29/10/2025
Letters from the Blitz airs Thursday 30th October at 10.40PM on BBC Northern Ireland & Tuesday 4th November at 8PM on BBC Northern Ireland
Told through beautifully restored family films and personal letters, a new documentary for BBC Northern Ireland offers a rare glimpse into life in Northern Ireland during World War Two.
Made by DoubleBand Films, Letters From The Blitz uses the wartime letters that Helen Ramsey Turtle, a young American mother living in Belfast, wrote to her family in Denver, Colorado to document this pivotal time in Northern Ireland’s history.
Helen’s letters vividly describe the horror of the Belfast Blitz, the food shortages and nightly blackouts that fell upon the city and the buzz of American soldiers arriving in Northern Ireland. They also illustrate her own deeply personal story of resilience and optimism in the face of an unexpected illness.
Helen’s daughter, Julie Turtle Mackie, recalls the family’s move to Mahee Island in County Down to escape the sirens in Belfast, and the events that shaped her life, including when a family of evacuees (a mother and her four children), made homeless after the Belfast Blitz, came to live with them.
Julie and Karen Smith, whose mother Ellie was one of those children, meet at the cottage on Mahee Island to share stories and look through photo albums from that time. And Julie reveals how she has really come to know her mother, through these letters.
Other contributors include Professor John Wilson Foster who edited the book Midnight Again: The Wartime Letters of Helen Ramsey Turtle, historian Dr Joseph Quinn, Professor Leanne McCormick, editor Scott Edgar and Joan McCabe and Doreen McBride who were children during the Belfast Blitz.
Letters From The Blitz, produced by DoubleBand Films for BBC Northern Ireland, airs Thursday 30 October at 10.40pm on BBC One Northern Ireland and BBC iPlayer.
