Over a period of nine months, over 43,500 civilians were killed in the raids, which focused on major cities and industrial centres. THE BELFAST BLITZ was a series of four air raids over Northern Ireland during the spring of 1941. 10 Facts about Belfast City | Fun Facts About Belfast | Europa Hotel 6. At the time of the first attack in April 1941, there were no operational searchlights, too few anti-aircraft batteries and scarcely enough public air raid shelters for a quarter of the population. Several theatres and many cinemas were open, and there were even a few sporting events. 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. The first (April 7 -8), a small attack, was most likely carried out to test the city's defenses. 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. NI WW2 veterans honoured by France. ", Dawson Bates informed the Cabinet of rack-renting of barns, and over thirty people per house in some areas.[24]. 10,000 "officially" crossed the border. The creeping TikTok bans. Major Sen O'Sullivan reported on the intensity of the bombing in some areas, such as the Antrim Road, where bombs "fell within fifteen to twenty yards of one another." [6] It was MacDermott who sent a telegram to de Valera seeking assistance. devised the Morrison shelter (named for Home Secretary Herbert Stanley Morrison) as an alternative to the Anderson shelter. Belfast - Kids | Britannica Kids | Homework Help On September 1, 1939, the day World War II began with Germanys invasion of Poland, the British government implemented a massive evacuation plan. By 1940, Short and Harland could shelter its entire workforce and Harland and Wolff had provision to shelter 16,000 workers. 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). [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 city covers a total area of 132.5 square kilometers (51 square miles). In Newtownards, Bangor, Larne, Carrickfergus, Lisburn and Antrim many thousands of Belfast citizens took refuge either with friends or strangers. His death (along with preceding ill-health) came at a bad time and arguably inadvertently caused a leadership vacuum. 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. In the east of the city, Westbourne and Newcastle Streets on the Newtownards Road, Thorndyke Street off the Albertbridge Road and Ravenscroft Avenue were destroyed or damaged. But the RAF had not responded. Taoiseach amon de Valera formally protested to Berlin. 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.". By British mainland blitz standards, casualties were light. 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. The bombs caused death and destruction across the city, affecting those of all religions and political backgrounds. The British, on the other hand, were supremely well prepared for the kind of battle in which they now found themselves. When a bombing raid was imminent, air-raid sirens were set off to sound a warning. [citation needed], Other writers, such as Tony Gray in The Lost Years state that the Germans did follow their radio guidance beams. Video, 00:01:15The Belfast blitz, Up Next. "A lot of the people I spoke to were relatives who ended up donating images and handwritten letters from before and after the Blitz. Their Chain Home early warning radar, the most advanced system in the world, gave Fighter Command adequate notice of where and when to direct their forces, and the Luftwaffe never made a concerted effort to neutralize it. BBC News | NORTHERN IRELAND | The Belfast blitz is remembered Morale did suffer amid the death and devastation, but there were few calls for surrender. Dissatisfaction with public shelters also led to another notable development in the East EndMickeys Shelter. There are other diarists and narratives. workers. to households. Why Alex Murdaugh was spared the death penalty, Why Trudeau is facing calls for a public inquiry, The shocking legacy of the Dutch 'Hunger Winter'. The British government had anticipated air attacks on its population centres, and it had predicted catastrophic casualties. [citation needed], Casualties were lower than at Easter, partly because the sirens had sounded at 11.45pm while the Luftwaffe attacked more cautiously from a greater height. Video, 00:00:46Hong Kong skyscraper fire seen on city's skyline, Watch: Matt Hancock message row in 83 seconds. For more than six months, German planes had flown reconnaissance flights over Belfast. The Blitz Around Britain - World War 2 | Imperial War Museums About 1,000 people were killed during the Belfast Blitz of 1941, with Harland and Wolff among the buildings that were hit by the Luftwaffe. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. 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. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of any material on this site without expressand written permission from the author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/event/the-Blitz, National Museums Liverpool - Merseyside Maritime Museum - The Blitz, The History Learning Site - The Blitz and World War Two. Over 500 received care from the Irish Red Cross in Dublin. So had Clydeside until recently. 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. Because basements, a logical destination in the event of an air raid, were a relative rarity in Britain, the A.R.P. 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." A victory for the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain would indeed have exposed Great Britain to invasion and occupation. The A.R.P. This hub of industry and trade represented a legitimate military target for the Germans, and some 25,000 bombs were dropped on the Port of London alone. However, the Docklands was also a densely populated and impoverished area where thousands of working-class Londoners lived in run-down housing. Instead of pressing his advantage, however, Hitler abruptly changed his strategy. The first was on the night of 78 April 1941, a small attack which probably took place only to test Belfast's defences. No attendant nurse had soothed the last moments of these victims; no gentle reverent hand had closed their eyes or crossed their hands. 1. Another defensive measure employed by the British was barrage balloonslarge oval-shaped unmanned balloons with stabilizing tail finsinstalled in and around major target areas. 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. At nightfall the Northern Counties Station was packed from platform gates to entrance gates and still refugees were coming along in a steady stream from the surrounding streets Open military lorries were finally put into service and even expectant mothers and mothers with young children were put into these in the rather heavy drizzle that lasted throughout the evening. From their photographs, they identified suitable targets: There had been a number of small bombings, probably by planes that missed their targets over the River Clyde in Glasgow or the cities of the northwest of England. [1][2], The third raid on Belfast took place over the evening and morning of 45 May 1941; 150 were killed. No searchlights were set up in the city at the time, and these only arrived on 10 April. [citation needed]. On 4-5 May, another raid, made up of 204 bombers, killed another 203 people and the following night 22 more died. The raids on London primarily targeted the Docklands area of the East End. The government announced that 77 people had died, but for years local residents insisted the toll was much higher. But these people all had families and friends and they had to deal with their loss for the rest of their lives.". A charitable relief fund for the people of London was opened September 10. Sir Basil Brooke, the Minister of Agriculture, was the only active minister. Belfast confetti," said one archive news report. Men from the South worked with men from the North in the universal cause of the relief of suffering. By Jonathan Bardon. 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. It was not the first time the alarm had sounded to signify the presence of Luftwaffe bombers over the city. Brian Barton of Queen's University, Belfast, has written most on this topic.[19]. The initial human cost of the Blitz was lower than the government had expected, but the level of destruction exceeded the governments dire predictions. Where they are going, what they will find to eat when they get there, nobody knows. The higher the German planes had to fly to avoid the balloons, the less accurate they were when dropping their bombs. Death had to a certain extent been made decent. continuous trek to railway stations. This raid overall caused relatively little damage, but a lot was revealed about Belfast's inadequate defences. C.S Lewis was born in Belfast, and the nearby countryside helped inspire The Chronicles of Narnia. The Germans expanded the Blitz to other cities in November 1940. Video, 00:00:26The German bombing of Coventry, Living through the London Blitz. The Blitz was devastating for the people of London and other cities. Blitz Fibre UK Blitz Fibre UK Published Mar 1, 2023 + Follow Fact 1- Small but Mighty . Belfast is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland . Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). People are leaving from all parts of town and not only from the bombed areas. "It says a lot about how these people are forgotten that there is no Blitz memorial in Belfast," Mr Freeburn says. Video, 00:02:12Isabel Oakeshott: Why I leaked Hancock's messages, Tears of relief after man found in Amazon jungle. Clydeside got its blitz during the period of the last moon. The Royal Air Force announced that Squadron Leader J.W.C. 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. That evening over 150 bombers left their bases in northern France and the Netherlands and headed for Belfast. 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." Can Nigeria's election result be overturned? Belfast is as worthy a target as Coventry, Birmingham, Bristol or Glasgow.. Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window), The Belfast Blitz Inside the Deadly 1941 Luftwaffe Raids on Northern Ireland, Dutch Weapons and American Independence How the United Provinces Made a Fortune Supplying Muskets in the Revolutionary War , USS Devilfish The Curious Case of the Only U.S. Navy Submarine to be Attacked by a Kamikaze, The Chinchas War Inside the Little-Known Conflict Between Peru and Spain Over Animal Turds, The Battle for Nassau Inside the First Overseas Mission for Americas Marines, Mustang vs. Corsair Inside the U.S. Navys 1944 Match-Up Between the Two Fighters, Stickin It To Em The Last of the Great Bayonet Charges, Bloody First Contact When Vikings Clashed with Native North Americans, Battlefield Stalingrad Four Maps That Tell the Story of World War Twos Pivotal Struggle.