Belfast Blitz

 
Belfast Blitz 1941




Belfast Blitz - Introduction
1. Air raid shelters were eventually built

2. There was not enough and were above ground

3. Not enough anti-aircraft guns and few barrage balloons

4. Hospitals and fire service unprepared

5. False alarms caused complacency
N. Ireland during World War 2
1. Unionists happy to be able to show loyalty

2. Turned to shock at Churchill’s offer of unity

3. The government of NI were old and did little to prepare

4. Conscription not extended to NI

5. Nationalists joined up as there were no jobs

6. 700 IRA interned

7. IRA killed 5 RUC

8. 1940 100,000 British troops stationed in NI in case of a German invasion

9. Rationing

10. Blackout

11. James Craig died in 1940 – replaced by JM Andrews 70 years old – nothing changed
Strategic Importance
1. Germans controlled the sea, south of Ireland, so the northern route to the US important

2. A naval and air base in Derry patrolled for German U-boats

3. After 1941 Americans were based in NI to prepare for the North African campaign

4. 250,000 arrived for D-Day

5. The German U-boat fleet were made surrender in Derry in recognition of it’s role in the war
Industry
1. H and W produced 140 warships

2. Short’s built 1200 Stirling bombers

3. Linen industry boomed

4. Lots of engineering parts supplied from Northern Ireland

5. Agriculture did well
Results of Blitz
1. Most severe except for London

2. Stopped as the Germans turned their attention to USSR

3. 1100 dead

4. People outside the city who offered refuge were shocked at the poverty of the people
Partition Consolidated
1. By being part of the war, NI strengthened its position in the UK

2. Neutrality had distanced the South further from the UK
1945 British General Election
1. Clement Atlee and Labour came to power

2. Wartime leader Churchill defeated

3. The Beverage Report and the Welfare State brought a flow of money to N. Ireland

4. Catholics benefited, as they were poorer.

5. In 1947 free secondary education and generous third level grants

6. Catholics made good use of this as many could not get jobs anyway
Events of the Blitz 1941
7th and 8th of April 1941
1. Harbour area hit

2. 13 killed and not much damage

3. Only 3000 responded to government calls for evacuation
15th and 16th April
1. 90 Junkers and Heinkels came in waves.

2. Flares dropped first. Then high explosives, incendiaries and parachute mines

3. Smoke screens in the docklands led to the Germans missing their targets and hitting working class areas such

as New Lodge, Lower Shankill and Antrim Road

4. 30 died when a parachute bomb hit an air raid shelter

5. At least 900 died. Many not identified

6. Attempt made to bury Catholics and Protestants separately

7. DeValera sent 70 fire-fighters north but the water mains had been cut

8. Half the cities population left, many sleeping in ditches
5th May
1. Clear night

2. H and W destroyed and did not resume production for 6 months

3. Not as many casualties

The Belfast Blitz