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Lest We Forget

Last updated : 14 November 2008 By Covsupport News Service & KK
Remembering all Coventrians 68 years ago today whose lives were affected by the Blitz.

On the night of the 14th November 1940 - Code named Moonlight Sonata, five hundred German bombers decimated the city - dropping 150,000 fire bombs and 503 tons of high explosives, as well as 130 parachute mines.

Over a period of ten hours that lasted from dusk until dawn there was seldom a period of more than two minutes when a bomb could not be heard falling.

At 7.20pm on the evening of 14th November, one hundred pathfinder bombers droned over Coventry in the bright moonlight,. Dropping parachute flares followed by incendiaries to mark the way for the main force of bombers that would follow.

At 7.30pm the second wave of bombers arrived dropping the first of five hundred tons of high explosive bombs.

Some were aimed at industrial targets around the city but many others were concentrated on bombing the centre of the city itself.

The Cathedral of St Michael was hit early in the evening.The Cathedral Provost, the Very Reverend Dick Howard and a party of helpers tried to put out the fires caused by incendiary bombs by smothering them with sand.
But another shower of incendiaries accompanied by high explosives forced them to give up their efforts and at the end of the raid the Cathedral lay in ruins.

By 8.00pm every available fire appliance in the city was in use as fire fighters battled against the flames of the city.

By the time the bombing raid had ended twenty six were dead, thirty four were seriously injured andtwo hundred firefighters suffered cuts and bruises.

Many of the people hid in cellars, crypts and air raid shelters as bombs fell about them. Others remained in their own homes, thousands of which were destroyed.

Many of the city's factories were bombed. Seven of which were vital war factories which halted production for months. Many of the streets were littered with rubble as houses lay destroyed. The city centre was ablaze with over two hundred fires that covered the city in red flames.

Bombers approaching 150 miles away could see the glow against the blackness of the night.

The bombing went on through the early hours and it was not until well after 5am that the bombardment began to subside. Finally at 6.15am the all-clear sounded and slowly the people began to emerge into the blackened city.

The city's tram system was destroyed and out of a fleet of 181 buses only 73 remained. Practically all gas and water pipes were smashed and people were advised to boil emergency supplies of water.

Amongst the rubble lay the charred and twisted human remains - some of whom were never identified; 554 men, women and children lay dead and 865 others were injured.