Mass casualties in Belfast Blitz

16th April 1941: The aftermath, as Belfast suffers the worst casualties outside London and over a 100,000 are made homeless

Rescuers scramble over a mountain of rubble on the 16th April 1941, while the widespread damage caused by a single ‘parachute mine’ can be seen in the background. The parachute itself flaps on the wires. This was one of 79 1,000kg parachute mines dropped during the raid.

Belfast was poorly prepared for the Blitz compared with other British¹ cities; few ch…