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On 1st September 1939, Adolf Hitler invaded Poland.

On 3rd September 1939, with Germany having failed to leave Poland, Britain declared war on Germany.

Lord Craigavon (as Sir James Craig was known after 1927) immediately declared Northern Ireland would play its full part in supporting Britain in the war.

By doing so, he hoped to remind the British of unionist loyalty and persuade them to maintain the union.

Conscription was introduced in Britain in April 1939.

There were two attempts to introduce conscription into Northern Ireland (1939 and 1941), but the issue caused serious division along religious and political lines.

Unionists wanted conscription because:

• It would give Northern Ireland an opportunity to show its loyalty to Britain which would strengthen the links between the two regions.
• It would convince Britain partition should continue.
• They were determined to be treated the same as the rest of the UK.

Nationalists objected to conscription because:

• They did not want to fight for Britain as it was not Ireland’s war.
• Some felt more of a connection to Germany than to Britain because of Germany's assistance during the1916 Easter Rising.

A month after conscription was introduced into Britain in 1939, Northern Ireland was exempted.

The British feared conscription would cause unrest in Ireland and distract Westminster’s time and resources away from fighting Germany.

This was welcomed by nationalists.

Craigavon was unhappy and met with British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain but he was unable to overturn the decision because of what Chamberlain described as Northern Ireland’s ‘special difficulties’.

However, the award of defence contracts worth £6 million to Northern Ireland’s industries helped relieve some of the tension between the two governments, especially as unemployment fell by 30,000.

Northern Ireland was not ready for war.

Believing that it was beyond the range of enemy aircraft, appropriate defence measures (both aerial and ground-based) were not put in place by Stormont.

Preparations before the war had also been poor.

Northern Ireland did not compare well with Great Britain’s wide-ranging evacuation and air raid protection schemes, implemented prior to the outbreak of war.

Stormont did introduce an Air Raid Precautions Act in 1938 yet this did not make local council provision of civil defence measures compulsory.

• Stormont and Westminster argued about who should pay for civil defence, which delayed action.

• Stormont ministers believed Northern Ireland would not be bombed.

They thought:

• It was too far away from mainland Europe.
• The Luftwaffe would concentrate on the more valuable industrial and strategic targets in Britain.
• When Éire declared neutrality in September 1939, some Ministers were sure Hitler would not bomb Northern Ireland because it might result in Éire entering the war and strengthening to the Allied Forces.
• Some unionists also suspected de Valera had done a deal with Hitler, preventing bombing in Belfast in order to protect nationalist areas.

For these reasons, Northern Ireland's preparations for the protection of its civilians were inadequate.

In Northern Ireland, in 1939, there were:

• no RAF night fighters.
• no searchlights.
• no smoke screen.
• very few anti-aircraft guns.
• two small barrage balloons.
• too few air raid shelters.

Even when war was declared, Stormont was slow to take decisive action.

Indeed, government officials returned Air Raid Precautions (ARP) equipment to Britain, thinking it would not be needed.

However, the fall of France in June 1940 increased the likelihood of an air attack on Northern Ireland, whilst reports about the devastation caused by the German Blitz of Coventry increased concerns.

The new Ministry of Public Security, led by John MacDermott from June 1940, made improvements in several areas:

• The rapid erection of public air raid shelters.
• The reinforcement of the emergency services.
• Efforts to evacuate children from Belfast.

In addition, blackout curtains were used to stop lights showing the Luftwaffe the locations of towns and cities.

It was not until well into 1941 that most of Northern Ireland was covered by radar and steps had been taken to establish anti-aircraft batteries.

Even then some feared that enemy planes would still not be picked up, others felt that far too few anti-aircraft guns, night-fighters and searchlights were in place.

In addition, there were public shelters for just 25 per cent of the population.

Even the public in Northern Ireland remained complacent:

• They ignored air raid sirens and the instructions of the Air Raid Precaution (ARP) wardens because they did not think Germany would ever bomb them.
• It was difficult to get sufficient recruits for the ARP and the ����tv Guard because the public did not believe it was necessary.
• ARP wardens, who had the job of enforcing blackouts, were not taken seriously and blackouts were routinely ignored as unnecessary. By early 1940, offences for not complying with blackout requirements reached 1,000 per month.
• They discarded gas masks because they thought they were not needed.
• Only 7,000 of the 70,000 children due for evacuation from Belfast under a local evacuation plan actually left the city.
• When people were offered the chance to be evacuated from Belfast, few did so.
• When Belfast was bombed in 1941, there weren’t enough recruits for the civil defence services.
• Nearly a year after the declaration of war only 15 per cent of the Belfast households entitled to an Anderson air raid shelter had received one.

Northern Ireland made very significant contributions to the war effort, but there were some weaknesses.

Although conscription was not applied in Northern Ireland, men and women from both communities volunteered for military service.

In total, 38,000 people enlisted in the armed forces, of whom just over 10 per cent died.

Many served with distinction, for example James Magennis, a Royal Navy submariner, was awarded the Victoria Cross for his role in the war against Japan.

Many more citizens would have signed up, but they worked in reserved occupations.

Over 43,000 Éire citizens fought for the Allies.

Many enlisted to escape poverty and unemployment in Éire.

Poor Anglo-Irish relations meant that their contribution was not recognised at home.

A ����tv Guard was created in 1940 and it was very different in Northern Ireland than in the rest of the UK.

Fear of republican infiltration meant that the B Specials formed its core.

Unlike Britain, the force came under the control of the RUC rather than the army.

As a result, Catholic membership was limited and the ����tv Guard was seen as a sectarian force.

The ����tv Guard spent much of its time counteracting the IRA.

Republicans were seen as pro-German and the government introduced internment to deal with IRA suspects.

After several additional moves against Republican suspects – including the arrest of IRA Chief of Staff, Hugh McAteer, in 1942 - IRA activity dropped off.

Northern Ireland played a key strategic role in the war.

The return of the treaty ports and Éire’s subsequent declaration of neutrality in 1939, increased Northern Ireland’s value.

It was further increased after the fall of France in June 1940 as Allied shipping began to go north of Ireland (the so-called Western Approaches).

This was because:

• Natural inlets such as Lough Foyle provided refuge from U-boat attack for merchant shipping on their trans-Atlantic journeys.
• Naval bases, such as Lisahally, provided vital support, services and bases for ships and submarines involved in the Battle of the Atlantic, thus keeping sea lanes open. Its wharf was expanded for the storage of 645,000 barrels of fuel.
• Derry/Londonderry, with its deep water, was the biggest port in the United Kingdom for warships protecting merchant ships. From December 1941 onwards, American vessels were also anchored there. By mid-1943, there were nearly 150 ships based at the port while by the end of the same year there were an estimated 40,000 military personnel in and around the city.
• Larne and Belfast became bases from which minesweepers and anti-submarine patrols protected the Irish Sea and the North Channel.
• Magee College in Derry/Londonderry was the US Naval communication headquarters for all of Europe.

Royal Air Force

• The part played by the navy was complemented by the actions of RAF Coastal Command and local air bases - such as Aldergrove, Ballykelly, Eglinton, Limavady, Nutts Corner and Long Kesh - provided much needed cover for convoys. Indeed, 18 U-boats were sunk by planes flying from Northern Ireland airbases.
• The RAF used the Donegal Air Corridor to help protect the Allied convoys by either tracking or sinking German U-boats and destroyers.
• Castle Archdale became the headquarters of Coastal Command. The calm, deep waters of Lough Erne and its westerly position made this base ideal for planes from the RAF and USAAF which were patrolling the Atlantic. It was also the base for two Canadian squadrons.
• A Sunderland flying boat from Castle Archdale located the German battleship Bismarck in May 1941, enabling the Royal Navy to destroy it.

North Africa, Southern Italy and D-Day

• US forces used Northern Ireland between 1942 and 1944.
• Northern Ireland was also a base for operations in North Africa, Southern Italy and D-Day. By 1943, there were close to 300,000 military personnel stationed throughout the province.
• Northern Ireland also produced parts for the Mulberry harbours used in the Normandy landings.

During the war, agricultural production increased dramatically.

• The amount of land used for growing crops increased by 60 per cent. Particularly significant were the increases in the production of flax, oats and potatoes.
• Northern Ireland provided 20 per cent of Britain's egg requirement: exports of livestock, especially cattle and sheep, to Britain were worth £3 million each year; 100,000 litres of milk per day were sent to Scotland.
• Allotments increased fourfold. The government ensured that sufficient artificial fertilizers were available to support this increase - which became known as the Dig for Victory.

There were two main reasons for this remarkable performance:

• Continued availability of fertilizers.
• The more than one hundred fold increase in tractor numbers.

Much of the credit for the success of the agricultural sector belongs to the Minister for Agriculture, Basil Brooke.

His success was key to his appointment as Prime Minister in 1943.

Rationing

Rationing was introduced for a number of items including fresh meat, dairy produce and fuel.

For some, particularly those close to the border, smuggling eased the shortages while others resorted to the black market.

For the first two years of the war, industrial output was hit by:

• Bad management.
• A lack of planning (by early 1941, no new factories had been built).
• A shortage of skilled workers coupled with poor working practices. For example, each aircraft produced in Northern Ireland took three times longer than in Britain.
• A series of strikes (even though they were supposed to be illegal).

All of this led to sharp criticism from Churchill.

It was 1943 before output really improved.

Unemployment dropped, production figures climbed and wages and living standards improved.

A variety of firms produced a significant number of tanks, ships, aircraft and munitions.

• The Harland and Wolff shipyard was invaluable. Between 1939 and 1945, it produced 140 warships, 123 merchant ships and repaired 3,000 vessels. Ships were not its only product. It also manufactured over 500 tanks, 13 million aircraft parts and 800 gun-mountings.
• The Short and Harland aircraft factory initially concentrated on production of the Bristol Bombay, a military transport plane, and small Hereford bombers. Later 1,200 Stirling bombers and 125 Sunderland flying boats (which could land on water) were also produced.
• The Sirocco Works constructed ventilation equipment for armament factories in Britain while James Mackie and Sons, along with other engineering plants, produced 75 million shells, 180 million incendiary bullets and one-third of the ropes used by the armed forces.
• The linen industry contributed to the production of 30 million shirts and two million parachutes.

However, despite of making valuable contributions to the war effort, production levels were generally lower in Northern Ireland than in other parts of the UK.