16 Facts About Belfast Blitz

1.

Belfast Blitz consisted of four German air raids on strategic targets in the city of Belfast in Northern Ireland, in April and May 1941 during World War II, causing high casualties.

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2.

Belfast Blitz 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.

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3.

Belfast Blitz's death came at a bad time and arguably inadvertently caused a leadership vacuum.

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4.

Belfast Blitz successfully busied himself with the task of making Northern Ireland a major supplier of food to Britain in her time of need.

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5.

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 Blitz was regarded as "a very definite German objective", little was done outside providing shelters in the Harbour area.

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6.

The Germans established that Belfast Blitz was defended by only seven anti-aircraft batteries, which made it the most poorly defended city in the United Kingdom.

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7.

The Luftwaffe crews returned to their base in Northern France and reported that Belfast Blitz's defences were, "inferior in quality, scanty and insufficient".

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8.

Belfast Blitz's report concluded with: "a second Belfast would be too horrible to contemplate".

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9.

In Newtownards, Bangor, Larne, Carrickfergus, Lisburn and Antrim many thousands of Belfast Blitz citizens took refuge either with friends or strangers.

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10.

Belfast Blitz followed up with his "they are our people" speech, made in Castlebar, County Mayo, on Sunday 20 April 1941 :.

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11.

Belfast Blitz gave an interview saying: "the people of Belfast are Irish people too".

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12.

Belfast Blitz is as worthy a target as Coventry, Birmingham, Bristol or Glasgow.

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13.

One widespread criticism was that the Germans located Belfast Blitz by heading for Dublin and following the railway lines north.

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14.

Several accounts point out that Belfast Blitz, standing at the end of the long inlet of Belfast Blitz Lough, would be easily located.

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15.

However on 20 October 1941 the Garda Siochana captured a comprehensive IRA report on captured member Helena Kelly giving a detailed analysis of damage inflicted on Belfast and highlighting prime targets such as Shortt and Harland aircraft factory and RAF Sydenham, describing them as 'the remaining and most outstanding objects of military significance, as yet unblitzed' and suggesting they should be 'bombed by the Luftwaffe as thoroughly as other areas in recent raids'.

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16.

Nearby residential areas in east Belfast Blitz were hit when "203 metric tonnes of high explosive bombs, 80 land mines attached to parachutes, and 800 firebomb canisters containing 96,000 incendiary bombs" were dropped.

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