Northern Ireland & WW2 Part 2 Flashcards
How did the nature of housing in Belfast contribute to the blitz?
People lived in close proximity to their workplace - bombing of industrial sites meant large numbers of workers’ houses also hit
Most were Victorian terraces which collapsed like dominoes when bombs shook ground
Population density in Belfast was higher than in other cities
Higher numbers of people living in smaller area meant number of fatalities greater when bombs hit
How did the Luftwaffe contribute to the blitz?
Over 150 planes were sent to attack Belfast
Germans had good reconnaissance photos which helped pin-point targets
How did the weather contribute to the blitz?
On night of second raid, full moon & lack of cloud cover meant Luftwaffe able to see targets clearly
During one raid, strong winds blew German bombs into residential areas
How did the problems with air raid shelters contribute to the blitz?
NI had lowest numbers of air raid shelters of any city in UK - partly because Belfast built on bog land which meant underground shelters difficult to build
People avoided sing public shelters, as they were often vandalised & Anderson shelters sometimes collapsed inwards
What was the impact of Belfast Blitz on NI?
Almost 1,000 people died
Over 2,400 people injured
Huge amounts of property damaged
Industrial production didn’t return to normal for 6 months due to severe damage to factories
More than 50% of houses damaged/destroyed
100,000 temporarily homeless
15,000 lost homes permanently
Complacency in public & government quickly ended - people terrified of more attacks
At night, people fled from city to hills around Belfast - known as “ditchers”
Large numbers of people permanently left Belfast, thousands crossed to Eire
Thousands left city to live with family & friends in Bangor, Larne, Carrickfergus & Antrim
Belfast’s air defences were strengthened & more air raid shelters constructed
What was WW2’s impact on the NI public?
There was a temporary easing of sectarian tension, as:
Assistance of Eire’s fire brigades during blitz helped unionists feel less threatened
Cross-community cooperation during blitz between Falls & Shankill Roads as both communities concerned with protecting all public from common enemy
Blitz expose scale of poverty in large areas of Belfast & how inadequate government’s social policies had been in past:
Most workers crowded into flimsy back-to-back Victorian houses which had no bathroom & only shared outside toilet
Tuberculosis was common disease & accounted for 49% of all deaths of 15-25 year olds
Risk of death giving birth was 60% higher than Britain
1 in 8 newborn babies died in Belfast, double the number in places like Manchester
Londonderry, Bangor & Newtownards airport all effected
Some bombs even landed in eire
What was the impact of WW2 on unemployment?
Unemployment decreased from 70,000 in 1940 to 10,000 in 1945
This was because industry & agriculture revitalised by wartime contracts & dig for victory campaign
As result, famers’ incomes greatly improved
Wages slowly increased & standard of living gradually improved for majority of people
However, not everyone benefitted - there were still some people living in poverty & many joined army or went to work in Britain
What was the impact of WW2 on food & clothes?
Queues became part of life when rationing was introduced in NI in 1941
Although shortages of fruit, meat, clothes & cigarettes, items more readily available in NI than Britain
People living in border areas able to shop in eire, with wider range of goods available
Smuggling was common, especially of tea & sugar & black market flourished
What was the impact of WW2 on social life?
Decline in entertainers coming to NI
Sports venues, theatres & dance halls remained open throughout war
Belfast’s 35 cinemas always packed to see how war was going
Thousands travelled to eire for weekends & holidays, including army personnel, to escape restrictions like blackout
What was the impact of WW2 on travel?
Petrol rationing drastically reduced road traffic
Bus services didn’t operate after 7pm in most urban areas
In general, movement quite restricted:
Eire could only be visited by public transport
Movement to Britain generally limited to those taking up war-related employment or serving in armed forces
What was NI’s contribution to British war effort in industry?
In 1939, britain given £6 million in war contracts
Initially production levels were poor - each aircraft produced in NI 3 times longer than Britain
Shortage of skilled workers, poor management, absenteeism & series of illegal strikes slowed output - led to sharp critics from Churchill
By 1943, however, output had increased significantly
Harland & Wolff shipyard was invaluable asset in WW2, it produced 140 warships, 123 merchant ships & repaired 3,000 vessels
Ships weren’t its only product - over 500 tanks, 13 million, aircraft & 800 gun-mounting were manufactured
Short & Harland factory - initially concentrated on production of Bristol Bombay (military transport plane) & small Hereford bombers. Later, 1,200 Stirling bombers & 125 Sunderland flying boats also produced
Sirocco works - constructed ventilation equipment for armament factories in Britain
James Mackie & Sons - produced 75 million shells, 180 million incendiary bullets & 1/3 of ropes used by British armed forces
Linen industry contributed to production of 30 million shirts & 2 million parachutes
In spite of valuable contributions in war effort, production levels generally lower in NI than other parts of britain
What was NI’s contribution to the British war effort agriculturally?
Amount of land used for farming rose by 60%
Flax production went up by 600%
NI provided 20% of Britain’s egg requirement
Exports of livestock, especially cattle & sheep, to britain worth £3 million per year
100,000 litres of milk per day sent to Scotland
Allotments increased fourfold
Main reasons for remarkable performance:
Continued availability of fertilisers
Dig for victory’ campaign
More than one hundred fold increase in tractor number
What was NI’s contribution to the British war effort militarily?
Close to 40,000 people joined one of the services - just over 10% died
Many of those who joined up served with considerable distinction
Over 43,000 Irish citizens fought for allies: however poor Anglo-Irish relations meant contribution wasn’t recognised at home
What was NI’s contribution to the war effort strategically?
Return of treaty ports & fall of France in 1940 increased NI’s value as allied shipping began to go there
Naval bases, eg Lisahally , provided vital support, services & bases for ships involved in Battle of Atlantic, thus keeping sea lanes
Derry was important & busy base for service personnel
Natural inlets eg Lough Foyle provided refuge from U-boat attack for merchant shipping on trans-Atlantic journeys
Local air bases provided much needed cover for convoys
US forces used NI between 1942-1944
NI was also base for operations in North Africa, Southern Italy & D-Day
Magee College was USA’s Naval communication headquarters for all of Europe
RAF flew through Donegal corridor to help protect allied convoys by either tracking or sinking German U-boats or destroyers
The calm, deep waters of lough erne & its westerly position made base ideal for RAF & USAAF which controlled Atlantic
What was the home guard?
Created in 1940
Controlled by RUC, rather than army, & composed of mainly part-time members of RUC as unionists feared open enrolment would lead to infiltration by nationalists
therefore, many catholics regarded home guard as sectarian force & few applied to join
Home guard spent most of its time counteracting the IRA as republicans seen as pro-Germans & government introduced internment to deal with IRA suspects
