The Belfast Blitz of 1941
The skies were clear and the moon was full when over 200 German bombers approached the coast of County Down during the last hour of Sunday the 4 May 1941.
In 2005 Jonathan was approached by 麻豆社 Radio Ulster with a small challenge - to write over 200 five minute programmes describing the history of Ireland from the Ice Age to the start of the Troubles.
The project eventually grew to 300 programmes and was entitled 鈥楢 Short History of Ireland鈥�.
Undaunted by a challenge, Jonathan began by painting a picture of a land where brown bears and wolves roamed, and where a dense forest covered the island so completely that a red squirrel could travel from its most northerly point in County Donegal to its southern tip in County Cork without ever having to touch the ground.
He guided listeners through a history encompassing ancient Celtic gods, fearsome Vikings, dreadful famines and warring kings.
Jonathan's great skill was to bring his subject to life by focussing on remarkable characters and first-hand accounts. He told us of Gr谩inne O'Malley, the fearsome pirate queen who plagued Queen Elizabeth, of a Spanish Armada survivor who fell for the beautiful girls who sheltered him, and of how in 1895 Belfast produced enough yarn to encircle the world 25,000 times.
In 2016 Jonathan's vivid and harrowing descriptions of the Belfast Blitz were made into four short animations. These were created to mark the 75th anniversary of those dreadful events in 1941.
In this animation, The Easter Tuesday Belfast Blitz, Jonathan sets the scene of calm before the storm. On Easter Tuesday, the 15th of April 1941, 180 German bombers took off from their aerodromes in Northern France towards a sleeping city.
As well as a tribute to Jonathan the animation is one of a series of four that will be available again on 麻豆社 iPlayer to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day, which falls on the 8th of May 2020.
