News

The papers reported that despite the raid of the 7/8 April, it was business as usual.[1] The Lord Mayor, Craford McCullagh called for fire watchers and volunteers.[2] Moya Woodside, Belfast housewife and Mass Observation Reporter, noted that: ‘‘Air raid still…

Belfast woke to find that it was now under aerial attack like so many British cities. For many it was quiet a novelty. The Belfast Telegraph reported that it was a ‘night of thrills’. It claimed there had been ‘hundreds’…

The first deliberate raid on Belfast took place. This is known as the dockside raid. Six Heinkel He 111 bombers, from Kampfgruppe 26, flying at 2,100 m. These bombers dropped three types of ordinance that would feature in the other…

At airfields in France, the Luftwaffe were planning an attack on Belfast. Reconnaissance missions had flown over Belfast since July 1940 over Belfast to identify targets for any potential raid. Belfast contained many important industrial and military targets: James Mackie…

In the Belfast Telegraph, it was announced that the Ulster Government had decided that ‘in the interests of the war effort’ that people should only take a short break over the Easter period (11 April was Good Friday).[1] Many doubted…