How York learned about 9/11 terror attacks in New York

As readers of The Evening Press scanned headlines about a "massive shake-up" of the city’s bus network on September 11, 2001, few could have imagined the events unfolding thousands of miles away in New York.

Lawrence Rainey, an American professor based in York at the time, heard the devastating news during a call to his mother in Chicago. It was 2pm in the UK - 8am in Chicago, and 9am in New York.

Professor Rainey previously told The Press: "She said 'you won't believe what's happened. She said 'I'm watching it on the TV. A plane has just flown into the World Trade Center.'"

Those early reports quickly gave way to images of burning towers and scenes of chaos that became etched in the world’s collective memory.

At the Walmgate offices of The Evening Press, silence fell as journalists watched the unfolding tragedy on a large television screen in the newsroom.

Smoke billows across the New York City skyline after two hijacked planes crashed into the twin towers on Sept. 11, 2001. (Image: AP Photo/Patrick Sison, File))

The first plane - an American Airlines Boeing 767 - struck the north tower at 8.45am New York time, and 18 minutes later, a second plane hit the south tower, confirming the worst fears of viewers everywhere.

Soon, it was clear this was no accident but a coordinated terrorist attack by Al-Qaeda, led by Osama bin Laden.

A third plane hit the Pentagon, while a fourth crashed in Pennsylvania.

Nearly 3,000 people lost their lives.

The New York City Fire Department lost 343 firefighters, almost half the number of on-duty deaths in the department's 100-year history. The Department received more than 1 million pieces of mail following the attacks - the mementos filled two warehouses.

Fires at Ground Zero burned for 99 days following the attack, until December 19.

Our newspaper carried an initial report of the attacks in the late edition of The Evening Press on the evening of Tuesday, September 11, with a fuller report the following morning, bearing the spine-chilling headline: "We can hear the voices of lost souls".

One firefighter in New York described the scene to a Press Association journalist as 'unimaginable, devastating, unspeakable carnage'.

In the aftermath, the then York MP Hugh Bayley warned against allowing fear to erode the values under attack.

First responder raise the American flag on what would become known as Ground Zero. (Gannett) (Image: Gannett)

Mr Bayley said: "There is a risk that to protect ourselves against terrorism we will undermine the freedoms that we enjoy.

"Then it becomes these freedoms themselves that are under attack by the terrorists."

The Evening Press shared the sense of shock and sorrow felt across the city.

On the letters page, John Bibby from Heworth wrote of the shared grief between old York and New York.

Writing at the time, Mr Bibby said: "The morality of a common humanity condemns last week's events.

"So I was surprised, but proud, as an atheist... to find myself in York Minster with thousands of others, expressing grief and solidarity with the USA.

"As citizens of Old York or New York, we should all be proud to say 'Ich bin ein New Yorker.'"

Ten years on, a leader article in The Press, as it had become, captured the enduring impact of that day.

The article read: "This weekend marks the tenth anniversary of the worst terrorist atrocities the world has ever seen.

"The phrase '9/11' entered the vocabulary that day along with 'Ground Zero', words that have since acted as a memorial to the 2,996 people who died in the attack."

North Yorkshire filmmaker Paul Berriff, now 80, later shared his own experience of working in New York on September 11, 2001, when he and his crew headed to the World Trade Centre after hearing a plane had struck one of the Twin Towers.

North Yorkshire filmmaker Paul Berriff who was working in New York on September 11, 2001, remembers crawling his way back to his apartment, following the cars with his hands as his visibility was reduced, (Image: Paul Berriff)

Expecting an accident rather than a terrorist attack, they instead encountered scenes of smoke, fire and panic as people fled the area.

Filming at the foot of the South Tower, Paul witnessed its collapse and narrowly escaped as debris engulfed the streets.

He described surviving as a “miracle” and said the experience changed his outlook on life forever, teaching him not to get stressed by everyday problems because “you just don’t know what may happen”.

Firefighters - Watch manager Norman Denton and Firefighters Metcalfe, Allanson and Barlow - pictured standing in silence outside York fire station in Kent Street, exactly 20 years after the start of the 9/11 terrorist attack in America, to honour the (Image: The Press)

York firefighters stood in silence outside the Kent Street fire station on September 11, 2021, exactly 20 years after the start of the 9/11 terrorist attack in America.

North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service colleagues completing the first of 343 climbs to honour the 343 firefighters who died in the September 11, 2001 attacks. (Image: (Image: Alice Kavanagh))

The blue watch crew at the time, including watch manager Norman Denton and firefighters Metcalfe, Allanson and Barlow, stood for one minute at 1.46pm, the time when the first hijacked plane crashed into one of the twin towers in New York.

They stood in memory of the innocent people who died in the attacks including fellow firefighters who died.

Last month, on August 1, a team from North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service took on an arduous challenge at Clifford’s Tower in York, in full kit, climbing and descending the tower's steps 343 times with each ascent representing one of the firefighters who lost their lives on September 11, 2001.