[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. The Battle of Britain 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. The famous Harland and Wolff cranes are called Samson and Goliath. "These people are often seen as a statistic but they were human beings, people who lived and grew up in - or moved to - Belfast and died in Belfast," Mr Freeburn, the museum's collections officer, says. 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. When a bombing raid was imminent, air-raid sirens were set off to sound a warning. Eduard Hempel, the German Minister to Ireland, visited the Irish Ministry for External Affairs to offer sympathy and attempt an explanation. [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." In Bristol, the bombed-out ruins of St Peter's Church were left standing with added memorial plaques to the civilians who were killed. "[22], In his opinion, the greatest want was the lack of hospital facilities. It is situated at on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. Beginning in September 1940, the Blitz was an aerial bombing campaign conducted by the Luftwaffe against British cities. That contrasts with the figure that is often given of more than 900 killed on Easter Tuesday alone. These figures are based on newspaper reports of the time, personal recollections and other primary sources, such as:- Yesterday for once the people of Ireland were united under the shadow of a national blow. The offensive came to be called the Blitz after the German word blitzkrieg (lightning war). The offensive came to be called the Blitz after the German word blitzkrieg ("lightning war"). The government was blamed by some for inadequate precautions. Dissatisfaction with public shelters also led to another notable development in the East EndMickeys Shelter. Many of the surface shelters built by local authorities were flimsy and provided little protection from bombs, falling debris, and fire. 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. [citation needed], Other writers, such as Tony Gray in The Lost Years state that the Germans did follow their radio guidance beams. There [is] ground for thinking that the enemy could not easily reach Belfast in force except during a period of moonlight. to households. At 4:15am John MacDermott, the Minister of Public Security, managed to contact Basil Brooke (then Agriculture Minister), seeking permission to seek help from the Irish government. 19.99. [citation needed]. More than 1,000 people were killed, and the damage was more widespread than on any previous occasion. The crypt under the sanctuary and the cellar under the working sacristy had been fitted out and opened to the public as an air-raid shelter. Compared to other cities, Belfast was virtually undefended. 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]. Video, 00:01:23, Watch: Matt Hancock message row in 83 seconds, Isabel Oakeshott: Why I leaked Hancock's messages. 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. And even then, Westminster stated it was not ample provision; Stormont still worried about the costs to industry. In each station volunteers were asked for, as it was beyond their normal duties. Belfast is as worthy a target as Coventry, Birmingham, Bristol or Glasgow.. "Liverpool, Clydebank and Portsmouth all have a memorial to their victims of the Blitz. O'Sullivan felt that the whole civil defence sector was utterly overwhelmed. Thank you. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. 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. High explosives were dropped. Where they are going, what they will find to eat when they get there, nobody knows. He believed that key targets identified across the city were hit. It lies where the Lagan River flows into a part of the Irish Sea. 29 - Belfast was once bigger than Dublin As of October 2020, the population of Belfast is about 350,000 people. But the raid of 15-16 April - the Easter Tuesday Raid - was on another scale. 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. Neighbouring residential areas were also hit. The Luftwaffe crews returned to their base in Northern France and reported that Belfast's defences were, "inferior in quality, scanty and insufficient". When the house was hit William, Harriette, Dorothy, 36-year-old Dot and 41-year-old Isa were all killed. 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. People are leaving from all parts of town and not only from the bombed areas. Video, 00:02:54Living through the London Blitz, At least 17 dead in Jakarta fuel storage depot fire. There are other diarists and narratives. Video, 00:01:38, At least 17 dead in Jakarta fuel storage depot fire, Australia's 'biggest drug bust' nets $700m of cocaine. 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. Moya Woodside[23] noted in her diary: "Evacuation is taking on panic proportions. Several accounts point out that Belfast, standing at the end of the long inlet of Belfast Lough, would be easily located. 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. Accounts differ as to when flares were dropped to light up the city. Up to now, we have escaped an attack, said John MacDermott, the Minister for Security, Belfast, on March 24, 1941. 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. Other targets included Sheffield, Manchester, Coventry, and Southampton. 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. 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. Prayers were said and hymns sung by the mainly Protestant women and children during the bombing. 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 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. 7. 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. 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. Hundreds of incendiary and many high-explosive bombs were dropped, doing little material damage but causing many casualties. Read about our approach to external linking. Taoiseach amon de Valera formally protested to Berlin. 7. Belfast was largely unprepared for an attack of such a scale as 200 German bombers shelled the city on 15 April 1941. By 1940, Short and Harland could shelter its entire workforce and Harland and Wolff had provision to shelter 16,000 workers. Video, 00:01:41, The German bombing of Coventry. As many as 5,000 people had packed into this network of underground tunnels, which was dangerously overcrowded, dirty, and dark. Belfast suffered a series of bombing raids in the spring of 1941, which became known as the 'Blitz of Belfast'. Reviewed by: Geoffrey Roberts. "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.". 2. The Belfast blitz devastated a city that up until 1941 had remained unscathed during World War Two. wardens, and members of the Home Guard drilling in the parks, life went on much as usual. Nevertheless, for all the hardship it caused, the campaign proved to be a strategic mistake by the Germans. Barton insisted that Belfast was "too far north" to use radio guidance. Many bodies and body parts could not be identified. The telegram was sent at 4:35am,[citation needed] asking the Irish Taoiseach, amon de Valera for assistance. John Wood Dunlop invented the pneumatic tyre in Belfast in 1887. "A lot of the people I spoke to were relatives who ended up donating images and handwritten letters from before and after the Blitz. Heavy jacks were unavailable. The district of Belfast has an area of 44 square miles (115 square km). Many "arrived in Fermanagh having nothing with them only night shirts". The A.R.P. By then 250 firemen from Clydeside had arrived. Again the Irish emergency services crossed the border, this time without waiting for an invitation. 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. James Craig, Lord Craigavon, had been Prime Minister of Northern Ireland since its inception in 1921 up until his death in 1940. Despite the military and industrial importance of the city, the Luftwaffe described the defences asweak, scanty, insufficient. A short respite followed, until a widespread series of night raids on April 7 included some targets in the London area. 1. About 1,000 people were killed and bombs hit half of the houses in the city, leaving 100,000. 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. The shipyard was among the largest in the world, producing merchant vessels and military shipping. 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. Indeed, on the night of the first raid, no Royal Air Force (RAF) aircraft took to the air to intercept German planes. The most heavily bombed cities outside London were Liverpool and Birmingham. Around 1am, Luftwaffe bombers flew over the city, concentrating their attack on the Harbour Estate and Queen's Island. There [is] ground for thinking that the enemy could not easily reach Belfast in force except during a period of moonlight. Outside of London, with some 900 dead, this was the greatest loss of life in a night raid during the Blitz. 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." 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. When war broke out in 1939 the city did not expect to be attacked by German bombers: it was geographically remote and deemed a relatively . 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. sprang into action, and Londoners, while maintaining the work, business, and efficiency of their city, displayed remarkable fortitude. 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. Belfast was Ireland's industrial home, famous for tobacco, rope-making, linen, and ship-building, which made it the powerhouse it was. Nurse Emma Duffin, who had served in World War I, contrasted death in that conflict with what she saw:.mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 40px}.mw-parser-output .templatequote .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;padding-left:1.6em;margin-top:0}. The "Hiram Plan" initiated by Dawson Bates, the Home Affairs Minister, had failed to materialise. The first was on the night of 7-8 April 1941, a small attack which probably took place only to test Belfast's defences. Brooke noted in his diary "I gave him authority as it is obviously a question of expediency". Major O'Sullivan reported that "In the heavily 'blitzed' areas people ran panic-stricken into the streets and made for the open country. The seeming normality of life on the Home Front was shattered in 1944 when the first of the V1's landed. The period of the next moon from say the 7th to the 16th of April may well bring our turn.. The Belfast blitz. Fighter Commands efforts were greatly aided by the lack of any consistent plan of action on the part of the Germans. The first attack was against the city's waterworks, which had been attacked in the previous raid. Belfast is famous for being the birthplace of the Titanic. Video, 00:01:41NI WW2 veterans honoured by France, The Spitfire turns 80. Three vessels nearing completion at Harland and Wolff's were hit as was its power station. 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. This part of Belfast was the only one required to provide air raid shelters for workers. THE BELFAST BLITZ was a series of four air raids over Northern Ireland during the spring of 1941. Belfast is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland . The first (April 7 -8), a small attack, was most likely carried out to test the city's defenses. 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. The Germans expanded the Blitz to other cities in November 1940. Many people who were dug out of the rubble alive had taken shelter underneath their stairs and were fortunate that their homes had not received a direct hit or caught fire. A victory for the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain would indeed have exposed Great Britain to invasion and occupation. The nights of November 3 and 28 were the only occasions during this period in which Londons peace was unbroken by siren or bomb. All were exhausted. The Royal Air Force announced that Squadron Leader J.W.C. It became a city by royal charter in 1888. Belfast's Albert Clock tower is sinking - it leans by four feet. 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. Liverpool, for example, protected by 100 guns. Authorities had noted Queens Island in the cityas a vulnerable point as early as 1929. 6. Apart from one or two false alarms in the early days of the war, no sirens wailed in London until June 25. There was unease with the complacent attitude of the government, which led to resignations: Craigavon died on 24 November 1940. Video, 00:02:54, At least 17 dead in Jakarta fuel storage depot fire. It was the worst wartime raid outside of London in the UK. workers. "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. 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. Train after train and bus after bus were filled with those next in line. The British, on the other hand, were supremely well prepared for the kind of battle in which they now found themselves. 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. In the eight months of attacks, some 43,000 civilians were killed. The use of the Tube system as a shelter saved thousands of lives, and images of Londoners huddled in Underground stations would become an indelible image of British life during World War II. On 28 April 1943, six members of the Government threatened to resign, forcing him from office. The Belfast Blitz was a series of devastating Luftwaffe air raids that took place in Northern Ireland during the Second World War. He gave an interview saying: "the people of Belfast are Irish people too". 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. Brian Barton of Queen's University, Belfast, has written most on this topic.[19]. 2. 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. William Joyce "Lord Haw-Haw" announced that "The Fhrer will give you time to bury your dead before the next attack Tuesday was only a sample." ", 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]. 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. In late August the Germans dropped some bombs, apparently by accident, on civilian areas in London. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. From September 1940 until May 1941, Britain was subjected to sustained enemy bombing campaign, now known as the Blitz. KS3 History (Environment and society) The Belfast Blitz learning resources for adults, children, parents and teachers. Over 500 received care from the Irish Red Cross in Dublin. There were few bomb shelters. 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. The youngest victim was just six-weeks-old. Video, 00:00:46, Hong Kong skyscraper fire seen on city's skyline, Watch: Matt Hancock message row in 83 seconds. Read about our approach to external linking. Video, 00:01:38At 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." 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. Most of the objectives laid out by the reconnaissance crews were of either military or industrial importance. The success of Mickeys Shelter was another factor that urged the government to improve existing deep shelters and to create new ones. Belfast confetti," said one archive news report. ", Mapping the lives lost in the Belfast Blitz. Mr Freeburn set out to find out more about those who died, their personal stories and the tales of those left behind. People hung black curtains in their windows so that no lights showed outside their houses. 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. The phrase Business as usual, written in chalk on boarded-up shop windows, exemplified the British determination to keep calm and carry on as best they could. Read about our approach to external linking. The period of the next moon from say the 7th to the 16th of April may well bring our turn." Added to this was the repair and refitting of 22,000 more vessels. Video, 00:00:46Hong Kong skyscraper fire seen on city's skyline, Watch: Matt Hancock message row in 83 seconds. 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. No attendant nurse had soothed the last moments of these victims; no gentle reverent hand had closed their eyes or crossed their hands. No significant cut was made in necessary social services, and public and private premises, except when irreparably damaged, were repaired as speedily as possible. 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. In early 1941 the Germans launched another wave of attacks, this time focusing on ports. The first was on the night of 78 April 1941, a small attack which probably took place only to test Belfast's defences. On September 1, 1939, the day World War II began with Germanys invasion of Poland, the British government implemented a massive evacuation plan. Video, 00:01:37, Thanks, but no big speech, in Ken Bruce's sign off, Tear gas fired at Greece train crash protesters. Air power alone had failed to knock the United Kingdom out of the war. 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. 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. 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. 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. Video, 00:02:12Isabel Oakeshott: Why I leaked Hancock's messages, Tears of relief after man found in Amazon jungle. 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. As many were caught in the open by blast and secondary missiles, the enormous number of casualties can be readily accounted for. Simpson shot down one of the Heinkels over Downpatrick.

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