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C.S Lewis was born in Belfast, and the nearby countryside helped inspire The Chronicles of Narnia. Over the course of three days, some 1.5 million civiliansthe overwhelming majority of them childrenwere transported from urban centres to rural areas that were believed to be safe. By 4 am the entire city seemed to be in flames. Belfast is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland. Dissatisfaction with public shelters also led to another notable development in the East EndMickeys Shelter. During the whole period, although the citys operation was disrupted in ways that were sometimes serious, no essential service was more than temporarily impaired. Singer-songwriter Van Morrison was born here. The past doesnt change, its just over.. 2023 BBC. Video, 00:00:51Australia's 'biggest drug bust' nets $700m of cocaine, Thanks, but no big speech, in Ken Bruce's sign off. The Luftwaffe never attacked the city after May 1941, but it would be many years before life returned to normal for many in the city. When the war began, Belfast, like many other cities, adopted the wartime practices of rationing and blackouts. Half of the city's housing was damaged over the course of all the raids. 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 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. The database Mr Freeburn has compiled is, he believes, the most accurate list of those killed and includes 222 children aged 16 or under. Yesterday the hand of good-fellowship was reached across the Border. 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. Elsewhere in the skies over Britain, Nazi official Rudolph Hess chose that same evening to parachute into Scotland on a quixotic and wholly unauthorized peace mission. There was unease with the complacent attitude of the government, which led to resignations: Craigavon died on 24 November 1940. 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. About 1,000 people were killed and bombs hit half of the houses in the city, leaving 100,000 people homeless. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Read about our approach to external linking. 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. Since most casualties were caused by falling masonry rather than by blast, they provided effective shelter for those who had them. 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 was no smokescreen ability, however there were some barrage balloons positioned strategically for protection. From a purely military perspective, the Blitz was entirely counterproductive to the main purpose of Germanys air offensiveto dominate the skies in advance of an invasion of England. Because basements, a logical destination in the event of an air raid, were a relative rarity in Britain, the A.R.P. By then 250 firemen from Clydeside had arrived. 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'. Video, 00:01:37, Thanks, but no big speech, in Ken Bruce's sign off, Tear gas fired at Greece train crash protesters. And even then, Westminster stated it was not ample provision; Stormont still worried about the costs to industry. ", Dawson Bates informed the Cabinet of rack-renting of barns, and over thirty people per house in some areas.[24]. 14 Breathtaking Facts about Belfast - Fact City 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. 2. 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 Blitz of Belfast 1941 - History Learning Site 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. "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. Around 1am, Luftwaffe bombers flew over the city, concentrating their attack on the Harbour Estate and Queen's Island. The fourth and final Belfast raid took place on the following night, 56 May. On Nov. 30, 1940, a lone Luftwaffe plane flew across the Ards Peninsula unobserved and reported back to Berlin. Video, 00:00:46Hong Kong skyscraper fire seen on city's skyline, Watch: Matt Hancock message row in 83 seconds. to households. Brooke noted in his diary "I gave him authority as it is obviously a question of expediency". However Belfast was not mentioned again by the Nazis. "We can still see the physical scars of the Blitz in Belfast, that is what is left. The danger faced in London was greatly increased when the V2 attacks started and the casualty figures mirrored those of the Blitz.. Nearby were the citys main power station, gasworks, telephone house and the Sirocco Engineering works. 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. The Luftwaffe crews returned to their base in Northern France and reported that Belfast's defences were, "inferior in quality, scanty and insufficient". VideoRussian minister laughed at for Ukraine war claims, The children left behind in Cuba's mass exodus, Xi Jinping's power grab - and why it matters, Snow, Fire and Lights: Photos of the Week. Authorities had noted Queens Island in the cityas a vulnerable point as early as 1929. 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. Under the leadership of amon de Valera it had declared its neutrality during the Second World War. Video, 00:00:36, Tears of relief after man found in Amazon jungle. By the end of the attacks, between 900 and 1,000 people were dead and thousands more were injured, homeless and displaced. The House of Commons, Westminster Abbey, and the British Museum were severely damaged, and The Temple was almost completely destroyed. The first deliberate raid took place on the night of 7 April. A charitable relief fund for the people of London was opened September 10. KS3 History (Environment and society) The Belfast Blitz learning resources for adults, children, parents and teachers. Belfast was the birthplace of the RMS Titanic, the world' most famous ship which, when it was constructed in the early 1900s, was longer than the height of the world's tallest building at 882 feet and six inches in length. Belfast | History, Population, Map, Landmarks, & Facts Belfast was largely unprepared for an attack of such a scale as 200 German bombers shelled the city on 15 April 1941. 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. In early 1941 the Germans launched another wave of attacks, this time focusing on ports. On 24 March 1941, John MacDermott, Minister for Security, wrote to Prime Minister John Andrews, expressing his concerns that Belfast was so poorly protected: "Up to now we have escaped attack. There wasn't enough room for Anna or Billy, so they sheltered elsewhere, a twist of fate that would save their lives. Jimmy Doherty, an air raid warden (who later served in London during the V1 and V2 blitz), who wrote a book on the Belfast blitz; He was succeeded by J. M. Andrews, then 69 years old, who was no more capable of dealing with the situation than his predecessor. Hundreds of incendiary and many high-explosive bombs were dropped, doing little material damage but causing many casualties. [1][2], The third raid on Belfast took place over the evening and morning of 45 May 1941; 150 were killed. Wave after wave of bombers dropped their incendiaries, high explosives and land-mines. 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. By the. Read about our approach to external linking. The first (April 7 -8), a small attack, was most likely carried out to test the city's defenses. 150 corpses remained in the Falls Road baths for three days before they were buried in a mass grave, with 123 still unidentified. Over a period of nine months, over 43,500 civilians were killed in the raids, which focused on major cities and industrial centres. It was solemn, tragic, dignified, but here it was grotesque, repulsive, horrible. "Through resources such as the Public Records Office and ancestry and genealogy websites I managed to get about 100 photos - which is about one tenth of the victims," he says. With tangled hair, staring eyes, clutching hands, contorted limbs, their grey-green faces covered with dust, they lay, bundled into the coffins, half-shrouded in rugs or blankets, or an occasional sheet, still wearing their dirty, torn twisted garments. 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. 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. The first day of the Blitz is remembered as Black Saturday. These private air-raid shelters were Anderson shelters, constructed of sheets of corrugated galvanised iron covered in earth. department distributed more than two million Anderson shelters (named after Sir John Anderson, head of the A.R.P.) These figures are based on newspaper reports of the time, personal recollections and other primary sources, such as:- The Royal Air Force announced that Squadron Leader J.W.C. Video, 00:02:12Isabel Oakeshott: Why I leaked Hancock's messages, Tears of relief after man found in Amazon jungle. Some had received food, others were famished. Video, 00:01:37Thanks, but no big speech, in Ken Bruce's sign off, Tear gas fired at Greece train crash protesters. Your donations help keep MHN afloat. 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. Published: September 7, 2020 at 12:00 pm. 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. In the subsequent years, this lack of preparation has often dominated the discussion about the Belfast Blitz, but a new project led by Alan Freeburn from the Northern Ireland War Memorial aims to shift the focus back to the ordinary men, women and children who lost their lives. Belfast Blitz: Marking the lost lives 80 years on A force of 180 bombers dropped 750 bombs - including 203 tonnes of high explosives - and 29,000 incendiaries over a five-hour period. Anna and Billy returned to England and continued running the children's home. The Air Raid Precautions (A.R.P.) On occasion, forces consisting of as many as 300 to 400 aircraft would cross the coast by day and split into small groups, and a few planes would succeed in penetrating Londons outer defenses. 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. James Craig, Lord Craigavon, had been Prime Minister of Northern Ireland since its inception in 1921 up until his death in 1940. The most heavily bombed cities outside London were Liverpool and Birmingham. After a brief lull, the Luftwaffe returned in force on February 17. When the bombing began, 76-year-old William and 72-year-old Harriette took refuge under the stairs along with Dorothy, Dot and Isa. 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. 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. 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. His death (along with preceding ill-health) came at a bad time and arguably inadvertently caused a leadership vacuum. 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 most significant loss was a 4.5-acre (1.8ha) factory floor for manufacturing the fuselages of Short Stirling bombers. 10 Awesome Facts About Fibre - linkedin.com That night almost 300 people, many from the Protestant Shankill area, took refuge in the Clonard Monastery in the Catholic Falls Road. The government was blamed by some for inadequate precautions. Learn how your comment data is processed. Many in Northern Ireland thought that Belfast was outside the range of the Luftwaffe. They all say the same thing, that the government is no good. The South Hallsville School disaster prompted Londoners, especially residents of the East End, to find safer shelters, on their own if necessary. He believed that key targets identified across the city were hit. The famous places damaged include the palace of Westminster and Westminster hall, the County hall, the Public Record office, the Law Courts, the Temple and the Inner Temple library; Somerset house, Burlington house, the tower of London, Greenwich observatory, Hogarths house; the Carlton, Reform, American, Savage, Arts and Orleans clubs; the Royal College of Surgeons, University college and its library, Stationers hall, the Y.M.C.A. 4. 2. They are sleeping in the same sheugh (ditch), below the same tree or in the same barn. Government ministers in Northern Ireland began to realise the Luftwaffe may launch an attack, but it was too little, too late. 55,000 houses were damaged leaving 100,000 temporarily homeless. Belfast has the world's largest dry dock. As many as 5,000 people had packed into this network of underground tunnels, which was dangerously overcrowded, dirty, and dark. By mid-September 1940 the RAF had won the Battle of Britain, and the invasion was postponed indefinitely. In clear weather, targets were easily identifiable. The Belfast blitz is remembered. Clydeside got its blitz during the period of the last moon. With the surrender of France in June 1940, Germanys sole remaining enemy lay across the English Channel. 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). But the RAF had not responded. 6. The offensive came to be called the Blitz after the German word blitzkrieg (lightning war). 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.. It would appear that Adolf Hitler, in view of de Valera's negative reaction, was concerned that de Valera and Irish American politicians might encourage the United States to enter the war.