He spoke with Professor Flynn, (Theodore Thomson Flynn, an Australian based at the Mater Hospital and father of actor Errol Flynn), head of the casualty service for the city, who told him of "casualties due to shock, blast and secondary missiles, such as glass, stones, pieces of piping, etc." The 2017 film Zoo depicts an air raid during the Belfast Blitz. 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. Half of the city's housing was damaged over the course of all the raids. Humanity knows no borders, no politics, no differences of religious belief. In Newtownards, Bangor, Larne, Carrickfergus, Lisburn and Antrim many thousands of Belfast citizens took refuge either with friends or strangers. The offensive came to be called the Blitz after the German word blitzkrieg ("lightning war"). Government apathy, a lack of leadership and a belief the Luftwaffe could not reach Belfast lead to the city lagging behind in terms of basic defences. It remains a high death toll - a shocking number of people killed in just a few weeks. The fourth and final Belfast raid took place on the following night, 56 May. Subs offer. The Titanic was built in Belfast. They prevented low-flying aircraft from approaching their targets at optimal altitudes and angles of attack. While Anderson shelters offered good protection from bomb fragments and debris, they were cold and damp and generally ill-suited for prolonged occupancy. 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. Contributions poured in from every part of the world in such profusion that on October 28 its scope was extended to cover the whole of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland. 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. 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. The town of Dromara saw its population increase from 500 to 2,500. This view was probably influenced by the decision of the IRA Army Council to support Germany. 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. 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. 2. 2023 BBC. Authorities quickly implemented plans to protect Londoners from bombs and to house those left homeless by the attacks. As many as 5,000 people had packed into this network of underground tunnels, which was dangerously overcrowded, dirty, and dark. Singer-songwriter Van Morrison was born here. 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. 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." The most significant loss was a 4.5-acre (1.8ha) factory floor for manufacturing the fuselages of Short Stirling bombers. Londoners enjoyed three weeks of uneasy peace until May 1011, the night of a full moon, when the Luftwaffe launched the most intense raid of the Blitz. 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. Hundreds of incendiary and many high-explosive bombs were dropped, doing little material damage but causing many casualties. 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. 10 fascinating facts about Belfast that you probably didn't know But these people all had families and friends and they had to deal with their loss for the rest of their lives.". 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 Belfast Blitz: April-May 1941 - History Ireland Taoiseach amon de Valera formally protested to Berlin. Some 27 percent of Londoners utilized private shelters, such as Anderson shelters, while the remaining 64 percent spent their evenings on duty with some branch of the civil defense or remained in their own homes. 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. 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. In a survey of shelter use, it was found that, although the public shelters were fully occupied every night, just 9 percent of Londoners made use of them. Over 500 received care from the Irish Red Cross in Dublin. Belfast | History, Population, Map, Landmarks, & Facts 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. THE BELFAST BLITZ was a series of four air raids over Northern Ireland during the spring of 1941. [citation needed]. 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. The telegram was sent at 4:35am,[citation needed] asking the Irish Taoiseach, amon de Valera for assistance. But Mr Freeburn's research casts doubt on this. Horrendous Belfast losses during World War Two bombing blitz Liverpool, for example, protected by 100 guns. Brooke noted in his diary "I gave him authority as it is obviously a question of expediency". 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. Just eight days earlier, eight planes destroyed the aircraft fuselage factory and damaged the docks, with 15 people ultimately killed as a result of that raid. 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. NI WW2 veterans honoured by France. 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]. Similar initiatives bearing the same name were ordered in the past decade by former mayors Libby . 13 Facts You Didn't Know About Belfast The Germans, however, saw Belfast as a legitimate target due to the shipyards in the city that were contributing to Britain's war efforts. 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. In early 1941 the Germans launched another wave of attacks, this time focusing on ports. The firm had produced Handley Page Hereford bombers since 1936. Nearby were the citys main power station, gasworks, telephone house and the Sirocco Engineering works. C.S Lewis was born in Belfast, and the nearby countryside helped inspire The Chronicles of Narnia. Up Next. Barton insisted that Belfast was "too far north" to use radio guidance. Video, 00:02:54Living through the London Blitz, At least 17 dead in Jakarta fuel storage depot fire. Death should be dignified, peaceful; Hitler had made even death grotesque. [18], Over 900 people died, 1,500 people were injured, 400 of them seriously. He was asked, in the N.I. The M.V. parliament: "if the government realized 'that these fast bombers can come to Northern Ireland in two and three quarter hours'". Fighter Commands efforts were greatly aided by the lack of any consistent plan of action on the part of the Germans. In spite of blackouts, ubiquitous shelters and sandbags, the visible effects of mass evacuation, the presence of A.R.P. Around 1am, Luftwaffe bombers flew over the city, concentrating their attack on the Harbour Estate and Queen's Island. 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. Belfast Blitz: The Luftwaffe attacks Northern Ireland - WartimeNI It targeted the docks. 150 corpses remained in the Falls Road baths for three days before they were buried in a mass grave, with 123 still unidentified. 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). With Britains powerful Royal Navy controlling the surface approaches in the Channel and the North Sea, it fell to the Luftwaffe to establish dominance of the skies above the battle zone. In the New Lodge area people had taken refuge in a mill. Belfast's Albert Clock tower is sinking - it leans by four feet. Despite the military and industrial importance of the city, the Luftwaffe described the defences asweak, scanty, insufficient. He was replaced by 54-year-old Sir Basil Brooke on 1 May. His report concluded with: "a second Belfast would be too horrible to contemplate". The creeping TikTok bans, Hong Kong skyscraper fire seen on city's skyline. Weighing 46,328 tonnes, Titanic was to be the largest manmade moveable object the world had ever seen. [9], War materials and food were sent by sea from Belfast to Great Britain, some under the protection of the neutral Irish tricolour. The seeming normality of life on the Home Front was shattered in 1944 when the first of the V1's landed. Accounts differ as to when flares were dropped to light up the city. Later, guided by the raging fires caused by the first attack, a second group of planes began another assault that lasted until 4:30 the following morning. 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. Video, 00:01:23, Watch: Matt Hancock message row in 83 seconds, Isabel Oakeshott: Why I leaked Hancock's messages. Reviewed by: Geoffrey Roberts. Still, many in Northern Ireland believed no Luftwaffe attack would come. He gave an interview saying: "the people of Belfast are Irish people too". [citation needed], There was a second massive air raid on Belfast on Sunday 45 May 1941, three weeks after that of Easter Tuesday. "They have never been published before, never seen the light of day.". 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. 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. Government ministers in Northern Ireland began to realise the Luftwaffe may launch an attack, but it was too little, too late. Nevertheless, through sheer weight of numbers, the Germans were on the brink of victory in late August 1940. Video, 00:00:51Australia's 'biggest drug bust' nets $700m of cocaine, Thanks, but no big speech, in Ken Bruce's sign off.
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10 facts about the belfast blitz
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