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(Irelandclick.com)
June 28, 2002At daybreak the damage caused during the night could clearly be seen. Many parts of the city were nothing more than burning heaps of rubble and many parts were still ablaze.
In the New Lodge rows and rows of terrace housing had disappeared and as each hour passed the death rate for the area and the city as a whole continued to grow and grow.
The bombs of the Luftwaffe did not discriminate as the mangled bodies of men, women and children of all ages were pulled from the rubble.
A large number of churches in and around the New Lodge were also hit with Spamount, St James’s, Duncairn Gardens, and Clifton Street all burnt out.
The air raid wardens, army and numerous volunteers were busy digging at the rubble in the hope of finding survivors and removing the bodies of those who had perished.
At the same time fire fighters were struggling to extinguish the burning buildings and rubble but because of the number of fires and the damage to the water mains, this was almost impossible.
The bodies of the dead were taken either to the Falls Road Baths or St George’s Market. In these places they were laid out and those who were looking for members of their family had to look through the endless rows of corpses to see if their loved ones lay among them.
Many people who were dug out of the rubble alive had taken shelter underneath their stairs and were fortunate enough that their homes had not received a direct hit or had even caught on fire.
For Belfast as a whole its problems were now just beginning. There were the injured to be treated and the dead to be identified. The unexploded bombs had also to be found and dealt with and hundreds of fires still had to be put out.
In addition to this there were the added problems of the homeless, burst water and gas mains and a lot of clearing up had to be done.
The death toll was growing at an alarming rate and in the New Lodge area it was learned that 35 people had been crushed to death following the collapse of the mill wall.
When the Luftwaffe returned to their bases the German State Radio interviewed one of the pilots. He stated: “We were in exceptional good humour knowing that we were going for a new target, one of England’s last hiding places.
“Wherever Churchill is hiding his war material we will go. Belfast is as worthy a target as Coventry, Birmingham, Bristol or Glasgow.”
It was now realised that Belfast was not immune to attack. After this raid the defence of the city was built up with anti-aircraft guns, barrage balloons and searchlights.
At nights people took to the surrounding hills to avoid any further raids. Others agreed with the Northern Ireland Cabinet that this was a one-off raid and that the Luftwaffe would not return. They were wrong.
Eighteen days after this raid the Luftwaffe returned to carry out another more devastating air raid on Belfast. From their bases in France 471 bombers set off for their targets and of these 204 were destined for Belfast.
The same type of planes used in the first air raid were once again deployed with the only difference being the bombs they carried. In addition to the high-explosive bombs they were also equipped with highly-inflammable incendiary devices.
The main targets were the shipyards and aircraft factory but because they had prepared themselves with thousands of incendiary devices they had also planned to burn much of Belfast.
The Germans knew that Belfast was a Victorian city and would therefore burn easily and during their last attack they had targeted the Antrim Road Waterworks.
Many people laughed when this occurred, as they believed that they had mistaken the Waterworks for the docks.
They were wrong. The Waterworks was a deliberate target and because they knew they would be coming back with firebombs the Luftwaffe had planned to destroy the water supply needed to put them out.
At around 1.00am the bombs again rained down on Belfast and immediately large fires could be seen in and around the docks and the city centre. Anti-aircraft guns in Victoria Barracks opened up but when this base again became a target the troops manning these had to run for cover.
Many of the streets running between Henry Street and Great Georges Street were burning intensely with the fire spreading through the terrace houses very quickly.
In the New Lodge, Hillman Street, Upper Meadow Street and Spamount Street all had many houses ablaze.
It was the same in Lepper Street and Glenrosa Street where a direct hit on Glenrosa House killed all those inside. Belfast now fell victim to the ‘fire blitz’ which was the Luftwaffe’s latest strategy in aerial warfare.
Many buildings in Clifton Street were burning out of control and in Glenravel Street the RUC Barracks received a direct hit, killing five of those inside. Next door to this the Skin Hospital was also hit and burned to the ground. What was left of York Street Mill was struck, as was the tobacco factory next door.
Many streets in and around Sailortown were in flames as were sections of Duncairn Gardens and the Antrim Road.
When this raid ended it was to have been the last as Hitler directed the Luftwaffe bombers to attack ports and cities throughout England. Fortunately it would seem unlikely that Belfast will ever go through this type of bombing again but the next time any of us are thinking about the bombing raids of World War II don’t think of English and German cities which were devastated - simply think of your own street and the terror that our grandparents must have been put through.
This article appeared first on the Irelandclick.com web site on June 13, 2002.