Roamer: Commemorating at the graves of the dead from the blitz

History Hub Ulster’s Nigel Henderson led a conducted tour last Sunday of the ‘Blitz Graves’ in Carnmoney Main Cemetery, Newtownabbey.

There are 174 civilian fatalities of the blitz buried, or commemorated, in Carnmoney’s graveyards and the date of Sunday’s tour, 5 May, was both pertinent and poignant.

“The final two air raids took place on 4-5 and 5-6 May,” Nigel explained “but most of the fatalities are recorded as being 5 May.”

The first Luftwaffe raid on April 7-8 destroyed a plane factory and damaged Belfast’s docks. The second and deadliest attack, on April 15-16, lasted five hours when almost 200 German bombers dropped vast quantities of bombs and incendiaries on residential areas in the docklands.

There was a third raid on May 4-5 on the city and docks, and a final small-scale attack on May 5-6. Belfast wasn’t prepared, and the results were devastating.

Nearly 1,000 people died, and very probably more than twice that number were injured. Substantial parts of the city’s infrastructure, housing, industry and services were damaged or destroyed and around 100,000 people were rendered homeless.

The Northern Ireland War Memorial’s alphabetical tally of blitz fatalities is a heartrending ‘A’ to ‘Z’. The first name, Mary Addis, was a 59-year-old housemaid. The last name, James Wilson, was a 26-year-old soldier. Mary’s younger sister Sarah and five from the family next-door ‘lost their lives in the same incident’ the record states.

The oldest blitz fatality was a 93-year-old housewife. The youngest was a six-week-old baby boy whose father, aunt and cousin perished at the same address.

At 4 Ballynure Street 11 family members died and at 95 Blythe Street a family of nine were killed. “Ten members of the extended Black family died at 18 Barbour Street (Greencastle, Shore Road) on the 5th of May 1941” Nigel Henderson recounted on Sunday’s tour “and seven of the fatalities were buried here.”

Standing beside the family plot’s black, wrought-iron surround Nigel listed their names. Dandelions growing on the grave gently dispersed their ‘clock’ seedheads on the breeze, perhaps signalling the passing of time since 1941!

Annie Black was the 57-year-old widow of husband Francis, both flax-workers. Annie’s late father Isaiah had been a sailmaker and Francis had been a WWI veteran, discharged with shellshock. Annie died along with five of her children, three granddaughters, and her sister.

Meanwhile two of her sons, Frank and Robert Black, were away on active service.

Nigel listed Annie’s family circle who’d perished together in number 18 Barbour Street on that fateful day; it wasn’t so much a list as an end of an era.

Annie Dowd (nee Black, aged 31) and her daughters Maureen (6) and Anne (2); Hessie Black (weaver, aged 23) and her daughter Hazel (2). Eva Black (Loom-worker, aged 21), schoolgirl Evelyn Black (14), schoolboy James Black (12) and Annie Black’s sister, Agnes Knox (66).

In total, 26 residents of Barbour Street, and a visitor, died during, or as a result of, the blitz.

Many of the bodies were taken to a temporary mortuary at Erskine Felt Works in Whitehouse Upper.

Coincidentally, the Erskine family grave is a few paces from the Black family’s resting place.

Barbour Street boasted 31 houses prior to the blitz.

“There were only four houses left standing” said Nigel, adding “and those four houses were uninhabitable.”

The 1939 Street Directory recorded all 31 properties with residents’ surnames, in two columns of uneven and even numbers - 1 to 31 and 2 to 30.

The 1943 Directory was tragically truncated to three short lines and no names - 1 to 7 Vacant; 9 to 31 Vacant Ground; 2 to 30 Vacant Ground.

Listening with interest to Nigel’s commentary was Jim Lynn, whose late grandfather, Jimmy Lynn, couldn’t go to war for health reasons but joined the Ulster Home Guard.

“I remember him telling me about a direct hit on a house in the general vicinity of Greencastle which wiped out an entire family,” Jim told me.

His grandfather didn’t mention names or addresses but “he and his colleagues were immediately deployed to recover the bodies” Jim continued “they dug the bodies out of the rubble.”