#coventry blitz

[angloirishnolanist]

On this day 85 years ago, my city was hit in what was coined the "Coventry Blitz", or "Blitz Night", when the Luftwaffe bombed the city. Contrary to popular belief that Coventry was a sacrifice on this night, this is absolutely untrue. Yes, the attack had been learned of by codebreakers, but not where this would be taking place. Coventry's resilience is honoured in the city's crest, which includes the phoenix - Coventry being a city that 'rose from the ashes' of war.

You can still walk around the ruined remains of Coventry's "Old Cathedral", iconic for its red stone and the shell of its perimeter that stands in the city centre today.

In my time as a healthcare worker, I cared for a lady who had been born on Blitz Night. What a terrifying experience that must have been for her mother, to welcome a new baby at that time. She was full of stories of post-war Coventry, and lived to be 83!

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Traces of an air-raid shelter from the air (Coventry, England).

Dark rectangles in the ground show the filled-in remains of the trenches, despite having been partially demolished after the war.

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The roofless shell of St. Michael's Baptist Church in Coventry (spring 1944), taken from the west tower of the Cathedral.  A timber-framed Jacobean pub called “The Golden Cross”, in the top right-hand corner, survived the blitz without damage.

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Coventry (England, 1944).

The men are removing the tramlines in Broadgate and Trinity Street for salvage.  In the background is the Holy Trinity Church, which survived the Blitz largely thanks to the vicar, Canon Graham Clitheroe, and his fire-fighting team, who prevented fires from incendiary bombs from taking hold.

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Bomb damage in Broadgate (central Coventry) the morning after a devastating air raid (November 15th, 1940).

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A Coventry street two days after the city suffered its worst air raid of the war (November 16th, 1940).  The Holy Trinity Church can be seen in the background.

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The ruined Coventry Cathedral (spring 1944), from the west tower.  A path has been cleared through the rubble along the central nave, and a cross of charred roof beams can be seen on the high altar.

This photo, taken around the same time, looks down the aisle from the altar end, towards the west tower.

[mostly-history]

The ruined nave and chancel of Coventry Cathedral from the west tower, after the German air raid of November 14th – 15th, 1940.