10 facts about the belfast blitzdirty wedding limericks

Thank you. 7. On May 11, 1941, Hitler called off the Blitz as he shifted his forces eastward against the Soviet Union. [25] He followed up with his "they are our people" speech, made in Castlebar, County Mayo, on Sunday 20 April 1941 (Quoted in the Dundalk Democrat dated Saturday 26 April 1941): In the past, and probably in the present, too, a number of them did not see eye to eye with us politically, but they are our people we are one and the same people and their sorrows in the present instance are also our sorrows; and I want to say to them that any help we can give to them in the present time we will give to them whole-heartedly, believing that were the circumstances reversed they would also give us their help whole-heartedly Frank Aiken, the Irish Minister for the Co-ordination of Defensive Measures was in Boston, Massachusetts at the time. Fiber-optic cables are made from thin strings of glass and are generally about one-tenth the width of a . Liverpool, for example, protected by 100 guns. Outside of London, with some 900 dead, this was the greatest loss of life in a night raid during the Blitz. Nevertheless, through sheer weight of numbers, the Germans were on the brink of victory in late August 1940. 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. and Major Sen O'Sullivan, who produced a detailed report for the Dublin government. ", Dawson Bates informed the Cabinet of rack-renting of barns, and over thirty people per house in some areas.[24]. It was not the first time the alarm had sounded to signify the presence of Luftwaffe bombers over the city. Since 1:45am all telephones had been cut. William Joyce (known as "Lord Haw-Haw") announced in radio broadcasts from Hamburg that there will be "Easter eggs for Belfast". Blitz Fibre UK Blitz Fibre UK Published Mar 1, 2023 + Follow Fact 1- Small but Mighty . It is perhaps true that many saved their lives running but I am afraid a much greater number lost them or became casualties."[20]. He believed that key targets identified across the city were hit. The town of Dromara saw its population increase from 500 to 2,500. sprang into action, and Londoners, while maintaining the work, business, and efficiency of their city, displayed remarkable fortitude. The Royal Air Force announced that Squadron Leader J.W.C. Taoiseach amon de Valera formally protested to Berlin. They are sleeping in the same sheugh (ditch), below the same tree or in the same barn. On the 60th anniversary of the Belfast Blitz, Luftwaffe Pilot Gerhardt Becker spoke to BBC Northern Ireland about his mission over Belfast in 1941. Belfast's Albert Clock tower is sinking - it leans by four feet. 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. [4], The Government of Northern Ireland lacked the will, energy and capacity to cope with a major crisis when it came. It remains a high death toll - a shocking number of people killed in just a few weeks. The youngest victim was just six-weeks-old. Corrections? Few children had been successfully evacuated. Sixty years after the Germans bombed Belfast in World War II BBC News Online looks back and remembers the anniversary of the blitz. Video, 00:01:41NI WW2 veterans honoured by France, The Spitfire turns 80. People are leaving from all parts of town and not only from the bombed areas. By then 250 firemen from Clydeside had arrived. parliament: "if the government realized 'that these fast bombers can come to Northern Ireland in two and three quarter hours'". Video, 00:01:03One-minute World News, Isabel Oakeshott: Why I leaked Hancock's messages. A charitable relief fund for the people of London was opened September 10. By British mainland blitz standards, casualties were light. The telegram was sent at 4:35am,[citation needed] asking the Irish Taoiseach, amon de Valera for assistance. Of the churches, besides St. Pauls cathedral, where at one time were five unexploded bombs in the immediate vicinity and the roof of which was pierced by another that exploded and shattered the high altar to fragments, those damaged were Westminster abbey, St. Margarets Westminster, Southwark cathedral; fifteen Wren churches (including St. Fortunately, the railway telegraphy link between Belfast and Dublin was still operational. Oakland plans to unleash 'pothole blitz' to fix notorious street damage By the. Once more, London was targeted and children were victims. The period of the next moon from say the 7th to the 16th of April may well bring our turn.. 11 churches, two hospitals and two schools were destroyed. It became a city by royal charter in 1888. Those who sought refuge at the school were told that they would quickly be relocated to a safer area, but the evacuation was delayed. 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. Belfast made a considerable contribution towards the Allied war effort, producing many naval ships, aircraft and munitions; therefore, the city was deemed a suitable bombing target by the Luftwaffe. Death had to a certain extent been made decent. An earlier flight on Oct. 18 allowed the crew to plot several targets in the city. James Craig, Lord Craigavon, had been Prime Minister of Northern Ireland since its inception in 1921 up until his death in 1940. continuous trek to railway stations. Singer-songwriter Van Morrison was born here. 19.99. Video, 00:01:38At least 17 dead in Jakarta fuel storage depot fire, Australia's 'biggest drug bust' nets $700m of cocaine. The Blitz of Belfast 1941 - History Learning Site Even the children of soldiers had not been evacuated, with calamitous results when the married quarters of Victoria Barracks received a direct hit. 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. Many in Northern Ireland thought that Belfast was outside the range of the Luftwaffe. Learn how your comment data is processed. [citation needed]. This part of Belfast was the only one required to provide air raid shelters for workers. Video, 00:01:41, The German bombing of Coventry. Read about our approach to external linking. The government announced that 77 people had died, but for years local residents insisted the toll was much higher. In late August the Germans dropped some bombs, apparently by accident, on civilian areas in London. The bombing of British cities - Swansea, Belfast, Glasgow Published: September 7, 2020 at 12:00 pm. The first deliberate raid took place on the night of 7 April. 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. The national government also provided funds to local municipalities to construct public air-raid shelters. Also, on Queens Island, stood the Short and Harland Ltd. Aircraft Factory. Emma Duffin, a nurse at the Queen's University Hospital, (who previously served during the Great War), who kept a diary; Although it arrested German spies that its police and military intelligence services caught, the state never broke off diplomatic relations with Axis nations: the German Legation in Dublin remained open throughout the war. 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; By 1941, production of the Short Stirling Bomber and the Short Sunderland Flying Boat was underway. That night almost 300 people, many from the Protestant Shankill area, took refuge in the Clonard Monastery in the Catholic Falls Road. ", US journalist Ben Robertson reported that at night Dublin was the only city without a blackout between New York and Moscow, and between Lisbon and Sweden and that German bombers often flew overhead to check their bearings using its lights, angering the British. Ulster Historical Foundation. Horrendous Belfast losses during World War Two bombing blitz The British thus fought with the advantage of superior equipment and undivided aim against an enemy with inconsistent objectives. Since most casualties were caused by falling masonry rather than by blast, they provided effective shelter for those who had them. Government apathy, a lack of leadership and a belief the Luftwaffe could not reach Belfast lead to the city lagging behind in terms of basic defences. 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. 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. 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). That evening over 150 bombers left their bases in northern France and the Netherlands and headed for Belfast. In every instance, all stepped forward. 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. Belfast was not properly prepared for the attacks, with too few shelters and not enough anti-aircraft guns. The Blitz was devastating for the people of London and other cities. People hung black curtains in their windows so that no lights showed outside their houses. 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 nights of November 3 and 28 were the only occasions during this period in which Londons peace was unbroken by siren or bomb. So had Clydeside until recently. 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." John Wood Dunlop invented the pneumatic tyre in Belfast in 1887. The ill-fated ship was built in the city in 1912, and to this day, there is a museum dedicated to its building and the lives of all of those on board. In each station volunteers were asked for, as it was beyond their normal duties. The British government had anticipated air attacks on its population centres, and it had predicted catastrophic casualties. [citation needed], Casualties were lower than at Easter, partly because the sirens had sounded at 11.45pm while the Luftwaffe attacked more cautiously from a greater height. The Titanic was built in Belfast. Victory for the Royal Air Forces (RAFs) Fighter Command blocked this possibility and, in fact, created the conditions for Britains survival and the eventual destruction of the Third Reich. The next took place on Easter Tuesday, 15 April 1941, when 200 Luftwaffe bombers attacked military and manufacturing targets in the city of Belfast. Belfast Blitz - Wikipedia One of every six Londoners was made homeless at some point during the Blitz, and at least 1.1 million houses and flats were damaged or destroyed. Yesterday for once the people of Ireland were united under the shadow of a national blow. "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.". 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. The city has been a leader in women's rights. That contrasts with the figure that is often given of more than 900 killed on Easter Tuesday alone. Beginning in September 1940, the Blitz was an aerial bombing campaign conducted by the Luftwaffe against British cities. workers. 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.. 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. He successfully busied himself with the task of making Northern Ireland a major supplier of food to Britain in her time of need.[5]. 3. Fighter Commands efforts were greatly aided by the lack of any consistent plan of action on the part of the Germans. Rescue workers search through the rubble of Eglington Street in Belfast, Northern Ireland, after a German Luftwaffe air raid, 7 May 1941, Anna (left) and her husband Billy (back right) survived while Harriette, Dorothy and Billy were killed along with Dot and Isa, Dot and Isa, with Dorothy when she was a toddler, Royal Welch Fusiliers assist in clearing bomb damage in Belfast, Northern Ireland, 7 May 1941, Mapping the lives lost in the Belfast Blitz. The 2017 film Zoo depicts an air raid during the Belfast Blitz. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Roads out of town are still one stream of cars, with mattresses and bedding tied on top. When Germany bombed Belfast as part of the Blitz during World War Two, the massive air raids left more than a thousand people dead. 2023 BBC. The period of the next moon from say the 7th to the 16th of April may well bring our turn." . And even then, Westminster stated it was not ample provision; Stormont still worried about the costs to industry. 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. 55,000 houses were damaged leaving 100,000 temporarily homeless. 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. For two hours, 348 German bombers and 617 fighters targeted the city, dropping high-explosive bombs as well as incendiary devices. 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. Streetlights, car headlights, and illuminated signs were kept off. 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. "It says a lot about how these people are forgotten that there is no Blitz memorial in Belfast," Mr Freeburn says. to households. Churches destroyed or wrecked included Macrory Memorial Presbyterian in Duncairn Gardens; Duncairn Methodist, Castleton Presbyterian on York Road; St Silas's on the Oldpark Road; St James's on the Antrim Road; Newington Presbyterian on Limestone Road; Crumlin Road Presbyterian; Holy Trinity on Clifton Street and Clifton Street Presbyterian; York Street Presbyterian and York Street Non-Subscribing Presbyterian; Newtownards Road Methodist and Rosemary Street Presbyterian (the last of which was not rebuilt). 1. It targeted the docks. Updates? The government was blamed by some for inadequate precautions. Hitlers intention had been to break the morale of the British people so they would pressure their government to surrender. The most significant loss was a 4.5-acre (1.8ha) factory floor for manufacturing the fuselages of Short Stirling bombers. Indeed, on the night of the first raid, no Royal Air Force (RAF) aircraft took to the air to intercept German planes. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of any material on this site without expressand written permission from the author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. The mortuary services had emergency plans to deal with only 200 bodies. The offensive came to be called the Blitz after the German word blitzkrieg (lightning war). In the mistaken belief that they might damage RAF fighters, the anti-aircraft batteries ceased firing. By then most of the major fires were under control and the firemen from Clydeside and other British cities were arriving. [27] One widespread criticism was that the Germans located Belfast by heading for Dublin and following the railway lines north. After a brief lull, the Luftwaffe returned in force on February 17. Subs offer. The initial human cost of the Blitz was lower than the government had expected, but the level of destruction exceeded the governments dire predictions. 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. Another attacked Bangor, killing five. The Blitz began at about 4:00 in the afternoon on September 7, 1940, when German planes appeared over London. But the Luftwaffe was ready. [citation needed]. 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. 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. Tragically 35 were crushed to death when the mill wall collapsed. What's the least amount of exercise we can get away with? No significant cut was made in necessary social services, and public and private premises, except when irreparably damaged, were repaired as speedily as possible. TOP 10: Facts About Belfast You Didn't Know - Ireland Before You Die 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. 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. Three vessels nearing completion at Harland and Wolff's were hit as was its power station. Weighing 46,328 tonnes, Titanic was to be the largest manmade moveable object the world had ever seen. Two of the crews received refreshments in Banbridge; others were entertained in the Ancient Order of Hibernians hall in Newry. "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. 50,000 houses, more than half the houses in the city, were damaged. In Bristol, the bombed-out ruins of St Peter's Church were left standing with added memorial plaques to the civilians who were killed. (Some authors count this as the second raid of four). Belfast Blitz: Facts In total there were four attacks on the County Antrim city. Wave after wave of bombers dropped their incendiaries, high explosives and land-mines. [citation needed], Other writers, such as Tony Gray in The Lost Years state that the Germans did follow their radio guidance beams. 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. MacDermott would be proved right. Belfast, the city with the highest population density in the UK at the time, also had the lowest proportion of public air-raid shelters. 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. Sometimes they were trying establish a blockade by destroying shipping and port facilities, sometimes they were directly attacking Fighter Command ground installations, sometimes they were targeting aircraft factories, and sometimes they were attempting to engage Fighter Command in the skies. Richard Dawson Bates was the Home Affairs Minister. There [is] ground for thinking that the enemy could not easily reach Belfast in force except during a period of moonlight. BBC News | NORTHERN IRELAND | The Belfast blitz is remembered Neighbouring residential areas were also hit. Video, 00:01:37Thanks, but no big speech, in Ken Bruce's sign off, Tear gas fired at Greece train crash protesters. Very early in the German bombing campaign, it became clear that the preparationshowever extensive they seemed to have beenwere inadequate. NI WW2 veterans honoured by France. The offensive came to be called the Blitz after the German word blitzkrieg ("lightning war"). 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. 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). In the New Lodge area people had taken refuge in a mill. The creeping TikTok bans. Clydeside got its blitz during the period of the last moon. When the bombing began, 76-year-old William and 72-year-old Harriette took refuge under the stairs along with Dorothy, Dot and Isa. The most heavily bombed cities outside London were Liverpool and Birmingham. But the raid of 15-16 April - the Easter Tuesday Raid - was on another scale. The higher the German planes had to fly to avoid the balloons, the less accurate they were when dropping their bombs. Some 27 percent of Londoners utilized private shelters, such as Anderson shelters, while the remaining 64 percent spent their evenings on duty with some branch of the civil defense or remained in their own homes. Lecturer of History, Queens University, Belfast, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Belfast_Blitz&oldid=1136721396, During the war years, Belfast shipyards built or converted over 3,000 navy vessels, repaired more than 22,000 others and launched over half a million tons of merchant shipping over 140. Over 150 people died in what became known as the 'Fire Blitz'. Nevertheless, for all the hardship it caused, the campaign proved to be a strategic mistake by the Germans. 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. In spite of blackouts, ubiquitous shelters and sandbags, the visible effects of mass evacuation, the presence of A.R.P. O'Sullivan reported: "There were many terrible mutilations among both living and dead heads crushed, ghastly abdominal and face wounds, penetration by beams, mangled and crushed limbs etc.". Interesting facts about Belfast. Most of the objectives laid out by the reconnaissance crews were of either military or industrial importance. This hub of industry and trade represented a legitimate military target for the Germans, and some 25,000 bombs were dropped on the Port of London alone. While Anderson shelters offered good protection from bomb fragments and debris, they were cold and damp and generally ill-suited for prolonged occupancy. 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). 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. Wherever Churchill is hiding his war material we will go. Authorities quickly implemented plans to protect Londoners from bombs and to house those left homeless by the attacks. Heinkel He 111 and Dornier Do 17 planes fitted with Zeiss cameras captured high-quality aerial imagery. 255 corpses were laid out in St George's Market. After his optician business was destroyed by a bomb, Mickey Davies led an effort to organize the Spitalfield Shelter. The attack on Coventry was particularly destructive. ", Dawson Bates, the Home Affairs Minister, apparently refused to reply to army correspondence and when the Ministry of Home Affairs was informed by imperial defence experts in 1939 that Belfast was regarded as "a very definite German objective", little was done outside providing shelters in the Harbour area.[14]. Over 500 received care from the Irish Red Cross in Dublin. The M.V. 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. 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. Belfast was ill-prepared for the blitz. These shelters, made of corrugated steel, were designed to be dug into a garden and then covered with dirt. By the end of the attacks, between 900 and 1,000 people were dead and thousands more were injured, homeless and displaced. ISBN 9781909556324. The wartime output of the yard included aircraft carriers HMS Formidable and HMS Unicorn, cruisers such as HMS Belfast and more than 130 other vessels used by the Royal Navy. 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