Searchlight

The stories of the Second World War and the Holocaust are less well-known in Northern Ireland. Through ‘Searchlight: Stories of the Second World War’, we will illuminate the stories of objects that live in our collections – like those that belonged to Kenneth Brown, a young man from Northern Ireland who trained as an RAF pilot in Canada, and who later used those skills to fly evidence to the Nuremberg trials. The press pass pictured above gave him the chance to bear witness to some of the most important legal trials of the twentieth century.

’Searchlight: Untold Stories of the Second World War’ is part of the Second World War and Holocaust Partnership Programme led by Imperial War Museums and generously supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. National Museums NI is one of eight partner sites across the UK joining Imperial War Museums in sharing less well-known local stories to coincide with the reopening of IWM London’s Second World War and the Holocaust Galleries. 

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The Belfast Blitz Walking Tour

A new self-guided walking tour with our partners at the Northern Ireland War Memorial that explores the impact of the Blitz on the centre of Belfast. Hundreds were wounded or killed in four air raids in the spring of 1941, and houses and businesses were destroyed.

Using archival photographs from Northern Irish collections – like this one showing the devastating aftermath of an air raid on Donegall Street – the tour explores the impact of the Blitz on the streets we walk today. Pick up a free booklet, that contains the tour route and archive photographs, from the Ulster Museum, the Northern Ireland War Memorial, Belfast Cathedral or the City Hall and access the audio tour on Smartify using your smartphone.

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In Their Words

As part of the Unlocking Our Sound Heritage project, volunteer researchers have played an essential role digitising the oral histories within our collections.

We will be using the oral history testimonies of those who lived through the Second World War and the Holocaust to bring that era to life with a dedicated resource for school students.