55,000 houses were damaged leaving 100,000 temporarily homeless. The Battle of Britain 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. This type of shelteressentially a low steel cage large enough to contain two adults and two small childrenwas designed to be set up indoors and could serve as a refuge if the building began to collapse. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. He was asked, in the N.I. Belfast confetti," said one archive news report. along with England, Scotland, and Wales. Accounts differ as to when flares were dropped to light up the city. The next took. Humanity knows no borders, no politics, no differences of religious belief. That contrasts with the figure that is often given of more than 900 killed on Easter Tuesday alone. 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. ", Dawson Bates informed the Cabinet of rack-renting of barns, and over thirty people per house in some areas.[24]. Train after train and bus after bus were filled with those next in line. Islington parish church, the rebuilt Our Lady of Victories (Kensington), the French church by Leicester square, St. Annes, Soho (famous for its music), All Souls, Langham place, and Christ Church in Westminster Bridge road (whose towerfortunately savedcommemorates President Lincolns abolition of slavery), were among a large number of others. Belfast suffered a series of bombing raids in the spring of 1941, which became known as the 'Blitz of Belfast'. The bombs continued to fall until 5am. It was not the last time Belfast would suffer. 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. The phrase Business as usual, written in chalk on boarded-up shop windows, exemplified the British determination to keep calm and carry on as best they could. Video, 00:00:26, Living through the London Blitz. the Blitz, (September 7, 1940May 11, 1941), intense bombing campaign undertaken by Nazi Germany against the United Kingdom during World War II. [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]. However Belfast was not mentioned again by the Nazis. Up Next. to households. Belfast's Albert Clock tower is sinking - it leans by four feet. They all say the same thing, that the government is no good. 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. 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. Here are 10 facts about both the German Blitzkrieg and the Allied bombing of Germany. 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. Video, 00:00:26The German bombing of Coventry, Living through the London Blitz. This part of Belfast was the only one required to provide air raid shelters for workers. The danger faced in London was greatly increased when the V2 attacks started and the casualty figures mirrored those of the Blitz.. Initially it was thought that the Germans had mistaken this reservoir for the harbour and shipyards, where many ships, including HMS Ark Royal were being repaired. Corrections? 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. Video, 00:01:37Thanks, but no big speech, in Ken Bruce's sign off, Tear gas fired at Greece train crash protesters. When the war began, Belfast, like many other cities, adopted the wartime practices of rationing and blackouts. The telegram was sent at 4:35am,[citation needed] asking the Irish Taoiseach, amon de Valera for assistance. In The Blitz: Belfast in the War Years, Brian Barton wrote: "Government Ministers felt with justification, that the Germans were able to use the unblacked out lights in the south to guide them to their targets in the North." 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. [citation needed], There was a second massive air raid on Belfast on Sunday 45 May 1941, three weeks after that of Easter Tuesday. When Germany bombed Belfast as part of the Blitz during World War Two, the massive air raids left more than a thousand people dead. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Read about our approach to external linking. Belfast was Ireland's industrial home, famous for tobacco, rope-making, linen, and ship-building, which made it the powerhouse it was. At 10:40pm the air raid sirens sounded. As many were caught in the open by blast and secondary missiles, the enormous number of casualties can be readily accounted for. Read about our approach to external linking. Read about our approach to external linking. At the core of this book is a compelling account of the Luftwaffe's blitz on Belfast in April-May 1941. 2023 BBC. Yesterday for once the people of Ireland were united under the shadow of a national blow. continuous trek to railway stations. Yesterday the hand of good-fellowship was reached across the Border. Your donations help keep MHN afloat. [27] One widespread criticism was that the Germans located Belfast by heading for Dublin and following the railway lines north. Belfast is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland. Nevertheless, for all the hardship it caused, the campaign proved to be a strategic mistake by the Germans. The district of Belfast has an area of 44 square miles (115 square km). There were still 80,000 more in Belfast. There were few bomb shelters. Roads out of town are still one stream of cars, with mattresses and bedding tied on top. Fewer than 4,000 women and children were evacuated. As many as 5,000 people had packed into this network of underground tunnels, which was dangerously overcrowded, dirty, and dark. 24 - The tyres Dunlop were invented in Belfast in 1887 25 - The two H&W cranes are named Samson and Goliath 26 - The Albert Clock is Ireland's leaning tower 27 - The mobile defibrillator was invented in Belfast 28 - Belfast's ice hockey team, the Giants, is one of the best in Europe. KS3 History (Environment and society) The Belfast Blitz learning resources for adults, children, parents and teachers. People hung black curtains in their windows so that no lights showed outside their houses. 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'. London seemed ablaze from the docks to Westminster, much damage was done, and casualties were high. 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. 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". In late August the Germans dropped some bombs, apparently by accident, on civilian areas in London. Read about our approach to external linking. 29 - Belfast was once bigger than Dublin THE BELFAST BLITZ was a series of four air raids over Northern Ireland during the spring of 1941. 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. 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. 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. The seeming normality of life on the Home Front was shattered in 1944 when the first of the V1's landed. "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. It was the worst wartime raid outside of London in the UK. Anna and Billy were buried up their necks in sewage but were rescued and survived. Also, on Queens Island, stood the Short and Harland Ltd. Aircraft Factory. So had Clydeside until recently. 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. Taoiseach amon de Valera formally protested to Berlin. Video, 00:01:03One-minute World News, Isabel Oakeshott: Why I leaked Hancock's messages. 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. There are other diarists and narratives. O'Sullivan felt that the whole civil defence sector was utterly overwhelmed. 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].