His report concluded with: "a second Belfast would be too horrible to contemplate". The first was on the night of 7-8 April 1941, a small attack which probably took place only to test Belfast's defences. While Anderson shelters offered good protection from bomb fragments and debris, they were cold and damp and generally ill-suited for prolonged occupancy. 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. Belfast was ill-prepared for the blitz. Several accounts point out that Belfast, standing at the end of the long inlet of Belfast Lough, would be easily located. The Belfast blitz. [1][2], The third raid on Belfast took place over the evening and morning of 45 May 1941; 150 were killed. Outside of London, with some 900 dead, this was the greatest loss of life in a night raid during the Blitz. The devastation was so great that the Germans coined a new verb, to coventrate, to describe it. By then 250 firemen from Clydeside had arrived. 2023 BBC. In spite of blackouts, ubiquitous shelters and sandbags, the visible effects of mass evacuation, the presence of A.R.P. On 4-5 May, another raid, made up of 204 bombers, killed another 203 people and the following night 22 more died. Hitlers intention had been to break the morale of the British people so they would pressure their government to surrender. Interesting facts about Belfast. Video, 00:00:36, Tears of relief after man found in Amazon jungle. Streets heavily bombed in the city centre included High Street, Ann Street, Callender Street, Chichester Street, Castle Street, Tomb Street, Bridge Street (effectively obliterated), Rosemary Street, Waring Street, North Street, Victoria Street, Donegall Street, York Street, Gloucester Street, and East Bridge Street. "A lot of the people I spoke to were relatives who ended up donating images and handwritten letters from before and after the Blitz. His death (along with preceding ill-health) came at a bad time and arguably inadvertently caused a leadership vacuum. 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. 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. Yesterday for once the people of Ireland were united under the shadow of a national blow. By then most of the major fires were under control and the firemen from Clydeside and other British cities were arriving. 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 Germans established that Belfast was defended by only seven anti-aircraft batteries, which made it the most poorly defended city in the United Kingdom. That evening over 150 bombers left their bases in northern France and the Netherlands and headed for Belfast. But these people all had families and friends and they had to deal with their loss for the rest of their lives.". Belfast was Ireland's industrial home, famous for tobacco, rope-making, linen, and ship-building, which made it the powerhouse it was. In the eight months of attacks, some 43,000 civilians were killed. Government ministers in Northern Ireland began to realise the Luftwaffe may launch an attack, but it was too little, too late. Nevertheless, for all the hardship it caused, the campaign proved to be a strategic mistake by the Germans. The Premier Online Military History Magazine, Re-printed with permission fromWartimeNI.com. [6] It was MacDermott who sent a telegram to de Valera seeking assistance. NI WW2 veterans honoured by France. 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. 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. It was not the first time the alarm had sounded to signify the presence of Luftwaffe bombers over the city. 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? Beginning on Black Saturday, London was attacked on 57 straight nights. Prayers were said and hymns sung by the mainly Protestant women and children during the bombing. Video, 00:00:26, Living through the London Blitz. Belfast Blitz: Remembering the ordinary people who lost their lives 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. "But there is no such equivalent in Belfast. Belfast was bombed by the Nazis in World War II. 150 corpses remained in the Falls Road baths for three days before they were buried in a mass grave, with 123 still unidentified. For 57 nightsuntil November 2more than 1 million bombs were dropped on the capital city. Taoiseach amon de Valera formally protested to Berlin. 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. Children and World War Two - History Learning Site 15 Powerful Photos Of The WW2 Blitz | Imperial War Museums London was bombed for 57 consecutive nights from 7 September 1940 There [is] ground for thinking that the enemy could not easily reach Belfast in force except during a period of moonlight. Maps and documents uncovered at Gatow Airfield near Berlin in 1945 showed the level of detail involved. [12], There was little preparation for the conflict with Germany. THE BELFAST BLITZ was a series of four air raids over Northern Ireland during the spring of 1941. In 1995, on the 50th anniversary of the ending of the Second World War, an invitation was received by the Dublin Fire Brigade for any survivors of that time to attend a function at Hillsborough Castle and meet Prince Charles. He was replaced by 54-year-old Sir Basil Brooke on 1 May. The city covers a total area of 132.5 square kilometers (51 square miles). There were still 80,000 more in Belfast. 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. The first day of the Blitz is remembered as Black Saturday. On May 11, 1941, Hitler called off the Blitz as he shifted his forces eastward against the Soviet Union. Video, 00:02:54Living through the London Blitz, At least 17 dead in Jakarta fuel storage depot fire. 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 part of Belfast was the only one required to provide air raid shelters for workers. Public buildings destroyed or badly damaged included Belfast City Hall's Banqueting Hall, the Ulster Hospital for Women and Children and Ballymacarrett library, (the last two being located on Templemore Avenue). Read about our approach to external linking. Over 150 people died in what became known as the 'Fire Blitz'. What's the least amount of exercise we can get away with? Belfast suffered a series of bombing raids in the spring of 1941, which became known as the 'Blitz of Belfast'. A Raid From Above By mid-September 1940 the RAF had won the Battle of Britain, and the invasion was postponed indefinitely. Instead of pressing his advantage, however, Hitler abruptly changed his strategy. Wave after wave of bombers dropped their incendiaries, high explosives and land-mines. ", Dawson Bates informed the Cabinet of rack-renting of barns, and over thirty people per house in some areas.[24]. The Blitz was devastating for the people of London and other cities. Video, 00:02:12Isabel Oakeshott: Why I leaked Hancock's messages, Tears of relief after man found in Amazon jungle. For eight months the Luftwaffe dropped bombs on London and other strategic cities across Britain. 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". 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. Looking back on the Belfast Blitz, Oberleutnant Becker signed off with the following words: A war is the worst thing that can happen to Mankind. 29 - Belfast was once bigger than Dublin German bombing of London during the Blitz, Discover how the Third Reich attacked Great Britain during World War II's Battle of Britain, atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Watch President Roosevelt outline his Four Freedoms and learn how Britain defeated Germany's Luftwaffe. The government was blamed by some for inadequate precautions. Over 500 received care from the Irish Red Cross in Dublin. 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. Authorities had noted Queens Island in the cityas a vulnerable point as early as 1929. Poor visibility on the night meant that the accuracy of the bombers was hampered and the explosives were dropped on densely populated areas of Belfast. Fiber-optic cables are made from thin strings of glass and are generally about one-tenth the width of a . Humanity knows no borders, no politics, no differences of religious belief. 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." "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.". WW2: How did an elephant beat the Belfast Blitz? - BBC Teach The firm had produced Handley Page Hereford bombers since 1936. 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. They prevented low-flying aircraft from approaching their targets at optimal altitudes and angles of attack. At the beginning of the Blitz, British ack ack gunners struggled to inflict meaningful damage on German bombers, but later developments in radar guidance greatly improved the effectiveness of both antiaircraft artillery and searchlights. Tragically 35 were crushed to death when the mill wall collapsed. 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.