Item Coventry Blitz (2 Viewers)

Cov kid 55

Well-Known Member
This is, I’m sure, in the wrong area, but for all proud Coventrians on this forum, can I recommend a book I’m reading by Frederick Taylor, ‘COVENTRY, Thursday, 24 November 1940’? Excellent background and information about our City before, during, and after the blitz. Feel free to bump on Nick, and sorry for random post.
 

Houchens Head

Fairly well known member from Malvern
Surely the main "blitz" on Coventry was the 14th November, not the 24th as in the OP? Anyway, apart from the date mistake, I can't say I remember the night as I wasn't born until a few years later, but my mum's dad (my grandad) was killed that night. An ordinary bloke doing a night shift in a small factory off the Butts. So I never knew him, but managed to find a couple of photos of him.
 

ovduk78

Well-Known Member
My grandad was bomb watching at the GEC/AEI/BTH , not sure what it was called then?, whilst my grandma, mum & auntie sheltered under the stairs of their house in Green Lane, my auntie told me they passed the time playing games and talking about what they wanted for christmas. My grandad loved his garden & didn't want an air raid shelter in the garden & didn't want one in the house either. My dad lived on Daventry Road in Cheylesmore but I don't know what they did or where they were whilst it was going on.
 

Cov kid 55

Well-Known Member
Surely the main "blitz" on Coventry was the 14th November, not the 24th as in the OP? Anyway, apart from the date mistake, I can't say I remember the night as I wasn't born until a few years later, but my mum's dad (my grandad) was killed that night. An ordinary bloke doing a night shift in a small factory off the Butts. So I never knew him, but managed to find a couple of photos of him.
Yes, I’m sorry, a mistype from me, it was the 14th. I also feel a link, as my granny and grandad, and my Mum, had their house destroyed that night. They were in shelters, so not injured. What Coventry went through in the WW2 and how we supported the war effort, is part of what makes me proud to be from Cov. It’s an interesting read.
 
D

Deleted member 4439

Guest
My Dad, not a man prone to making things up or exaggeration, recalled how as a young boy he was stood on a road when in the distance an incendiary device landed on the local chippy. Not sure exactly where this was but he was raised in the Stoke area. He joined the royal navy not long after.

I have pictures of my mum's old house in Larch Tree Avenue, with an Anderson shelter in the garden.

I used to live in Stanway Road, Earlsdon. The house opposite received a hit during the war, the scars left in the re-trussed roof timber.

How lucky we are to have led our lives without wars at our shores.
 

Cov kid 55

Well-Known Member
My Dad, not a man prone to making things up or exaggeration, recalled how as a young boy he was stood on a road when in the distance an incendiary device landed on the local chippy. Not sure exactly where this was but he was raised in the Stoke area. He joined the royal navy not long after.

I have pictures of my mum's old house in Larch Tree Avenue, with an Anderson shelter in the garden.

I used to live in Stanway Road, Earlsdon. The house opposite received a hit during the war, the scars left in the re-trussed roof timber.

How lucky we are to have led our lives without wars at our shores.
Stoke was hammered, and the munitions/factory workers lived in close proximity to the factories, hence why there was so much damage to housing as they bombed the factories. And you’re right, baby boomers like me, obviously with exceptions, have lived at a good time.
 

oscillatewildly

Well-Known Member
My former neighbours (since passed away) Lived through the blitz as teenagers. The husband had a particularly tragic experience - Losing both parents and I think a sister in the 14th/15th Nov attacks (I've seen the plaque honouring the dead, in the Herbert art museum and there are 5 or 6 bearing the same surname so there may well have been other family members lost)
He enlisted in the army the next day. At some point during his training he suffered an injury which amounted to him breaking his neck!
Recovered, he continue his training and was part of the Normandy D-Day landings. The vessel he was onboard was torpedoed somewhere in the Channel. Rescued and taken back to Blighty, he rejoined the liberation operation a few days later.
 

andrew.roberts

Well-Known Member
My dad was a voluntary fireman during the blitz as he was only sixteen at the time and couldn't sign up. He was generally reluctant to talk about his experience that night but after a few whiskies one night he told me about being in Broadgate and trying to extinguish the fires from incendiary bombs, notably Owen and Owens department store. He recalled having being pleasantly surprised that he hadn't actually shit himself.
I was working in Ibiza in the early eighties and met a German Luftwaffe pilot who was involved in the bombing of our city that night and who consequently lost his parents in England's subsequent massive bombing of Dresden. He was a true gentleman whom I'll never forget because after meeting him I understood that wars aren't fought on a personal basis..
I often think about what my father and he and their generation had to go through when some people now are complaining about how incredibly difficult confinement and quarantine has been given that they only have 2000 channels on the television to choose from along with computers and play stations.
I've lived in Spain for over half my life but will always be proud to be a Coventrian.

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk
 

Voice_of_Reason

Well-Known Member
Surely the main "blitz" on Coventry was the 14th November, not the 24th as in the OP? Anyway, apart from the date mistake, I can't say I remember the night as I wasn't born until a few years later, but my mum's dad (my grandad) was killed that night. An ordinary bloke doing a night shift in a small factory off the Butts. So I never knew him, but managed to find a couple of photos of him.
I was born in 1942 and can remember the carnage left by the blitz as a young boy and the temporary shops and water reservoirs in Corporation Street
 

oscillatewildly

Well-Known Member
I was born in 1942 and can remember the carnage left by the blitz as a young boy and the temporary shops and water reservoirs in Corporation Street
My Dad grew up in Hillfields (Born in Leamington in 1943 for obvious reasons) then back to King Richard Street 1943 - 1960. He used to mention 'bomb sites' which meant very little to me and my brother. Apparently these areas of partial clearance (before being redeveloped) existed well throughout the 1950's and were great places of adventure for kids.
 

Houchens Head

Fairly well known member from Malvern
My dad was a voluntary fireman during the blitz as he was only sixteen at the time and couldn't sign up. He was generally reluctant to talk about his experience that night but after a few whiskies one night he told me about being in Broadgate and trying to extinguish the fires from incendiary bombs, notably Owen and Owens department store. He recalled having being pleasantly surprised that he hadn't actually shit himself.
I was working in Ibiza in the early eighties and met a German Luftwaffe pilot who was involved in the bombing of our city that night and who consequently lost his parents in England's subsequent massive bombing of Dresden. He was a true gentleman whom I'll never forget because after meeting him I understood that wars aren't fought on a personal basis..
I often think about what my father and he and their generation had to go through when some people now are complaining about how incredibly difficult confinement and quarantine has been given that they only have 2000 channels on the television to choose from along with computers and play stations.
I've lived in Spain for over half my life but will always be proud to be a Coventrian.

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk
My mum went to her grave in 1993, absolutely hating the Germans and anything German, because as she said, 'they murdered her dad'. She never got over it. Try as I might to explain that it was in the past and war was war, she wouldn't listen. Also, she told me that because she was Southern Irish, along with my nan etc, they were in reality, neutrals.
I remember watching the World Cup Final with her in '66 and she went absolutely nuts because England beat West Germany!
 

Irish Sky Blue

Well-Known Member
This is, I’m sure, in the wrong area, but for all proud Coventrians on this forum, can I recommend a book I’m reading by Frederick Taylor, ‘COVENTRY, Thursday, 24 November 1940’? Excellent background and information about our City before, during, and after the blitz. Feel free to bump on Nick, and sorry for random post.
Well, there's a coincidence because I am reading the exact same book! I am about half way through. I was particularly interested in the couple of pages on the Alvis factory as I did my apprenticeship there in the 70s. It still had a network of underground shelters which were used in those days mainly as store rooms. I didn't realise that the above ground buildings were so extensively damaged. I also didn't know that in those days the Alvis factory was on both sides of the railway line. The part on the city centre side was gone by the time I worked there but according to the book it was hardly damaged at all. Reading this has made me look again at older parts of the city. Walking football has been at Blue Coats school for the past few weeks and driving through that area you can see among the terraced houses the odd single or pair of newer sixties type houses that presumably replaced ones hit in the bombing.
I know Highfield Road was damaged in a raid but he hasn't mentioned this yet, maybe that bit is to come.
Also interesting to see a photo of Butcher's Row with lovely medieval buildings which survived the blitz but which was demolished later by the City Council, making mistakes even then!
A writer (can't remember who, but it is in the book) visited the city and commented on it's beauty, which he said rivalled Nuremburgh
I would certainly recommend this book too.
 

Irish Sky Blue

Well-Known Member
My grandad was bomb watching at the GEC/AEI/BTH , not sure what it was called then?, whilst my grandma, mum & auntie sheltered under the stairs of their house in Green Lane, my auntie told me they passed the time playing games and talking about what they wanted for christmas. My grandad loved his garden & didn't want an air raid shelter in the garden & didn't want one in the house either. My dad lived on Daventry Road in Cheylesmore but I don't know what they did or where they were whilst it was going on.
It mentions in the book that the Green Lane area was bombed quite badly. Was the Standard factory near by?
My dad was a voluntary fireman during the blitz as he was only sixteen at the time and couldn't sign up. He was generally reluctant to talk about his experience that night but after a few whiskies one night he told me about being in Broadgate and trying to extinguish the fires from incendiary bombs, notably Owen and Owens department store. He recalled having being pleasantly surprised that he hadn't actually shit himself.
I was working in Ibiza in the early eighties and met a German Luftwaffe pilot who was involved in the bombing of our city that night and who consequently lost his parents in England's subsequent massive bombing of Dresden. He was a true gentleman whom I'll never forget because after meeting him I understood that wars aren't fought on a personal basis..
I often think about what my father and he and their generation had to go through when some people now are complaining about how incredibly difficult confinement and quarantine has been given that they only have 2000 channels on the television to choose from along with computers and play stations.
I've lived in Spain for over half my life but will always be proud to be a Coventrian.

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk
Sorry to go on about thee book but it does mention a few times that young lads of 15 or 16 were out on these nights cycling around the city and acting as messengers as communications were badly hit. It does say that quite a few lost their lives during the raids.
 

Travs

Well-Known Member
My mum went to her grave in 1993, absolutely hating the Germans and anything German, because as she said, 'they murdered her dad'. She never got over it. Try as I might to explain that it was in the past and war was war, she wouldn't listen. Also, she told me that because she was Southern Irish, along with my nan etc, they were in reality, neutrals.
I remember watching the World Cup Final with her in '66 and she went absolutely nuts because England beat West Germany!


Whilst this is completely understandable from their generation, it is something i struggle to understand from people my age (late 30's) who claim to "hate" Germany.... i'm not talking about some scum-bag either.... a friend with a distinctly middle-class background, brought up in a great family, with a good job, and has travelled and worked in tens of different countries... yet hates Germany....
 

Ranjit Bhurpa

Well-Known Member
It mentions in the book that the Green Lane area was bombed quite badly. Was the Standard factory near by?

Sorry to go on about thee book but it does mention a few times that young lads of 15 or 16 were out on these nights cycling around the city and acting as messengers as communications were badly hit. It does say that quite a few lost their lives during the raids.
My grandparents lived in Woodside Avenue, a couple of streets from Green Lane and told me of a house at the Kenpas Highway end sadly took a direct hit.
I don't know why that area suffered so badly, the Standard Triumph factory was 2 miles or so down the A45.
 

COVKIDSNEVERQUIT

Well-Known Member
My grandparents lived in Woodside Avenue, a couple of streets from Green Lane and told me of a house at the Kenpas Highway end sadly took a direct hit.
I don't know why that area suffered so badly, the Standard Triumph factory was 2 miles or so down the A45.


The house was in Beanfield Ave, which me my family lived in from the 60's .

I think it was just the Luftwaffe emptying the bomb bay on their way back to Germany.
 

The Great Eastern

Well-Known Member
The house was in Beanfield Ave, which me my family lived in from the 60's .

I think it was just the Luftwaffe emptying the bomb bay on their way back to Germany.
That's like in Norfolk where small coastal villages took bombs from the Germans on their way back to their bases on the continent.
Now ordered the book from Amazon. £9.35 sounded fair for a hardback copy.
 

Cov kid 55

Well-Known Member
Well, there's a coincidence because I am reading the exact same book! I am about half way through. I was particularly interested in the couple of pages on the Alvis factory as I did my apprenticeship there in the 70s. It still had a network of underground shelters which were used in those days mainly as store rooms. I didn't realise that the above ground buildings were so extensively damaged. I also didn't know that in those days the Alvis factory was on both sides of the railway line. The part on the city centre side was gone by the time I worked there but according to the book it was hardly damaged at all. Reading this has made me look again at older parts of the city. Walking football has been at Blue Coats school for the past few weeks and driving through that area you can see among the terraced houses the odd single or pair of newer sixties type houses that presumably replaced ones hit in the bombing.
I know Highfield Road was damaged in a raid but he hasn't mentioned this yet, maybe that bit is to come.
Also interesting to see a photo of Butcher's Row with lovely medieval buildings which survived the blitz but which was demolished later by the City Council, making mistakes even then!
A writer (can't remember who, but it is in the book) visited the city and commented on it's beauty, which he said rivalled Nuremburgh
I would certainly recommend this book too.
Just re read the bit about the writer, JB Priestley, who visited the city in 1934. He wrote that Coventry was ‘genuinely old and picturesque’. I don’t think many of us growing up in the late 50’s onwards, would recognise that description. My Mum, who is now 97, used to say that the City was beautiful, full of historic buildings, and then of course, there was the Cathedral. Another interesting aspect of the raid is whether Churchill and the security services, who knew that a huge raid was planned for that evening, also knew that it was Coventry, and withheld the information to prevent the Nazis from realizing that we had cracked the Enigma code. I don’t think we’ll ever really know the answer to that question.
 

Cov kid 55

Well-Known Member
The house was in Beanfield Ave, which me my family lived in from the 60's .

I think it was just the Luftwaffe emptying the bomb bay on their way back to Germany.
I think as well as unloading, bombing was not always accurate, the Nazis had decided that bombing civilians was legitimate, as a means of breaking the morale of the population in key towns like Coventry.
 

Irish Sky Blue

Well-Known Member
Just re read the bit about the writer, JB Priestley, who visited the city in 1934. He wrote that Coventry was ‘genuinely old and picturesque’. I don’t think many of us growing up in the late 50’s onwards, would recognise that description. My Mum, who is now 97, used to say that the City was beautiful, full of historic buildings, and then of course, there was the Cathedral. Another interesting aspect of the raid is whether Churchill and the security services, who knew that a huge raid was planned for that evening, also knew that it was Coventry, and withheld the information to prevent the Nazis from realizing that we had cracked the Enigma code. I don’t think we’ll ever really know the answer to that question.
The writer plays down the possibility of Coventry being sacrificed although he does site evidence to the contrary as well.
What did surprise me was that Coventry was virtually defenceless. No air defence at all. It did seem that all the effort had gone in to protecting London. On the 14th the German's lost only one plane from the hundreds that attacked and that one crashed.
 

skyblueinBaku

Well-Known Member
My Dad grew up in Hillfields (Born in Leamington in 1943 for obvious reasons) then back to King Richard Street 1943 - 1960. He used to mention 'bomb sites' which meant very little to me and my brother. Apparently these areas of partial clearance (before being redeveloped) existed well throughout the 1950's and were great places of adventure for kids.
I used to play on a bombsite at the top of Gulson Road opposite the hospital. This would be mid 50s.
 

COVKIDSNEVERQUIT

Well-Known Member
I think as well as unloading, bombing was not always accurate, the Nazis had decided that bombing civilians was legitimate, as a means of breaking the morale of the population in key towns like Coventry.


One house in one street, on wonder they lost the war.
 

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