For two hours on the first day, 348 German bombers and 617 fighters blasted London. 11 churches, two hospitals and two schools were destroyed. Fortunately, the railway telegraphy link between Belfast and Dublin was still operational. In the west and north of the city, streets heavily bombed included Percy Street, York Park, York Crescent, Eglinton Street, Carlisle Street, Ballyclare, Ballycastle and Ballynure Streets off the Oldpark Road; Southport Street, Walton Street, Antrim Road, Annadale Street, Cliftonville Road, Hillman Street, Atlantic Avenue, Hallidays Road, Hughenden Avenue, Sunningdale Park, Shandarragh Park, and Whitewell Road. [6] It was MacDermott who sent a telegram to de Valera seeking assistance. At the start of World War Two, Belfast had considered itself safe from an aerial attack, as the city's leaders believed that Belfast was simply too far away for Luftwaffe bombers to reach - assuming that they would have to fly from Nazi Germany. [1][2], The third raid on Belfast took place over the evening and morning of 45 May 1941; 150 were killed. 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]. After a brief lull, the Luftwaffe returned in force on February 17. The creeping TikTok bans. Fiber-optic cables are made from thin strings of glass and are generally about one-tenth the width of a . 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. The raids hurt Britains war production, but they also killed many civilians and left many others homeless. The nights of November 3 and 28 were the only occasions during this period in which Londons peace was unbroken by siren or bomb. At the core of this book is a compelling account of the Luftwaffe's blitz on Belfast in April-May 1941. 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 was no opposition. 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. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Since most casualties were caused by falling masonry rather than by blast, they provided effective shelter for those who had them. Again the Irish emergency services crossed the border, this time without waiting for an invitation. [13] However at the time Lord Craigavon, Prime Minister of Northern Ireland since its inception in 1921, said: "Ulster is ready when we get the word and always will be." Video, 00:03:09, Mapping the lives lost in the Belfast Blitz, Russian minister laughed at for Ukraine war claims. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/event/the-Blitz, National Museums Liverpool - Merseyside Maritime Museum - The Blitz, The History Learning Site - The Blitz and World War Two. The danger faced in London was greatly increased when the V2 attacks started and the casualty figures mirrored those of the Blitz.. 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]. Video, 00:01:38At least 17 dead in Jakarta fuel storage depot fire, Australia's 'biggest drug bust' nets $700m of cocaine. Just eight days earlier, eight planes destroyed the aircraft fuselage factory and damaged the docks, with 15 people ultimately killed as a result of that raid. The Germans expanded the Blitz to other cities in November 1940. 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. 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. The Luftwaffe had lost more than 600 aircraft, and, although the RAF had lost fewer than half that many, the battle was claiming British fighters and experienced pilots at too great a rate. The seeming normality of life on the Home Front was shattered in 1944 when the first of the V1's landed. [4], The Government of Northern Ireland lacked the will, energy and capacity to cope with a major crisis when it came. Under the leadership of Prime Minister John Miller Andrews, Northern Ireland remained unprepared. But the authorities were afraid that bombs might not be the. After the war, instructions from Joseph Goebbels were discovered ordering it not to be mentioned. In each station volunteers were asked for, as it was beyond their normal duties. 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. The city covers a total area of 132.5 square kilometers (51 square miles). 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. There were few bomb shelters. The firm had produced Handley Page Hereford bombers since 1936. The government announced that 77 people had died, but for years local residents insisted the toll was much higher. Thank you. 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. Death had to a certain extent been made decent. 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. He went to the Mater Hospital at 2pm, nine hours after the raid ended, to find the street with a traffic jam of ambulances waiting to admit their casualties. Video, 00:02:12, Isabel Oakeshott: Why I leaked Hancock's messages, Tears of relief after man found in Amazon jungle. 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. Video, 00:01:23, Watch: Matt Hancock message row in 83 seconds, Isabel Oakeshott: Why I leaked Hancock's messages. A short respite followed, until a widespread series of night raids on April 7 included some targets in the London area. IWM C 5424 1. London seemed ablaze from the docks to Westminster, much damage was done, and casualties were high. During the whole period, although the citys operation was disrupted in ways that were sometimes serious, no essential service was more than temporarily impaired. Two of the crews received refreshments in Banbridge; others were entertained in the Ancient Order of Hibernians hall in Newry. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. A Raid From Above 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. Dissatisfaction with public shelters also led to another notable development in the East EndMickeys Shelter. There were still 80,000 more in Belfast. C.S Lewis was born in Belfast, and the nearby countryside helped inspire The Chronicles of Narnia. In a survey of shelter use, it was found that, although the public shelters were fully occupied every night, just 9 percent of Londoners made use of them. "There are plans for one but there isn't one yet. They prevented low-flying aircraft from approaching their targets at optimal altitudes and angles of attack. Belfast, Irish Bal Feirste, city, district, and capital of Northern Ireland, on the River Lagan, at its entrance to Belfast Lough (inlet of the sea). The raids on London primarily targeted the Docklands area of the East End. During the first year of the war, behind-the-lines conditions prevailed in London. Author Lawrence H. Dawson detailed the damage to Londons historic buildings for the 1941 Britannica Book of the Year: The following curtailed list identifies some of the better known places in inner London that have been damaged by enemy action. Belfast has the world's largest dry dock. Similar initiatives bearing the same name were ordered in the past decade by former mayors Libby . [26], Initial German radio broadcasts celebrated the raid. On May 11, 1941, Hitler called off the Blitz as he shifted his forces eastward against the Soviet Union. For eight months the Luftwaffe dropped bombs on London and other strategic cities across Britain. Belfast is famous for being the birthplace of the Titanic. In many cases the daily life of the city was able to resume with delays of only hours. In the first days of the Blitz, a tragic incident in the East End stoked public anger over the governments shelter policy. As more and more people began sleeping on the platforms, however, the government relented and provided bunk beds and bathrooms for the underground communities. 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. Major O'Sullivan reported that "In the heavily 'blitzed' areas people ran panic-stricken into the streets and made for the open country. Brooke noted in his diary "I gave him authority as it is obviously a question of expediency". department distributed more than two million Anderson shelters (named after Sir John Anderson, head of the A.R.P.) 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. The World's Most-Famous Ship, The Titanic, was constructed here. He stated that "he would once more tell his government how he felt about the matter and he would ask them to confine the operations to military objectives as far as it was humanly possible. Air power alone had failed to knock the United Kingdom out of the war. Another attacked Bangor, killing five. People hung black curtains in their windows so that no lights showed outside their houses. 2023 BBC. Brian Barton of Queen's University, Belfast, has written most on this topic.[19]. Eduard Hempel, the German Minister to Ireland, visited the Irish Ministry for External Affairs to offer sympathy and attempt an explanation. About 1,000 people were killed and bombs hit half of the houses in the city, leaving 100,000 people homeless. The RAFs Spitfire was a superlative fighter, and it was not always easy for the Germans to distinguish it from the slightly less maneuverable but much more numerous Hurricanes. It lies where the Lagan River flows into a part of the Irish Sea. 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. 4. 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. The past doesnt change, its just over.. The success of Mickeys Shelter was another factor that urged the government to improve existing deep shelters and to create new ones. When Germany bombed Belfast as part of the Blitz during World War Two, the massive air raids left more than a thousand people dead. Between Black Saturday and December 2, there was no 24-hour period without at least one alertas the alarms came to be calledand generally far more. The use of the Tube system as a shelter saved thousands of lives, and images of Londoners huddled in Underground stations would become an indelible image of British life during World War II. Very early in the German bombing campaign, it became clear that the preparationshowever extensive they seemed to have beenwere inadequate. 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. 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. NI WW2 veterans honoured by France. In his interview, Becker stated that only military objectives were aimed for. Half of the city's housing was damaged over the course of all the raids. The Premier Online Military History Magazine, Re-printed with permission fromWartimeNI.com. In the mistaken belief that they might damage RAF fighters, the anti-aircraft batteries ceased firing. I felt outraged, I should have felt sympathy, grief, but instead feelings of revulsion and disgust assailed me. But the RAF had not responded. Outside of London, with some 900 dead, this was the greatest loss of life in a night raid during the Blitz. workers. The initial human cost of the Blitz was lower than the government had expected, but the level of destruction exceeded the governments dire predictions. 29 - Belfast was once bigger than Dublin 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." Over 20 hospitals were hit, among them the London (many times), St. Thomass, St. Bartholomews, and the childrens hospital in Great Ormond st., as well as Chelsea hospital, the home for the aged and invalid soldiers, built by Wren. Nevertheless, for all the hardship it caused, the campaign proved to be a strategic mistake by the Germans. Singer-songwriter Van Morrison was born here. 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. Nevertheless, through sheer weight of numbers, the Germans were on the brink of victory in late August 1940. [citation needed]. Mr Freeburn set out to find out more about those who died, their personal stories and the tales of those left behind. In every instance, all stepped forward. Belfast is as worthy a target as Coventry, Birmingham, Bristol or Glasgow.. In clear weather, targets were easily identifiable. Video, 00:00:26The German bombing of Coventry, Living through the London Blitz. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of any material on this site without expressand written permission from the author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. You can see the difference in those letters - post-Blitz is very much a grieving tone. The telegram was sent at 4:35am,[citation needed] asking the Irish Taoiseach, amon de Valera for assistance. As many were caught in the open by blast and secondary missiles, the enormous number of casualties can be readily accounted for. 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. It has been reported that on Easter Tuesday, Belfast suffered the highest loss of life of any city in the UK in a single raid. Simpson shot down one of the Heinkels over Downpatrick. No significant cut was made in necessary social services, and public and private premises, except when irreparably damaged, were repaired as speedily as possible.