was targeted and children were victims. Belfast was bombed by the Nazis in World War II. When incendiaries were dropped, the city burned as water pressure was too low for effective firefighting. At the core of this book is a compelling account of the Luftwaffe's blitz on Belfast in April-May 1941. 10 Facts About the Blitz and the Bombing of Germany 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. [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. 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 He was asked, in the N.I. Sixty years after the Germans bombed Belfast in World War II BBC News Online looks back and remembers the anniversary of the blitz. Government ministers in Northern Ireland began to realise the Luftwaffe may launch an attack, but it was too little, too late. A short respite followed, until a widespread series of night raids on April 7 included some targets in the London area. Video, 00:01:23Watch: Matt Hancock message row in 83 seconds, One-minute World News. A Luftwaffe terror bombing attack on the Spanish city of Guernica (April 26, 1937) during the Spanish Civil War had killed hundreds of civilians and destroyed much of the town. It is perhaps true that many saved their lives running but I am afraid a much greater number lost them or became casualties."[20]. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Many of those who died as a result of enemy action lived in tightly packed, poorly constructed, terraced housing. The Blitz began at around 4 pm on September 7, 1940, when German bomber planes first appeared over London. No searchlights were set up in the city at the time, and these only arrived on 10 April. Brooke noted in his diary "I gave him authority as it is obviously a question of expediency". Wave after wave of bombers dropped their incendiaries, high explosives and land-mines. [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." Video, 00:02:12Isabel Oakeshott: Why I leaked Hancock's messages, Tears of relief after man found in Amazon jungle. 13 died, including a soldier killed when an anti-aircraft gun, at the Balmoral show-grounds, misfired. 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. A victory for the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain would indeed have exposed Great Britain to invasion and occupation. Some 900 people died as a result of the bombing and 1,500 were injured. [citation needed]. Apart from those on London, this was the greatest loss of life in any night raid during the Blitz. 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. London seemed ablaze from the docks to Westminster, much damage was done, and casualties were high. Apart from one or two false alarms in the early days of the war, no sirens wailed in London until June 25. Weighing 46,328 tonnes, Titanic was to be the largest manmade moveable object the world had ever seen. Wherever Churchill is hiding his war material we will go. He successfully busied himself with the task of making Northern Ireland a major supplier of food to Britain in her time of need.[5]. Over a period of nine months, over 43,500 civilians were killed in the raids, which focused on major cities and industrial centres. In just these few hours, 430 people were killed and 1,600 were badly injured. One, Tom Coleman, attended to receive recognition for his colleagues' solidarity at such a critical time. 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. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. [4], The Government of Northern Ireland lacked the will, energy and capacity to cope with a major crisis when it came. After his optician business was destroyed by a bomb, Mickey Davies led an effort to organize the Spitalfield Shelter. By the end of the attacks, between 900 and 1,000 people were dead and thousands more were injured, homeless and displaced. On the 60th anniversary of the Belfast Blitz, Luftwaffe Pilot Gerhardt Becker spoke to BBC Northern Ireland about his mission over Belfast in 1941. There was unease with the complacent attitude of the government, which led to resignations: Craigavon died on 24 November 1940. When a bombing raid was imminent, air-raid sirens were set off to sound a warning. Gring had insisted that such an attack was an impossibility, because of the citys formidable air defense network. Belfast Blitz - Wikipedia Belfast was Ireland's industrial home, famous for tobacco, rope-making, linen, and ship-building, which made it the powerhouse it was. On Nov. 30, 1940, a lone Luftwaffe plane flew across the Ards Peninsula unobserved and reported back to Berlin. On the 17th I heard that hundreds who either could not get away or could not leave for other reasons simply went out into the fields and remained in the open all night with whatever they could take in the way of covering. Nearby were the citys main power station, gasworks, telephone house and the Sirocco Engineering works. 1. ", Mapping the lives lost in the Belfast Blitz. The government was blamed by some for inadequate precautions. The M.V. Up Next. Beginning in September 1940, the Blitz was an aerial bombing campaign conducted by the Luftwaffe against British cities. Compared to other cities, Belfast was virtually undefended. "We can still see the physical scars of the Blitz in Belfast, that is what is left. When the war began, Belfast, like many other cities, adopted the wartime practices of rationing and blackouts. Mr Freeburn set out to find out more about those who died, their personal stories and the tales of those left behind. Unlike N Ireland, the Irish Free State was no longer part of the UK. The Blitz began at about 4:00 in the afternoon on September 7, 1940, when German planes appeared over London. 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. But the authorities were afraid that bombs might not be the. Video, 00:00:26, Living through the London Blitz.