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Video, 00:00:51Australia's 'biggest drug bust' nets $700m of cocaine, Thanks, but no big speech, in Ken Bruce's sign off. The raid so infuriated Hitler that he ordered the Luftwaffe to shift its attacks from RAF sites to London and other cities. The Blitz began at about 4:00 in the afternoon on September 7, 1940, when German planes appeared over London. Brooke noted in his diary "I gave him authority as it is obviously a question of expediency". [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]. For more than six months, German planes had flown reconnaissance flights over Belfast. TOP 10: Facts About Belfast You Didn't Know - Ireland Before You Die 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." 55,000 houses were damaged leaving 100,000 temporarily homeless. "A lot of the people I spoke to were relatives who ended up donating images and handwritten letters from before and after the Blitz. These shelters were vital as these factories had many employees working late at night and early in the morning when Luftwaffe attacks were likely. 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. 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. Video, 00:01:15The Belfast blitz, Up Next. Wherever Churchill is hiding his war material we will go. From September 1940 until May 1941, Britain was subjected to sustained enemy bombing campaign, now known as the Blitz. 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. 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. 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, for all the hardship it caused, the campaign proved to be a strategic mistake by the Germans. 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'. They prevented low-flying aircraft from approaching their targets at optimal altitudes and angles of attack. Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, Historical Topics Series 2, The Belfast Blitz, 2007, This page was last edited on 31 January 2023, at 20:18. 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. Under the leadership of amon de Valera it had declared its neutrality during the Second World War. 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 Blitz, (September 7, 1940May 11, 1941), intense bombing campaign undertaken by Nazi Germany against the United Kingdom during World War II. The creeping TikTok bans, Hong Kong skyscraper fire seen on city's skyline. The working-class living close to industrial centres suffered more than anyone over the course of the four raids. Train after train and bus after bus were filled with those next in line. Two of the crews received refreshments in Banbridge; others were entertained in the Ancient Order of Hibernians hall in Newry. (Some authors count this as the second raid of four). 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. It was the worst wartime raid outside of London in the UK. 50,000 houses, more than half the houses in the city, were damaged. This part of Belfast was the only one required to provide air raid shelters for workers. Interesting facts about Belfast. This amounted to nearly half of Britains total civilian deaths for the whole war. The Luftwaffe crews returned to their base in Northern France and reported that Belfast's defences were, "inferior in quality, scanty and insufficient". Fortunately, the railway telegraphy link between Belfast and Dublin was still operational. The Royal Air Force announced that Squadron Leader J.W.C. Belfast was ill-prepared for the blitz. Gring had insisted that such an attack was an impossibility, because of the citys formidable air defense network. 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). While Anderson shelters offered good protection from bomb fragments and debris, they were cold and damp and generally ill-suited for prolonged occupancy. The most heavily bombed cities outside London were Liverpool and Birmingham. [26], Initial German radio broadcasts celebrated the raid. Government ministers in Northern Ireland began to realise the Luftwaffe may launch an attack, but it was too little, too late. 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. He was succeeded by J. M. Andrews, then 69 years old, who was no more capable of dealing with the situation than his predecessor. Outside of London, with some 900 dead, this was the greatest loss of life in a night raid during the Blitz. Read about our approach to external linking. The first was on the night of 78 April 1941, a small attack which probably took place only to test Belfast's defences. Over 500 received care from the Irish Red Cross in Dublin. "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.". In early 1941 the Germans launched another wave of attacks, this time focusing on ports. [17] A stray bomber attacked Derry, killing 15. 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. It remains a high death toll - a shocking number of people killed in just a few weeks. Again the Irish emergency services crossed the border, this time without waiting for an invitation. 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. By Jonathan Bardon. People hung black curtains in their windows so that no lights showed outside their houses. But the Luftwaffe was ready. At the core of this book is a compelling account of the Luftwaffe's blitz on Belfast in April-May 1941. 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. Belfast - Kids | Britannica Kids | Homework Help No searchlights were set up in the city at the time, and these only arrived on 10 April. Nine were registered on three separate occasions, and from the start of the Blitz until November 30 there were more than 350 alerts. NI WW2 veterans honoured by France. Belfast has the world's largest dry dock. But Mr Freeburn's research casts doubt on this. In Newtownards, Bangor, Larne, Carrickfergus, Lisburn and Antrim many thousands of Belfast citizens took refuge either with friends or strangers. The first attack was against the city's waterworks, which had been attacked in the previous raid. Since 1:45am all telephones had been cut. 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. From their photographs, they identified suitable targets: There had been a number of small bombings, probably by planes that missed their targets over the River Clyde in Glasgow or the cities of the northwest of England. Around 1am, Luftwaffe bombers flew over the city, concentrating their attack on the Harbour Estate and Queen's Island. The danger faced in London was greatly increased when the V2 attacks started and the casualty figures mirrored those of the Blitz.. [6] It was MacDermott who sent a telegram to de Valera seeking assistance. Emma Duffin, a nurse at the Queen's University Hospital, (who previously served during the Great War), who kept a diary; As many as 5,000 people had packed into this network of underground tunnels, which was dangerously overcrowded, dirty, and dark. Prayers were said and hymns sung by the mainly Protestant women and children during the bombing. continuous trek to railway stations. 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. The government announced that 77 people had died, but for years local residents insisted the toll was much higher. There were few bomb shelters. After the bombing began on September 7, local authorities urged displaced people to take shelter at South Hallsville School. Few children had been successfully evacuated. The Belfast blitz during World War Two - BBC News Over a period of nine months, over 43,500 civilians were killed in the raids, which focused on major cities and industrial centres. Other targets included Sheffield, Manchester, Coventry, and Southampton. 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. 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). Video, 00:01:09The Spitfire turns 80, The German bombing of Coventry. The fall of France in June, 1940, enabled the Luftwaffe to establish airfields across the north of the country, leaving Ulster within reach of bombers. In Bristol, the bombed-out ruins of St Peter's Church were left standing with added memorial plaques to the civilians who were killed. [19], 220,000 people fled from the city. 13 died, including a soldier killed when an anti-aircraft gun, at the Balmoral show-grounds, misfired. There were still 80,000 more in Belfast. Belfast Blitz: Marking the lost lives 80 years on. [12], There was little preparation for the conflict with Germany. Major O'Sullivan reported that "In the heavily 'blitzed' areas people ran panic-stricken into the streets and made for the open country. Some are a total loss; others are already under repair with little outward sign of the damage sustained: Besides Buckingham palace, the chapel of which was wrecked, and Guildhall (the six-centuries old centre of London civic ceremonies and of great architectural beauty), which was destroyed by fire, Kensington palace (the London home of the earl of Athlone, governor general of Canada, and the birthplace of Queen Mary and Queen Victoria), the banqueting hall of Eltham palace (dating from King Johns time and long a royal residence), Lambeth palace (the archbishop of Canterbury), and Holland house (famous for its 17th century domestic architecture, its political associations, and its art treasures), suffered, the latter severely.