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. 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. Indeed, on the night of the first raid, no Royal Air Force (RAF) aircraft took to the air to intercept German planes. As many as 5,000 people had packed into this network of underground tunnels, which was dangerously overcrowded, dirty, and dark. Three nights later (April 1920) London was again subjected to a seven-hour raid, and the loss of life was considerable, especially among firefighters and the A.R.P. The Belfast Blitz - Inside the Deadly 1941 Luftwaffe Raids on Northern As many were caught in the open by blast and secondary missiles, the enormous number of casualties can be readily accounted for. Two of the crews received refreshments in Banbridge; others were entertained in the Ancient Order of Hibernians hall in Newry. Video, 00:01:38At least 17 dead in Jakarta fuel storage depot fire, Australia's 'biggest drug bust' nets $700m of cocaine. After the bombing began on September 7, local authorities urged displaced people to take shelter at South Hallsville School. Wherever Churchill is hiding his war material we will go. A Luftwaffe pilot gave this description "We were in exceptional good humour knowing that we were going for a new target, one of England's last hiding places. [citation needed], Other writers, such as Tony Gray in The Lost Years state that the Germans did follow their radio guidance beams. On the 60th anniversary of the Belfast Blitz, Luftwaffe Pilot Gerhardt Becker spoke to BBC Northern Ireland about his mission over Belfast in 1941. Few children had been successfully evacuated. Wherever Churchill is hiding his war material we will go Belfast is as worthy a target as Coventry, Birmingham, Bristol or Glasgow." 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. On August 25 the British retaliated by launching a bombing raid on Berlin. Interesting facts about Belfast. Those who sought refuge at the school were told that they would quickly be relocated to a safer area, but the evacuation was delayed. Video, 00:01:23Watch: Matt Hancock message row in 83 seconds, One-minute World News. Video, 00:00:51Australia's 'biggest drug bust' nets $700m of cocaine, Thanks, but no big speech, in Ken Bruce's sign off. Can Nigeria's election result be overturned? The "pothole blitz" is a common short-term initiative to combat storm weather damage. The next took place on Easter Tuesday, 15 April 1941, when 200 Luftwaffe bombers attacked military and manufacturing targets in the city of Belfast. However they were not in a position to communicate with the Germans, and information recovered from Germany after the war showed that the planning of the blitz was based entirely on German aerial reconnaissance. The attack on Coventry was particularly destructive. Van Morrison is from the east part of the city. And then naturally as I was over the target, I did pick up flak but I have no sense of exactly how weak or how strong it was, because every bit of flak you get is dangerous.. In spite of blackouts, ubiquitous shelters and sandbags, the visible effects of mass evacuation, the presence of A.R.P. Please select which sections you would like to print: Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. Belfast is as worthy a target as Coventry, Birmingham, Bristol or Glasgow.. Your donations help keep MHN afloat. Beginning on Black Saturday, London was attacked on 57 straight nights. Also, on Queens Island, stood the Short and Harland Ltd. Aircraft Factory. Brides, Fleet St.; St. Lawrence Jewry; St. Magnus the Martyr; St. Mary-at-hill; St. Dunstan in the East; St. Clement [Eastcheap] and St. Jamess, Piccadilly). The past doesnt change, its just over.. 11 churches, two hospitals and two schools were destroyed. The working-class living close to industrial centres suffered more than anyone over the course of the four raids. 3. Video, 00:02:12, Isabel Oakeshott: Why I leaked Hancock's messages, Tears of relief after man found in Amazon jungle. Prior to the "Belfast Blitz" there were only 200 public shelters in the city, although around 4,000 households had built their own private shelters. More than 1,000 people were killed, and the damage was more widespread than on any previous occasion. After the war, instructions from Joseph Goebbels were discovered ordering it not to be mentioned. The attacks were authorized by Germany's chancellor, Adolf Hitler, after the British carried out a nighttime air raid on Berlin. "But there is no such equivalent in Belfast. Despite the military and industrial importance of the city, the Luftwaffe described the defences asweak, scanty, insufficient. The creeping TikTok bans, Hong Kong skyscraper fire seen on city's skyline. Authorities had noted Queens Island in the cityas a vulnerable point as early as 1929. 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. The nights of November 3 and 28 were the only occasions during this period in which Londons peace was unbroken by siren or bomb. The area included the Harland and Wolff Ltd. Shipyard, the Short and Harland Ltd. Aircraft Factory, and the airfield at RAF Sydenham. 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. Barton insisted that Belfast was "too far north" to use radio guidance. 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. Eduard Hempel, the German Minister to Ireland, visited the Irish Ministry for External Affairs to offer sympathy and attempt an explanation. Just before Easter 1941, Anna and Billy Burdett and their 12-year-old daughter, Dorothy, returned to Belfast from England to visit Anna's family. He was succeeded by J. M. Andrews, then 69 years old, who was no more capable of dealing with the situation than his predecessor. 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. In early 1941 the Germans launched another wave of attacks, this time focusing on ports. Yesterday the hand of good-fellowship was reached across the Border. Six Heinkel He 111 bombers, from Kampfgruppe 26, flying at 7,000 feet (2,100m), dropped incendiaries, high explosive and parachute-mines. The famous Harland and Wolff cranes are called Samson and Goliath. NI WW2 veterans honoured by France. and Major Sen O'Sullivan, who produced a detailed report for the Dublin government. The winter of 193940 was severe, but the summer was pleasant, and in their leisure hours Londoners thronged the parks or worked in their gardens. Video, 00:03:09Mapping the lives lost in the Belfast Blitz, Belfast City Hall in darkness as the Blitz is marked, Street fighting in Bakhmut but Russia not in control, Russian minister laughed at for Ukraine war claims. When war broke out in 1939 the city did not expect to be attacked by German bombers: it was geographically remote and deemed a relatively . 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. NI WW2 veterans honoured by France. Since most casualties were caused by falling masonry rather than by blast, they provided effective shelter for those who had them. That contrasts with the figure that is often given of more than 900 killed on Easter Tuesday alone. John Wood Dunlop invented the pneumatic tyre in Belfast in 1887. The danger faced in London was greatly increased when the V2 attacks started and the casualty figures mirrored those of the Blitz.. This part of Belfast was the only one required to provide air raid shelters for workers. But the Luftwaffe was ready. A charitable relief fund for the people of London was opened September 10. [18], Over 900 people died, 1,500 people were injured, 400 of them seriously. There wasn't enough room for Anna or Billy, so they sheltered elsewhere, a twist of fate that would save their lives. Omissions? 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. That night almost 300 people, many from the Protestant Shankill area, took refuge in the Clonard Monastery in the Catholic Falls Road. London was bombed for 57 consecutive nights from 7 September 1940 For two hours on the first day, 348 German bombers and 617 fighters blasted London. 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. The initial human cost of the Blitz was lower than the government had expected, but the level of destruction exceeded the governments dire predictions. Video, 00:00:36, Tears of relief after man found in Amazon jungle. On the 17th I heard that hundreds who either could not get away or could not leave for other reasons simply went out into the fields and remained in the open all night with whatever they could take in the way of covering. [4], The Government of Northern Ireland lacked the will, energy and capacity to cope with a major crisis when it came. 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). . There are other diarists and narratives. 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. What happened in 1941 changed the city forever. 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. 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]. Video, 00:02:54Living through the London Blitz, At least 17 dead in Jakarta fuel storage depot fire. The period of the next moon from say the 7th to the 16th of April may well bring our turn." Over 500 received care from the Irish Red Cross in Dublin. The Blitz Around Britain - World War 2 | Imperial War Museums 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." A Luftwaffe terror bombing attack on the Spanish city of Guernica (April 26, 1937) during the Spanish Civil War had killed hundreds of civilians and destroyed much of the town. [9], War materials and food were sent by sea from Belfast to Great Britain, some under the protection of the neutral Irish tricolour. 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. The Belfast blitz during World War Two - BBC News These shelters, made of corrugated steel, were designed to be dug into a garden and then covered with dirt. In total over 1,300 houses were demolished, some 5,000 badly damaged, nearly 30,000 slightly damaged while 20,000 required "first aid repairs".[3]. The mortuary services had emergency plans to deal with only 200 bodies. 14 Breathtaking Facts about Belfast - Fact City 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. The first deliberate raid took place on the night of 7 April. wardens, and members of the Home Guard drilling in the parks, life went on much as usual. The Belfast blitz devastated a city that up until 1941 had remained unscathed during World War Two. along with England, Scotland, and Wales. 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. The most heavily bombed area was that which lay between York Street and the Antrim Road, north of the city centre. Belfast has the world's largest dry dock. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of any material on this site without expressand written permission from the author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Major O'Sullivan reported that "In the heavily 'blitzed' areas people ran panic-stricken into the streets and made for the open country. Belfast Blitz: Remembering the ordinary people who lost their lives The World's Most-Famous Ship, The Titanic, was constructed here. Heinkel He 111 and Dornier Do 17 planes fitted with Zeiss cameras captured high-quality aerial imagery. On April 16 an attack even fiercer and more indiscriminate than those of the previous autumn started at 9:00 pm and continued until 5:00 the following morning; 500 aircraft were believed to have flown over in continuous waves, raining an estimated 450 tons of bombs across the city. 2. London seemed ablaze from the docks to Westminster, much damage was done, and casualties were high. Given Belfast's geographic position, it was considered to be at the fringe of the operational range of German bombers and hence there was no provision for night-fighter aerial cover. It is situated at on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. James Craig, Lord Craigavon, had been Prime Minister of Northern Ireland since its inception in 1921 up until his death in 1940. A short respite followed, until a widespread series of night raids on April 7 included some targets in the London area. The Belfast Blitz was a series of devastating Luftwaffe air raids that took place in Northern Ireland during the Second World War. These balloons, the largest of which were some 60 feet (18 metres) long, were essentially an airspace denial tool. 1. This amounted to nearly half of Britains total civilian deaths for the whole war. By mid-September 1940 the RAF had won the Battle of Britain, and the invasion was postponed indefinitely. The most significant loss was a 4.5-acre (1.8ha) factory floor for manufacturing the fuselages of Short Stirling bombers. 10 Facts about Belfast City | Fun Facts About Belfast | Europa Hotel When the war began, Belfast, like many other cities, adopted the wartime practices of rationing and blackouts. 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. The British government had anticipated air attacks on its population centres, and it had predicted catastrophic casualties. All were exhausted. Published: September 7, 2020 at 12:00 pm. On May 11, 1941, Hitler called off the Blitz as he shifted his forces eastward against the Soviet Union. Video, 00:00:26, Living through the London Blitz. 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.