Anyway this is not a post from me, it is a post from my dad, 75 years ago tonight, as tonight is not an ordinary night, it is the 75th Anniversary of the Coventry Blitz.
Then
came the night of November 14th 1940. It was a cold but moonlit night, the full
moon was so bright that it was almost possible to read a newspaper outside. The
sirens sounded their warning about 7 pm and almost immediately we could hear
bombs whistling down in the distance, and the sound of distant explosions. Anti
aircraft guns added to the general din, the noise they made when they fired was
a hollow bang like someone hitting an empty oil drum with hammer , and the
sound of shells going off thousands of feet
in the air was a lazy crump, almost like a car door being shut. After
about half and hour we realised it was going to be a big raid so we huddled
under the stairs. There was my mother, my elder brother Fred who was 11 years
older than me, and myself. I thin there was also one of my elder sisters, but I am not sure. To be
quite honest I was never sure where various members of the family lived at
various times. My brother Fred armed himself with an axe and went out into the
night. After a while he came back to tell us that fires were burning everywhere
and the Germans were dropping a new type of incendiary bomb which exploded when
it had been alight for a minute, scattering white hot burning magnesium for
yards in every direction. They were very dangerous and much more deadly than
the older type. By about 8 0 clock the raid was well under way, there was an
almost continual noise, the sound of bombs screaming in the distance, the
sudden whoosh of a bomb dropping neared followed by the blast of the explosion
and that followed by the almost musical tinkle of shattered glass falling in
the street. Then the bang and crump of anti aircraft guns, The noise of falling
shrapnel from these was like hail,
occasionally a large piece would fall with a hiss and a plop as it went
through a roof tile or bounced off the pavement. Sometimes a brick or chunk of
masonry would crash to the ground outsider, flung hundreds of yards by some
distant bomb and in between the sounds of the various crashes and bangs could
be heard the very deep pulsating roar of
the German bombers as they flew at will over the city. We huddled in our
cramped shelter under the stairs with only a hurricane lamp for light. Quite
early on the electricity, gas and water was put out of action. I do not thing
we had a drink of any kind, we were caught unprepared for such a long raid. The
air became thick with the smell of smoke mixed with the acrid smell of burnt
explosives and the peculiar smell of old houses that have been blown apart, a
mixture of old plaster and soot. Although Crabmill lane was a couple of miles
from the city centre, we were not very far from various factories. Around us,
within ten minutes walking distance in every direction lay the factories of
Morris Motor Works, Courtauld's, the rayon spinning firm, a little further on,
Daimler and so on, and many smaller manufacturing companies. All these were
potential targets for the Germans so bombs rained down all around us. I was
only thirteen years old, and I was not really aware of the danger of the
situation, but the fear was there. Time seemed to stand still and minutes
became hours and gradually my senses were dulled by continual noise. I didn't
know what time it was, it may have been about 11 or 12 o clock but suddenly the
house shook with a terrific explosion. The rooms were full of dust and glass,
the windows and doors were blown in, there was no sound, just the choking smell
of plaster, hot air, and burnt gasses. Later on we discovered that a very large
bomb had blown a crater in Stoney Stanton road only 70 or 80 yards away. Time
stood still. I don't know if I dozed off
or not, but I remember a voice shouting "is there anyone in here" it
was a warden. When we answered he told us that we must move out. There was a
land mine sitting near the bomb crater just up the road. We moved quickly and
gathered up a few clothes. I had two cats, one of which had disappeared. I was
more concerned with them than anything else. The air raid warden guided us out
and told us to make our way to the shelters in the Morris Motor Works on the Bell Green Rd about half a mile to the
north. We hurried out past burning buildings, perhaps relieved to be getting
away. Eventually we found the comparative safety of the Morris underground
shelter. The rest of the raid was spent there. I do not remember the "all
clear" being sounded on the factory sirens, but by six o clock there was
no more sound of German Aircraft. The only place we could go was to my married sister’s
house at 284 Bell Green road. We stumbled out into the dark morning passing the
wreckage of bombed buildings. The air stank, smoke hung everywhere, and here
and there we passed a burning house, left to burn itself out, for there was no
water to fight the fires, WE reach my sisters house which was full of refugees
like ourselves. Most of them were women and some of hem had babies in their
arms. I remember that one or two were feeding their babies from their breasts which
I felt was a little embarrassing. I was just old enough to feel the awakening
of sexual differences. No one really bothered, I guess we were all glad to be
alive. I am very vague about the next few days. I remember my brother coming
in, he had been into the city, he said it was a ruin.
