It is believed that the wartime government covered up the death toll because of concern over the effect it would have had on public morale. For eight months the Luftwaffe dropped bombs on London and other strategic cities across Britain. It became a city by royal charter in 1888. The Belfast Blitz: April-May 1941 - History Ireland Belfast, the city with the highest population density in the UK at the time, also had the lowest proportion of public air-raid shelters. When incendiaries were dropped, the city burned as water pressure was too low for effective firefighting. The bombs continued to fall until 5am. The youngest victim was just six-weeks-old. Nine were registered on three separate occasions, and from the start of the Blitz until November 30 there were more than 350 alerts. 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. 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, 00:01:23Watch: Matt Hancock message row in 83 seconds, One-minute World News. 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. 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. The British, on the other hand, were supremely well prepared for the kind of battle in which they now found themselves. Indeed, on the night of the first raid, no Royal Air Force (RAF) aircraft took to the air to intercept German planes. The Blitz began at around 4 pm on September 7, 1940, when German bomber planes first appeared over London. Death should be dignified, peaceful; Hitler had made even death grotesque. [6] It was MacDermott who sent a telegram to de Valera seeking assistance. 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. ", US journalist Ben Robertson reported that at night Dublin was the only city without a blackout between New York and Moscow, and between Lisbon and Sweden and that German bombers often flew overhead to check their bearings using its lights, angering the British. The Titanic was built in Belfast. As well as photographs, the Luftwaffe gathered information on landmarks, potential targets and defences or lack thereof. Anna and Billy returned to England and continued running the children's home. 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. 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. The creeping TikTok bans. Belfast Blitz: Remembering the ordinary people who lost their lives There were Heinkel He 111s, Junkers Ju 88s and Dornier Do 17s. 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. The "pothole blitz" is a common short-term initiative to combat storm weather damage. More than 500 German planes dropped more than 700 tons of bombs across the city, killing nearly 1,500 people and destroying 11,000 homes. After the passing of the Government of Ireland Act, 1920, it became the seat of the government of Northern Ireland. On the 60th anniversary of the Belfast Blitz, Luftwaffe Pilot Gerhardt Becker spoke to BBC Northern Ireland about his mission over Belfast in 1941. 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. By then most of the major fires were under control and the firemen from Clydeside and other British cities were arriving. On Nov. 30, 1940, a lone Luftwaffe plane flew across the Ards Peninsula unobserved and reported back to Berlin. What's the least amount of exercise we can get away with? Very early in the German bombing campaign, it became clear that the preparationshowever extensive they seemed to have beenwere inadequate. After the war, instructions from Joseph Goebbels were discovered ordering it not to be mentioned. That evening over 150 bombers left their bases in northern France and the Netherlands and headed for Belfast. 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." The higher the German planes had to fly to avoid the balloons, the less accurate they were when dropping their bombs. These balloons, the largest of which were some 60 feet (18 metres) long, were essentially an airspace denial tool. IWM C 5424 1. The city covers a total area of 132.5 square kilometers (51 square miles). Belfast's Albert Clock tower is sinking - it leans by four feet. The telegram was sent at 4:35am,[citation needed] asking the Irish Taoiseach, amon de Valera for assistance. In late August the Germans dropped some bombs, apparently by accident, on civilian areas in London. Belfast - Kids | Britannica Kids | Homework Help This amounted to nearly half of Britains total civilian deaths for the whole war. A Raid From Above 2. [9], War materials and food were sent by sea from Belfast to Great Britain, some under the protection of the neutral Irish tricolour. Davies also set up medical stations and persuaded off-duty medical personnel to treat the sick and wounded. Beginning on Black Saturday, London was attacked on 57 straight nights. The bombing of British cities - Swansea, Belfast, Glasgow The House of Commons, Westminster Abbey, and the British Museum were severely damaged, and The Temple was almost completely destroyed. Men from the South worked with men from the North in the universal cause of the relief of suffering. Yesterday the hand of good-fellowship was reached across the Border. 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." 13 Facts You Didn't Know About Belfast Video, 00:01:03One-minute World News, Isabel Oakeshott: Why I leaked Hancock's messages. It targeted the docks. "There are plans for one but there isn't one yet. Clydeside got its blitz during the period of the last moon. 2. Horrendous Belfast losses during World War Two bombing blitz Video, 00:02:12, Isabel Oakeshott: Why I leaked Hancock's messages, Tears of relief after man found in Amazon jungle. Government ministers in Northern Ireland began to realise the Luftwaffe may launch an attack, but it was too little, too late. 1. Richard Dawson Bates was the Home Affairs Minister. Over 500 received care from the Irish Red Cross in Dublin. The Belfast Blitz - Inside the Deadly 1941 Luftwaffe Raids on Northern The offensive came to be called the Blitz after the German word blitzkrieg (lightning war). Blitz Fibre UK Blitz Fibre UK Published Mar 1, 2023 + Follow Fact 1- Small but Mighty . Learn how your comment data is processed. The M.V. Many in Northern Ireland thought that Belfast was outside the range of the Luftwaffe. He was asked, in the N.I. But Mr Freeburn's research casts doubt on this. Roads out of town are still one stream of cars, with mattresses and bedding tied on top. 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. Belfast suffered a series of bombing raids in the spring of 1941, which became known as the 'Blitz of Belfast'. continuous trek to railway stations. 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. 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. Read about our approach to external linking. Belfast was not properly prepared for the attacks, with too few shelters and not enough anti-aircraft guns. 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. The attacks by both V1's and V2's only ended as the Allies advanced up through Western Europe . The attacks were authorized by Germany's chancellor, Adolf Hitler, after the British carried out a nighttime air raid on Berlin. 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. Despite the military and industrial importance of the city, the Luftwaffe described the defences asweak, scanty, insufficient. Video, 00:00:26, Living through the London Blitz. Some are a total loss; others are already under repair with little outward sign of the damage sustained: Besides Buckingham palace, the chapel of which was wrecked, and Guildhall (the six-centuries old centre of London civic ceremonies and of great architectural beauty), which was destroyed by fire, Kensington palace (the London home of the earl of Athlone, governor general of Canada, and the birthplace of Queen Mary and Queen Victoria), the banqueting hall of Eltham palace (dating from King Johns time and long a royal residence), Lambeth palace (the archbishop of Canterbury), and Holland house (famous for its 17th century domestic architecture, its political associations, and its art treasures), suffered, the latter severely. Blitz, The - Kids | Britannica Kids | Homework Help Beginning in September 1940, the Blitz was an aerial bombing campaign conducted by the Luftwaffe against British cities. Heinkel He 111 and Dornier Do 17 planes fitted with Zeiss cameras captured high-quality aerial imagery. In each station volunteers were asked for, as it was beyond their normal duties. The raid so infuriated Hitler that he ordered the Luftwaffe to shift its attacks from RAF sites to London and other cities. The World's Most-Famous Ship, The Titanic, was constructed here. The past doesnt change, its just over.. Updates? The most significant loss was a 4.5-acre (1.8ha) factory floor for manufacturing the fuselages of Short Stirling bombers. Video, 00:00:51Australia's 'biggest drug bust' nets $700m of cocaine, Thanks, but no big speech, in Ken Bruce's sign off. They all say the same thing, that the government is no good. The next took place on Easter Tuesday, 15 April 1941, when 200 Luftwaffe bombers attacked military and manufacturing targets in the city of Belfast. There was no smokescreen ability, however there were some barrage balloons positioned strategically for protection. By then 250 firemen from Clydeside had arrived. With the surrender of France in June 1940, Germanys sole remaining enemy lay across the English Channel. The initial human cost of the Blitz was lower than the government had expected, but the level of destruction exceeded the governments dire predictions. On the ground, there were only 22 anti-aircraft guns positioned around the city, six light and 16 heavy, and on the first night only seven of these were manned and operational. Three vessels nearing completion at Harland and Wolff's were hit as was its power station. Belfast is as worthy a target as Coventry, Birmingham, Bristol or Glasgow.. But the Luftwaffe was ready. 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. [citation needed], There was a second massive air raid on Belfast on Sunday 45 May 1941, three weeks after that of Easter Tuesday. By mid-September 1940 the RAF had won the Battle of Britain, and the invasion was postponed indefinitely. department distributed more than two million Anderson shelters (named after Sir John Anderson, head of the A.R.P.) Belfast | History, Population, Map, Landmarks, & Facts [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. High explosives were dropped. 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. 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. He was succeeded by J. M. Andrews, then 69 years old, who was no more capable of dealing with the situation than his predecessor. 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. You can see the difference in those letters - post-Blitz is very much a grieving tone. 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. Added to this was the repair and refitting of 22,000 more vessels. The Battle of Britain For two hours on the first day, 348 German bombers and 617 fighters blasted London. Liverpool, for example, protected by 100 guns. 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. Wherever Churchill is hiding his war material we will go Belfast is as worthy a target as Coventry, Birmingham, Bristol or Glasgow." Several accounts point out that Belfast, standing at the end of the long inlet of Belfast Lough, would be easily located. 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. He believed that this was being done already but it was inevitable that a certain number of civilian lives should be lost in the course of heavy bombing from the air". Belfast was bombed by the Nazis in World War II. During what was known as the "Belfast Blitz," 1,000 people were killed by bombs dropped by the Nazis in 1941 during the Second World War. He gave an interview saying: "the people of Belfast are Irish people too". Tragically 35 were crushed to death when the mill wall collapsed. 13 died, including a soldier killed when an anti-aircraft gun, at the Balmoral show-grounds, misfired. Belfast Blitz - Wikipedia Because basements, a logical destination in the event of an air raid, were a relative rarity in Britain, the A.R.P. His death (along with preceding ill-health) came at a bad time and arguably inadvertently caused a leadership vacuum. Video, 00:03:09, Mapping the lives lost in the Belfast Blitz, Russian minister laughed at for Ukraine war claims. Guided by Davies, the people of the shelter created an ad hoc government and established a set of rules. 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. 11 churches, two hospitals and two schools were destroyed. Many "arrived in Fermanagh having nothing with them only night shirts". The Germans, however, saw Belfast as a legitimate target due to the shipyards in the city that were contributing to Britain's war efforts. There were few bomb shelters. Wherever Churchill is hiding his war material we will go. Children and World War Two - History Learning Site 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. Under the leadership of Prime Minister John Miller Andrews, Northern Ireland remained unprepared. On May 11, 1941, Hitler called off the Blitz as he shifted his forces eastward against the Soviet Union. When Germany bombed Belfast as part of the Blitz during World War Two, the massive air raids left more than a thousand people dead. 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. 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. Another defensive measure employed by the British was barrage balloonslarge oval-shaped unmanned balloons with stabilizing tail finsinstalled in and around major target areas. 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. Up Next. But these people all had families and friends and they had to deal with their loss for the rest of their lives.". MacDermott would be proved right. The couple, who ran a children's home, stayed with Anna's parents, William and Harriette Denby, and her sisters, Dot and Isa, at Evelyn Gardens, off the Cavehill Road, in the north of the city. Air power alone had failed to knock the United Kingdom out of the war. When the bombing began, 76-year-old William and 72-year-old Harriette took refuge under the stairs along with Dorothy, Dot and Isa. "Through cross-referencing a number of different sources I have been able to get the most accurate number of people who died in the Blitz," he says. 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.