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. It became a city by royal charter in 1888. [citation needed]. Around 20,000 people were employed on the site with 35,000 further along in the shipyard. 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. 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. These balloons, the largest of which were some 60 feet (18 metres) long, were essentially an airspace denial tool. Wave after wave of bombers dropped their incendiaries, high explosives and land-mines. Victory for the Royal Air Forces (RAFs) Fighter Command blocked this possibility and, in fact, created the conditions for Britains survival and the eventual destruction of the Third Reich. I felt outraged, I should have felt sympathy, grief, but instead feelings of revulsion and disgust assailed me. The working-class living close to industrial centres suffered more than anyone over the course of the four raids. ", Mapping the lives lost in the Belfast Blitz. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. After the war, instructions from Joseph Goebbels were discovered ordering it not to be mentioned. Revised estimates made decades later indicated that close to 600 men, women, and children had been killed in the bombing. Nevertheless, for all the hardship it caused, the campaign proved to be a strategic mistake by the Germans. These private air-raid shelters were Anderson shelters, constructed of sheets of corrugated galvanised iron covered in earth. 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. 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. For eight months the Luftwaffe dropped bombs on London and other strategic cities across Britain. Here are 10 facts about both the German Blitzkrieg and the Allied bombing of Germany. There are other diarists and narratives. The creeping TikTok bans, Hong Kong skyscraper fire seen on city's skyline. The Titanic was built in Belfast. 55,000 British civilian casualties were sustained through German bombing before the end of 1940 This included 23,000 deaths. Over a period of nine months, over 43,500 civilians were killed in the raids, which focused on major cities and industrial centres. 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. Air power alone had failed to knock the United Kingdom out of the war. Corrections? 7. Another claim was that the Catholic population in general and the IRA in particular guided the bombers. This amounted to nearly half of Britains total civilian deaths for the whole war. 4. Up to now, we have escaped an attack, said John MacDermott, the Minister for Security, Belfast, on March 24, 1941. Roads out of town are still one stream of cars, with mattresses and bedding tied on top. Nevertheless, through sheer weight of numbers, the Germans were on the brink of victory in late August 1940. There were still 80,000 more in Belfast. 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. Tragically 35 were crushed to death when the mill wall collapsed. The Belfast blitz devastated a city that up until 1941 had remained unscathed during World War Two. 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. People hung black curtains in their windows so that no lights showed outside their houses. The creeping TikTok bans. [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]. 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. The Premier Online Military History Magazine, Re-printed with permission fromWartimeNI.com. Reviewed by: Geoffrey Roberts. Some 900 people died as a result of the bombing and 1,500 were injured. Moya Woodside[23] noted in her diary: "Evacuation is taking on panic proportions. Wherever Churchill is hiding his war material we will go Belfast is as worthy a target as Coventry, Birmingham, Bristol or Glasgow." C.S Lewis was born in Belfast, and the nearby countryside helped inspire The Chronicles of Narnia. The bombs caused death and destruction across the city, affecting those of all religions and political backgrounds. KS3 History (Environment and society) The Belfast Blitz learning resources for adults, children, parents and teachers. The success of Mickeys Shelter was another factor that urged the government to improve existing deep shelters and to create new ones. There was unease with the complacent attitude of the government, which led to resignations: Craigavon died on 24 November 1940. 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." O'Sullivan felt that the whole civil defence sector was utterly overwhelmed. Mr Freeburn set out to find out more about those who died, their personal stories and the tales of those left behind. People are leaving from all parts of town and not only from the bombed areas. 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. For eight months the Luftwaffe dropped bombs on London and other strategic cities across Britain. He was replaced by 54-year-old Sir Basil Brooke on 1 May. When the bombing began, 76-year-old William and 72-year-old Harriette took refuge under the stairs along with Dorothy, Dot and Isa. Barton insisted that Belfast was "too far north" to use radio guidance. By the middle of December it had reached nearly 1,700,000 (adjusted for inflation, this was the equivalent of roughly 100 million in 2020). 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." At 10:40pm the air raid sirens sounded. In the eight months of attacks, some 43,000 civilians were killed. As well as photographs, the Luftwaffe gathered information on landmarks, potential targets and defences or lack thereof. 6. Updates? "They have never been published before, never seen the light of day.". Even the children of soldiers had not been evacuated, with calamitous results when the married quarters of Victoria Barracks received a direct hit. 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. Sixty years after the Germans bombed Belfast in World War II BBC News Online looks back and remembers the anniversary of 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. 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. Half of the city's housing was damaged over the course of all the raids. An earlier flight on Oct. 18 allowed the crew to plot several targets in the city. "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. London seemed ablaze from the docks to Westminster, much damage was done, and casualties were high. The mass relocation, called Operation Pied Piper, was the largest internal migration in British history. 10 Facts about Belfast City. Very early in the German bombing campaign, it became clear that the preparationshowever extensive they seemed to have beenwere inadequate. Has it taken bursting bombs to remind the people of this little country that they have common tradition, a common genius and a common home? His report concluded with: "a second Belfast would be too horrible to contemplate". The Luftwaffe had lost more than 600 aircraft, and, although the RAF had lost fewer than half that many, the battle was claiming British fighters and experienced pilots at too great a rate. 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 period of the next moon from say the 7th to the 16th of April may well bring our turn.. 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." A charitable relief fund for the people of London was opened September 10. [citation needed], Other writers, such as Tony Gray in The Lost Years state that the Germans did follow their radio guidance beams. Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom . [9], War materials and food were sent by sea from Belfast to Great Britain, some under the protection of the neutral Irish tricolour. Hundreds of incendiary and many high-explosive bombs were dropped, doing little material damage but causing many casualties. 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. 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. the Blitz, (September 7, 1940May 11, 1941), intense bombing campaign undertaken by Nazi Germany against the United Kingdom during World War II. Although casualties were heavy, at no time did they approach the estimates that had been made before the war, and only a fraction of the available hospital and ambulance capacity was ever utilized. British Spies and Irish Rebels by Paul McMahon, Report by the Garda Sochna 23 October 1941 IMA G2/1722, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Irish Minister for the Co-ordination of Defensive Measures, "Eamon de Valera and Hitler: An Analysis of International Reaction to the Visit to the German Minister, May 1945", "Extracts from an article, "The Belfast Blitz, 1941", "Historical Topics Series 2 The Belfast Blitz", "Your Place and Mine The Belfast Blitz", "Northern Ireland Parliamentary Elections Results: Biographies", "Belfast Blitz: The night death and destruction rained down on city", "Multitext - the Blitz - Belfast during the second World War", http://www.niwarmemorial.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/The_Belfast_Blitz.pdf, http://www.proni.gov.uk/historical_topics_series_-_02_-_the_belfast_blitz.pdf, Extracts from an article on The Belfast Blitz, 1941. 2023 BBC. The Battle of Britain 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. The first was on the night of 78 April 1941, a small attack which probably took place only to test Belfast's defences. 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. Fortunately, the railway telegraphy link between Belfast and Dublin was still operational. Outside of London, with some 900 dead, this was the greatest loss of life in a night raid during the Blitz. The next took place on Easter Tuesday, 15 April 1941, when 200 Luftwaffe bombers attacked military and manufacturing targets in the city of Belfast. Video, 00:01:38At least 17 dead in Jakarta fuel storage depot fire, Australia's 'biggest drug bust' nets $700m of cocaine. Video, 00:01:09The Spitfire turns 80, The German bombing of Coventry. When the Blitz began, the government enforced a blackout in an attempt to make targeting more difficult for German night bombers. These figures are based on newspaper reports of the time, personal recollections and other primary sources, such as:- 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. Lecturer of History, Queens University, Belfast, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Belfast_Blitz&oldid=1136721396, During the war years, Belfast shipyards built or converted over 3,000 navy vessels, repaired more than 22,000 others and launched over half a million tons of merchant shipping over 140. It is situated at on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. Video, 00:01:38, At least 17 dead in Jakarta fuel storage depot fire, Australia's 'biggest drug bust' nets $700m of cocaine. They are sleeping in the same sheugh (ditch), below the same tree or in the same barn. The area included the Harland and Wolff Ltd. Shipyard, the Short and Harland Ltd. Aircraft Factory, and the airfield at RAF Sydenham.