This month’s episode of the Historical Belfast Podcast is brought to you in conjunction with the Northern Ireland War Memorial museum on Talbot Street who have kindly given me access to their oral history archive. I am also extremely grateful for the research and writing of the late historian Jonathan Bardon on this subject and, as such, this episode is dedicated to Dr Bardon.
80 years ago, in the course of 4 Luftwaffe attacks during the Second World War, lasting 10 hours in total, 1,100 people died, over 56,000 were homes damaged, and 100,000 people were made homeless.
The first attack on Belfast came on the night of 7th April. The docks area was attacked with great accuracy, though residential housing was hit too. The ‘docks raid’, as it became known, was small in comparison to the Easter Raid which followed on the night of 15th April, and the focus of this episode.
Northern Ireland War Memorial - World War II Museum Belfast (niwarmemorial.org)
Delia Murphy - The Spinning Wheel: (4) Delia Murphy - The Spinning Wheel - YouTube
Blitz sound effects: (4) LONDON BLITZ 1940 - ORIGINAL AUDIO - YouTube