Coventry Blitz
By Cory Mosey
Year 10 pupil from Grace Academy Coventry
The Coventry Blitz was one of the most disastrous events of Coventry history. The Coventry Blitz was a series of various air raids on Coventry which had a massive effect on both the people who lived there and its industry. Coventry was known for its automotive industry and produced many famous car brands, including, Jaguar, Triumph and Rover. After the air raids on Coventry, many of the factories were destroyed, some involved in the automotive industry, so this affected the manufacturing of cars tremendously, and also the manufacturing of engines. One of the bombs dropped on Coventry landed on the Cathedral, which meant a lot to Coventry's community. The bomb didn't destroy the Cathedral as much as the fire did, this is because the German Air Force had a tactic for the bombings on the 14th November 1940, known as Operation Moonlight Sonata, to light up Coventry with a firestorm using bombs which were made to start fires, they were called incendiary bombs, this is what destroyed part of the Cathedral, well the wooden structure of it which held the roof in place. Fire-fighters managed to put out the fire, but more bombs were directed on it throughout the Blitz. November 1940, over 500 tonnes of highly explosive equipment was used, including, parachute air-mines, incendiary petroleum mines and incendiary bombs. Then on 8th/9th April 1941, around 315 high explosives were used and 710 incendiary bombs.
There were three main air raids on Coventry, one was on the 14th November 1940, which damaged or destroyed around 60,000 buildings, and the attack itself was directed at Coventry's factories and industrial buildings. The raid killed around 568 people and injured many more. Another main raid was on 8th/9th April 1941, this attack destroyed or damaged many more buildings including, Central Police Station, the Coventry & Warwickshire Hospital, King Henry VII School and St. Mary's Hall. The air raid killed around 475 people and over 700 people were seriously injured. The last air raid on Coventry was on the 3rd August 1942 and it was in the Stoke Heath district, approximately one mile to the east of the city centre, 6 people were killed. Overall around 1,250 people were killed in the result of air raids during the Coventry Blitz and around 80% of the deaths were because of the raids on the 14th/15th November 1940 - 8th/10th April 1941.
There were a few reasons why Coventry was targeted for the air raids, one of the main reasons being because of the industry here. Another reason was, a few days before the Coventry raid, the RAF directed an air raid in Germany on a city which was the homeland of the Nazi Party, and so they wanted revenge on us. As Coventry was well known for its industry it was therefore a good place to bomb because of its national effect.
The entire country felt the after effects of the Coventry Blitz. As so many houses were destroyed and so many people became homeless. The government suffered because Coventry manufactured a lot of their military engines, aircraft, armoured fighting vehicles, naval guns, torpedoes, and many other essential products such as machine tools. The industry suffered a lot because of the loss of production, money loss and the fact they had to pay to get there factories rebuilt to start manufacturing again. Many car companies moved to different place after World War II, because of the impact of the Coventry Blitz which meant there were job losses which again caused a lot of people to become homeless because of loss of income.
The picture shown above is of a Lancaster Bomber, which was manufactured in Coventry
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