British Spies and Irish Rebels by Paul McMahon, Report by the Garda Sochna 23 October 1941 IMA G2/1722, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Irish Minister for the Co-ordination of Defensive Measures, "Eamon de Valera and Hitler: An Analysis of International Reaction to the Visit to the German Minister, May 1945", "Extracts from an article, "The Belfast Blitz, 1941", "Historical Topics Series 2 The Belfast Blitz", "Your Place and Mine The Belfast Blitz", "Northern Ireland Parliamentary Elections Results: Biographies", "Belfast Blitz: The night death and destruction rained down on city", "Multitext - the Blitz - Belfast during the second World War", http://www.niwarmemorial.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/The_Belfast_Blitz.pdf, http://www.proni.gov.uk/historical_topics_series_-_02_-_the_belfast_blitz.pdf, Extracts from an article on The Belfast Blitz, 1941. Please select which sections you would like to print: Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. At 4:15am John MacDermott, the Minister of Public Security, managed to contact Basil Brooke (then Agriculture Minister), seeking permission to seek help from the Irish government. Rescue workers search through the rubble of Eglington Street in Belfast, Northern Ireland, after a German Luftwaffe air raid, 7 May 1941, Anna (left) and her husband Billy (back right) survived while Harriette, Dorothy and Billy were killed along with Dot and Isa, Dot and Isa, with Dorothy when she was a toddler, Royal Welch Fusiliers assist in clearing bomb damage in Belfast, Northern Ireland, 7 May 1941, Mapping the lives lost in the Belfast Blitz. The telegram was sent at 4:35am,[citation needed] asking the Irish Taoiseach, amon de Valera for assistance. Those who sought refuge at the school were told that they would quickly be relocated to a safer area, but the evacuation was delayed. At the core of this book is a compelling account of the Luftwaffe's blitz on Belfast in April-May 1941. The raids hurt Britains war production, but they also killed many civilians and left many others homeless. It was not the first time the alarm had sounded to signify the presence of Luftwaffe bombers over the city. However, the Docklands was also a densely populated and impoverished area where thousands of working-class Londoners lived in run-down housing. There was no opposition. In total over 1,300 houses were demolished, some 5,000 badly damaged, nearly 30,000 slightly damaged while 20,000 required "first aid repairs".[3]. Although there were some comparatively slight raids later in 1941, the most notable one on July 27, the May 1011 attack marked the conclusion of the Blitz. Men from the South worked with men from the North in the universal cause of the relief of suffering. Apart from those on London, this was the greatest loss of life in any night raid during the Blitz. His report concluded with: "a second Belfast would be too horrible to contemplate". People are leaving from all parts of town and not only from the bombed areas. It has been reported that on Easter Tuesday, Belfast suffered the highest loss of life of any city in the UK in a single raid. At the start of World War Two, Belfast had considered itself safe from an aerial attack, as the city's leaders believed that Belfast was simply too far away for Luftwaffe bombers to reach - assuming that they would have to fly from Nazi Germany. Nine were registered on three separate occasions, and from the start of the Blitz until November 30 there were more than 350 alerts. The area included the Harland and Wolff Ltd. Shipyard, the Short and Harland Ltd. Aircraft Factory, and the airfield at RAF Sydenham. It was not the last time Belfast would suffer. Many of the surface shelters built by local authorities were flimsy and provided little protection from bombs, falling debris, and fire. The firm had produced Handley Page Hereford bombers since 1936. The town of Dromara saw its population increase from 500 to 2,500. [13] However at the time Lord Craigavon, Prime Minister of Northern Ireland since its inception in 1921, said: "Ulster is ready when we get the word and always will be." Belfast, Irish Bal Feirste, city, district, and capital of Northern Ireland, on the River Lagan, at its entrance to Belfast Lough (inlet of the sea). Has it taken bursting bombs to remind the people of this little country that they have common tradition, a common genius and a common home? No significant cut was made in necessary social services, and public and private premises, except when irreparably damaged, were repaired as speedily as possible. 7. Wherever Churchill is hiding his war material we will go Belfast is as worthy a target as Coventry, Birmingham, Bristol or Glasgow." Another defensive measure employed by the British was barrage balloonslarge oval-shaped unmanned balloons with stabilizing tail finsinstalled in and around major target areas. They are sleeping in the same sheugh (ditch), below the same tree or in the same barn. While Anderson shelters offered good protection from bomb fragments and debris, they were cold and damp and generally ill-suited for prolonged occupancy. In the subsequent years, this lack of preparation has often dominated the discussion about the Belfast Blitz, but a new project led by Alan Freeburn from the Northern Ireland War Memorial aims to shift the focus back to the ordinary men, women and children who lost their lives. [citation needed]. In each station volunteers were asked for, as it was beyond their normal duties. Only four were known still to be alive. Belfast's Albert Clock tower is sinking - it leans by four feet. And then naturally as I was over the target, I did pick up flak but I have no sense of exactly how weak or how strong it was, because every bit of flak you get is dangerous.. 11 churches, two hospitals and two schools were destroyed. Given Belfast's geographic position, it was considered to be at the fringe of the operational range of German bombers and hence there was no provision for night-fighter aerial cover. C.S Lewis was born in Belfast, and the nearby countryside helped inspire The Chronicles of Narnia. "Through cross-referencing a number of different sources I have been able to get the most accurate number of people who died in the Blitz," he says. department distributed more than two million Anderson shelters (named after Sir John Anderson, head of the A.R.P.) Richard Dawson Bates was the Home Affairs Minister. 1. As well as photographs, the Luftwaffe gathered information on landmarks, potential targets and defences or lack thereof. Nearby residential areas in east Belfast were also hit when "203 metric tonnes of high explosive bombs, 80 land mines attached to parachutes, and 800 firebomb canisters containing 96,000 incendiary bombs"[16] were dropped. IWM C 5424 1. German bombing of London during the Blitz, Discover how the Third Reich attacked Great Britain during World War II's Battle of Britain, atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Watch President Roosevelt outline his Four Freedoms and learn how Britain defeated Germany's Luftwaffe. 2023 BBC. Compared to other cities, Belfast was virtually undefended. By then 250 firemen from Clydeside had arrived. Targets identified included: the Short and Harland Ltd. Aircraft Factory; the Belfast power station and waterworks; Other maps uncovered following the Second World War also showed the parliament and city hall, Belfast gasworks, a rope factory and the Royal Belfast Academical Institution. The Luftwaffe never attacked the city after May 1941, but it would be many years before life returned to normal for many in the city. NI WW2 veterans honoured by France. O'Sullivan reported: "There were many terrible mutilations among both living and dead heads crushed, ghastly abdominal and face wounds, penetration by beams, mangled and crushed limbs etc.". "It says a lot about how these people are forgotten that there is no Blitz memorial in Belfast," Mr Freeburn says. 8. The bombs continued to fall until 5am. This hub of industry and trade represented a legitimate military target for the Germans, and some 25,000 bombs were dropped on the Port of London alone. About 1,000 people were killed and bombs hit half of the houses in the city, leaving 100,000 people homeless. The refugees looked dazed and horror stricken and many had neglected to bring more than a few belongings Any and every means of exit from the city was availed of and the final destination appeared to be a matter of indifference. Indeed, on the night of the first raid, no Royal Air Force (RAF) aircraft took to the air to intercept German planes. Video, 00:02:54Living through the London Blitz, At least 17 dead in Jakarta fuel storage depot fire. The district of Belfast has an area of 44 square miles (115 square km). Authorities quickly implemented plans to protect Londoners from bombs and to house those left homeless by the attacks. ", Dawson Bates informed the Cabinet of rack-renting of barns, and over thirty people per house in some areas.[24]. Read about our approach to external linking. Video, 00:03:09, Mapping the lives lost in the Belfast Blitz, Russian minister laughed at for Ukraine war claims. 255 corpses were laid out in St George's Market. Up Next. Incendiary bombs predominated in this raid. Apart from one or two false alarms in the early days of the war, no sirens wailed in London until June 25. For eight months the Luftwaffe dropped bombs on London and other strategic cities across Britain. Of the churches, besides St. Pauls cathedral, where at one time were five unexploded bombs in the immediate vicinity and the roof of which was pierced by another that exploded and shattered the high altar to fragments, those damaged were Westminster abbey, St. Margarets Westminster, Southwark cathedral; fifteen Wren churches (including St. The British, on the other hand, were supremely well prepared for the kind of battle in which they now found themselves. Video, 00:00:36Tears of relief after man found in Amazon jungle. The next took place on Easter Tuesday, 15 April 1941, when 200 Luftwaffe bombers attacked military and manufacturing targets in the city of Belfast. I felt outraged, I should have felt sympathy, grief, but instead feelings of revulsion and disgust assailed me. The Luftwaffe crews returned to their base in Northern France and reported that Belfast's defences were, "inferior in quality, scanty and insufficient". Over 20 hospitals were hit, among them the London (many times), St. Thomass, St. Bartholomews, and the childrens hospital in Great Ormond st., as well as Chelsea hospital, the home for the aged and invalid soldiers, built by Wren. He spoke with Professor Flynn, (Theodore Thomson Flynn, an Australian based at the Mater Hospital and father of actor Errol Flynn), head of the casualty service for the city, who told him of "casualties due to shock, blast and secondary missiles, such as glass, stones, pieces of piping, etc." 6. Their Chain Home early warning radar, the most advanced system in the world, gave Fighter Command adequate notice of where and when to direct their forces, and the Luftwaffe never made a concerted effort to neutralize it. Nearby were the citys main power station, gasworks, telephone house and the Sirocco Engineering works. The wartime output of the yard included aircraft carriers HMS Formidable and HMS Unicorn, cruisers such as HMS Belfast and more than 130 other vessels used by the Royal Navy. Video, 00:00:51Australia's 'biggest drug bust' nets $700m of cocaine, Thanks, but no big speech, in Ken Bruce's sign off. He described some distressing consequences, such as how "in one case the leg and arm of a child had to be amputated before it could be extricated. The city has been a leader in women's rights. Corrections? 2. Can Nigeria's election result be overturned? Anna and Billy returned to England and continued running the children's home. Some had received food, others were famished. For 57 nightsuntil November 2more than 1 million bombs were dropped on the capital city. By 1941, production of the Short Stirling Bomber and the Short Sunderland Flying Boat was underway. Moya Woodside[23] noted in her diary: "Evacuation is taking on panic proportions. The Premier Online Military History Magazine, Re-printed with permission fromWartimeNI.com. "There are plans for one but there isn't one yet. Many people who were dug out of the rubble alive had taken shelter underneath their stairs and were fortunate that their homes had not received a direct hit or caught fire. workers. Eduard Hempel, the German Minister to Ireland, visited the Irish Ministry for External Affairs to offer sympathy and attempt an explanation. The city covers a total area of 132.5 square kilometers (51 square miles). In the eight months of attacks, some 43,000 civilians were killed. Despite the military and industrial importance of the city, the Luftwaffe described the defences asweak, scanty, insufficient. Similar initiatives bearing the same name were ordered in the past decade by former mayors Libby . When the war began, Belfast, like many other cities, adopted the wartime practices of rationing and blackouts. Around 1am, Luftwaffe bombers flew over the city, concentrating their attack on the Harbour Estate and Queen's Island. The Battle of Britain That evening over 150 bombers left their bases in northern France and the Netherlands and headed for Belfast. Sixty years after the Germans bombed Belfast in World War II BBC News Online looks back and remembers the anniversary of the blitz. After the war, instructions from Joseph Goebbels were discovered ordering it not to be mentioned. Poor visibility on the night meant that the accuracy of the bombers was hampered and the explosives were dropped on densely populated areas of Belfast. Guided by Davies, the people of the shelter created an ad hoc government and established a set of rules. Belfast was ill-prepared for the blitz. For eight months the Luftwaffe dropped bombs on London and other strategic cities across Britain. to households. While some of the poorer and more crowded suburban areas suffered severely, the mansions of Mayfair, the luxury flats of Kensington, and Buckingham Palace itselfwhich was bombed four separate timesfared little better. O'Sullivan felt that the whole civil defence sector was utterly overwhelmed. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Londoners enjoyed three weeks of uneasy peace until May 1011, the night of a full moon, when the Luftwaffe launched the most intense raid of the Blitz. Other Belfast factories manufactured gun mountings. Nevertheless, for all the hardship it caused, the campaign proved to be a strategic mistake by the Germans. Half of the city's housing was damaged over the course of all the raids. [9], War materials and food were sent by sea from Belfast to Great Britain, some under the protection of the neutral Irish tricolour. Raids between February and May pounded Plymouth, Portsmouth, Bristol, Newcastle upon Tyne, and Hull in England; Swansea in Wales; Belfast in Northern Ireland; and Clydeside in Scotland. Video, 00:00:51, Australia's 'biggest drug bust' nets $700m of cocaine, Thanks, but no big speech, in Ken Bruce's sign off. There is no slacking in our loyalty. The first (April 7 -8), a small attack, was most likely carried out to test the city's defenses. The youngest victim was just six-weeks-old. Davies also set up medical stations and persuaded off-duty medical personnel to treat the sick and wounded. They prevented low-flying aircraft from approaching their targets at optimal altitudes and angles of attack. On 28 April 1943, six members of the Government threatened to resign, forcing him from office. When a bombing raid was imminent, air-raid sirens were set off to sound a warning. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Once more, London was targeted and children were victims. Munster, for example, operated by the Belfast Steamship Company, plied between Belfast and Liverpool under the tricolour, until she hit a mine and was sunk outside Liverpool. Your donations help keep MHN afloat. Up to now, we have escaped an attack, said John MacDermott, the Minister for Security, Belfast, on March 24, 1941. The offensive came to be called the Blitz after the German word blitzkrieg (lightning war). At nightfall the Northern Counties Station was packed from platform gates to entrance gates and still refugees were coming along in a steady stream from the surrounding streets Open military lorries were finally put into service and even expectant mothers and mothers with young children were put into these in the rather heavy drizzle that lasted throughout the evening. It lies where the Lagan River flows into a part of the Irish Sea. The famous Harland and Wolff cranes are called Samson and Goliath. [19], 220,000 people fled from the city. Belfast Blitz: Marking the lost lives 80 years on. [citation needed], There was a second massive air raid on Belfast on Sunday 45 May 1941, three weeks after that of Easter Tuesday. When the bombing began, 76-year-old William and 72-year-old Harriette took refuge under the stairs along with Dorothy, Dot and Isa. A force of 180 bombers dropped 750 bombs - including 203 tonnes of high explosives - and 29,000 incendiaries over a five-hour period. On August 25 the British retaliated by launching a bombing raid on Berlin. In the east of the city, Westbourne and Newcastle Streets on the Newtownards Road, Thorndyke Street off the Albertbridge Road and Ravenscroft Avenue were destroyed or damaged. Why Alex Murdaugh was spared the death penalty, Why Trudeau is facing calls for a public inquiry, The shocking legacy of the Dutch 'Hunger Winter'. On July 16, 1940, Hitler issued a directive ordering the preparation and, if necessary, execution of Operation Sea Lion, the amphibious invasion of Great Britain. From papers recovered after the war, we know of a Luftwaffe reconnaissance flight over Belfast on 30 November 1940. The sense of relative calm was abruptly shattered in the first week of September 1940, when the war came to London in earnest. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Belfast suffered a series of bombing raids in the spring of 1941, which became known as the 'Blitz of Belfast'. "We can still see the physical scars of the Blitz in Belfast, that is what is left. In another building, the York Street Mill, one of its massive sidewalls collapsed on to Sussex and Vere Streets, killing all those who remained in their homes. Belfast is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland . London was bombed for 57 consecutive nights from 7 September 1940 Prior to the "Belfast Blitz" there were only 200 public shelters in the city, although around 4,000 households had built their own private shelters. The mass relocation, called Operation Pied Piper, was the largest internal migration in British history. "Through resources such as the Public Records Office and ancestry and genealogy websites I managed to get about 100 photos - which is about one tenth of the victims," he says. Over 500 received care from the Irish Red Cross in Dublin. He believed that this was being done already but it was inevitable that a certain number of civilian lives should be lost in the course of heavy bombing from the air". Since most casualties were caused by falling masonry rather than by blast, they provided effective shelter for those who had them. There are other diarists and narratives. These figures are based on newspaper reports of the time, personal recollections and other primary sources, such as:- Author Lawrence H. Dawson detailed the damage to Londons historic buildings for the 1941 Britannica Book of the Year: The following curtailed list identifies some of the better known places in inner London that have been damaged by enemy action. By British mainland blitz standards, casualties were light. Death should be dignified, peaceful; Hitler had made even death grotesque. Video, 00:01:23, Watch: Matt Hancock message row in 83 seconds, Isabel Oakeshott: Why I leaked Hancock's messages. Liverpool, for example, protected by 100 guns. The 2017 film Zoo depicts an air raid during the Belfast Blitz. He successfully busied himself with the task of making Northern Ireland a major supplier of food to Britain in her time of need.[5]. The South Hallsville School disaster prompted Londoners, especially residents of the East End, to find safer shelters, on their own if necessary. High explosive bombs predominated in this raid. Elsewhere in the skies over Britain, Nazi official Rudolph Hess chose that same evening to parachute into Scotland on a quixotic and wholly unauthorized peace mission. Under the leadership of Prime Minister John Miller Andrews, Northern Ireland remained unprepared. Video, 00:01:37, Thanks, but no big speech, in Ken Bruce's sign off, Tear gas fired at Greece train crash protesters. Hitlers intention had been to break the morale of the British people so they would pressure their government to surrender. In early 1941 the Germans launched another wave of attacks, this time focusing on ports. Belfast 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. A Luftwaffe pilot gave this description "We were in exceptional good humour knowing that we were going for a new target, one of England's last hiding places. From their photographs, they identified suitable targets: There had been a number of small bombings, probably by planes that missed their targets over the River Clyde in Glasgow or the cities of the northwest of England. The creeping TikTok bans. On occasion, forces consisting of as many as 300 to 400 aircraft would cross the coast by day and split into small groups, and a few planes would succeed in penetrating Londons outer defenses. Government ministers in Northern Ireland began to realise the Luftwaffe may launch an attack, but it was too little, too late. There were few bomb shelters. A Luftwaffe terror bombing attack on the Spanish city of Guernica (April 26, 1937) during the Spanish Civil War had killed hundreds of civilians and destroyed much of the town. Unlike N Ireland, the Irish Free State was no longer part of the UK. The devastation was so great that the Germans coined a new verb, to coventrate, to describe it. In a survey of shelter use, it was found that, although the public shelters were fully occupied every night, just 9 percent of Londoners made use of them. Published: September 7, 2020 at 12:00 pm. It is perhaps true that many saved their lives running but I am afraid a much greater number lost them or became casualties."[20]. About 1,000 people were killed and bombs hit half of the houses in the city, leaving 100,000. Several theatres and many cinemas were open, and there were even a few sporting events. [citation needed], Casualties were lower than at Easter, partly because the sirens had sounded at 11.45pm while the Luftwaffe attacked more cautiously from a greater height. Despite the attacks, Belfast continued to contribute to the war effort, and within less than a year the city witnessed the arrival of thousands of American troops. The Royal Air Force announced that Squadron Leader J.W.C. Thank you. The working-class living close to industrial centres suffered more than anyone over the course of the four raids. Both planes quickly proved their mettle against German bombers, and Germanys best fighter, the Bf 109, was of limited use as an escort due to its relatively short operating range. At 10:40 on the evening of Easter Tuesday 1941 air raid sirens sounded across Belfast, sending people across the city scrambling for safety - in one of the 200 public shelters in the city or the thousands of shelters or other "safe" spaces in private homes. This type of shelteressentially a low steel cage large enough to contain two adults and two small childrenwas designed to be set up indoors and could serve as a refuge if the building began to collapse. On the 60th anniversary of the Belfast Blitz, Luftwaffe Pilot Gerhardt Becker spoke to BBC Northern Ireland about his mission over Belfast in 1941. the Blitz, (September 7, 1940May 11, 1941), intense bombing campaign undertaken by Nazi Germany against the United Kingdom during World War II. The past doesnt change, its just over.. With tangled hair, staring eyes, clutching hands, contorted limbs, their grey-green faces covered with dust, they lay, bundled into the coffins, half-shrouded in rugs or blankets, or an occasional sheet, still wearing their dirty, torn twisted garments. Video, 00:03:09Mapping the lives lost in the Belfast Blitz, Belfast City Hall in darkness as the Blitz is marked, Street fighting in Bakhmut but Russia not in control, Russian minister laughed at for Ukraine war claims. Morale did suffer amid the death and devastation, but there were few calls for surrender. Although casualties were heavy, at no time did they approach the estimates that had been made before the war, and only a fraction of the available hospital and ambulance capacity was ever utilized. Just eight days earlier, eight planes destroyed the aircraft fuselage factory and damaged the docks, with 15 people ultimately killed as a result of that raid. Fortunately, the railway telegraphy link between Belfast and Dublin was still operational. Video, 00:02:12Isabel Oakeshott: Why I leaked Hancock's messages, Tears of relief after man found in Amazon jungle. Fewer than 4,000 women and children were evacuated. The 'Blitz' - from the German term Blitzkrieg ('lightning war') - was the sustained campaign of aerial bombing attacks on British towns and cities carried out by the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) from September 1940 until May 1941. Belfast is as worthy a target as Coventry, Birmingham, Bristol or Glasgow.. The Air Raid Precautions (A.R.P.) Another large-scale attack followed on March 19, when hundreds of houses and shops, many churches, six hospitals, and other public buildings were destroyed or seriously damaged. Many in Northern Ireland thought that Belfast was outside the range of the Luftwaffe. Barton insisted that Belfast was "too far north" to use radio guidance. Many bodies and body parts could not be identified. "Liverpool, Clydebank and Portsmouth all have a memorial to their victims of the Blitz. And even then, Westminster stated it was not ample provision; Stormont still worried about the costs to industry. Belfast was Ireland's industrial home, famous for tobacco, rope-making, linen, and ship-building, which made it the powerhouse it was. One of every six Londoners was made homeless at some point during the Blitz, and at least 1.1 million houses and flats were damaged or destroyed. devised the Morrison shelter (named for Home Secretary Herbert Stanley Morrison) as an alternative to the Anderson shelter. Video, 00:01:03One-minute World News, Isabel Oakeshott: Why I leaked Hancock's messages. It would appear that Adolf Hitler, in view of de Valera's negative reaction, was concerned that de Valera and Irish American politicians might encourage the United States to enter the war. [citation needed] However on 20 October 1941 the Garda Sochna 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'[28][29], After three days, sometime after 6pm, the fire crews from south of the border began taking up their hoses and ladders to head for home. Train after train and bus after bus were filled with those next in line. Over a period of nine months, over 43,500 civilians were killed in the raids, which focused on major cities and industrial centres. But the authorities were afraid that bombs might not be the. THE BELFAST BLITZ was a series of four air raids over Northern Ireland during the spring of 1941. He gave an interview saying: "the people of Belfast are Irish people too". The "Hiram Plan" initiated by Dawson Bates, the Home Affairs Minister, had failed to materialise. By the middle of December it had reached nearly 1,700,000 (adjusted for inflation, this was the equivalent of roughly 100 million in 2020). The attacks were authorized by Germanys chancellor, Adolf Hitler, after the British carried out a nighttime air raid on Berlin. The Belfast Blitzconsisted of four German air raids on strategic targets in the city of Belfastin Northern Ireland, in April and May 1941 during World War II, causing high casualties. [4], The Government of Northern Ireland lacked the will, energy and capacity to cope with a major crisis when it came. Very early in the German bombing campaign, it became clear that the preparationshowever extensive they seemed to have beenwere inadequate. [26], Initial German radio broadcasts celebrated the raid. What happened in 1941 changed the city forever. Islington parish church, the rebuilt Our Lady of Victories (Kensington), the French church by Leicester square, St. Annes, Soho (famous for its music), All Souls, Langham place, and Christ Church in Westminster Bridge road (whose towerfortunately savedcommemorates President Lincolns abolition of slavery), were among a large number of others. Some are a total loss; others are already under repair with little outward sign of the damage sustained: Besides Buckingham palace, the chapel of which was wrecked, and Guildhall (the six-centuries old centre of London civic ceremonies and of great architectural beauty), which was destroyed by fire, Kensington palace (the London home of the earl of Athlone, governor general of Canada, and the birthplace of Queen Mary and Queen Victoria), the banqueting hall of Eltham palace (dating from King Johns time and long a royal residence), Lambeth palace (the archbishop of Canterbury), and Holland house (famous for its 17th century domestic architecture, its political associations, and its art treasures), suffered, the latter severely.

Hard Skills Of A Photographer, Arkadiy Dobkin Family, Articles OTHER