Coventry Blitz: 80th Anniversary

Matt Western Excerpts

Wednesday 11th November 2020 Commons Chamber

[Colleen Fletcher]

Of course I will join my hon. Friend in that and I will come on to those points, which are renowned in Coventry. People know about the communities in Coventry.

As I was saying, these people would be later commemorated in a number of mass funerals. Today, a monument still stands in the London Road cemetery. Almost every Coventry family who had members present in the city at the time have a story about the Coventry blitz. Those stories live on, often through children and grandchildren, and certainly through many publications. They include stories that range from the incredible to the tragic. There are stories about children and families who had spent 11 hours crouching in shelters. One man recalled being pursued down a street by a knee-high river of boiling butter from a nearby blazing dairy. An abandoned tram was blown clean over a house and into a garden—it landed with its windows still intact. There were reports the morning after of a lone fireman watching helplessly while the buildings were still burning. For one family, all that remained of their home was the washing line pole, which was found streets away in a school playground.

The story of the Coventry Blitz was also important in my family. My parents were both in Coventry on that night. They did not discuss the war very often with us when we were children, but from speaking to my siblings—I have two sisters and a brother—I know that we all had the same recollections of things that they had said about that night. My father was 15 years old in 1940, and he watched the devastation from Stoke Heath common, which is in my constituency. It is not far from where he lived and a couple of miles from the city centre. He always spoke about the sky over the city centre having an immense red glow. He later went on to join the Royal Navy when he was old enough to do so, and caught the last year of the war. My mother was just 12, and lived not far from the centre of Coventry, in Howard Street.

Mum spent that night under the stairs, as many did; that was where she spent the nights when there were bombing raids. Amazingly, when she emerged in the morning, she discovered that not one pane of glass had been broken in their house. Many other streets nearby were not so lucky, but this demonstrates just how much the bombing was concentrated in the city centre. My grandad was an ARP warden and was out on duty that night. We still have his white steel helmet with a “W” on it. It also has an “FW” on it, as he was a fire watcher. It is a stark reminder of the dangers faced that night.

The days and weeks after 14 November took a heavy toll on the people of Coventry. Visitors from Mass-Observation noted that the night

“had left people practically speechless”.

The day after the air raid, one observer, Tom Harrisson, noted that

“the size of the town meant nearly everyone knew someone who was killed or missing. The dislocation is so total that people easily feel that the town itself is killed. ‘Coventry is finished’ and Coventry is dead’ were the key phrases of Fridays talk. There were more open signs of hysteria, terror and neurosis observed in one evening than during the whole of the rest of the past two months in all areas.”

He went on to say:

“The overwhelmingly dominant feeling on Friday was the feeling of utter helplessness”—

and it

“had left people practically speechless in many cases.”

The reporting goes on to capture how many people felt powerless amid such widespread destruction. There were also practical issues with the gas, electric and water supply, which had been damaged in the bombing. Many woke up to find themselves unemployed, with their workplaces having been hit heavily in the air raid. For many, it might well have felt as though life would never be the same.

Yet, despite of all the challenges, the city was neither dead nor finished. The people of Coventry rose to the challenge of rebuilding the city, and what followed was a testament to the power of community and the courage of those who had seen such destruction. They came from all backgrounds and all walks of life. There were air raid wardens, auxiliary firemen and members of the home guard and the Women’s Voluntary Service. Help also came from churches and community organisations, and from extended families determined to help each other out. It will be surely lost on no one how these pillars of community continue to be vital, especially at times such as the present. To paraphrase one observer, acts of individual courage following the bombing could fill a book, and they have.

Following that night, 1,800 members of the armed forces were brought to Coventry to help with the repairs. Within the first few weeks, basic repairs had been carried out on 12,000 homes. Within a fortnight, many of the bombed factories had already started production. That meant that 80% of the workers who had been made unemployed after the bombing were back at work, a feat that was heralded by much of the national press at the time.

[Matt Western (Warwick and Leamington) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend is making a powerful speech, and I commend her for securing this Adjournment debate. She was speaking about the psychological trauma that so many Coventrians felt, and I sensed that when I arrived in the city in the early ’80s. She also described the utter devastation, and the obliteration of the city. The fact that the people of Coventry rebuilt their industries and their factories and switched them to munitions, and got aircraft back into manufacture, was an extraordinary feat. That is what says so much about the people of Coventry.

[Colleen Fletcher]

Indeed, and I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention.

It is for those reasons that the phoenix became a symbol of Coventry, symbolising Coventry’s rising from the ashes and renewing itself against the odds. It was this spirit that would be at the heart of Coventry’s post-war revival. Out of the rubble and the ashes of the second world war, Coventry’s industries would thrive. This in turn would drive the growth of the city. A wealth of jobs and opportunities brought many to Coventry, first from the rest of the UK and Ireland and later from the Commonwealth.

As I have already mentioned, the memory of the Coventry blitz lives on in the city. Some of the legacies are physical and tangible, and the most obvious are in the remains of the old cathedral, which stand as a solemn reminder of that night. Some of the names of those who gave so much to the city live on in city landmarks. Many of my constituents may well have been pupils at Sidney Stringer or Pearl Hyde schools, both of which were named after councillors who played a leading role during the war and in the reconstruction of the city that followed. The latter was a councillor for the then Walsgrave ward in my constituency, and she was the first female lord mayor of Coventry during the war. She led the Women’s Voluntary Service in the city and was awarded an MBE for her efforts during the blitz.

The blitz has been commemorated regularly in the city. A particular highlight was in 1990 on the 50th anniversary, when Coventry was visited by the Queen Mother. Of course, this year we will sadly not have the opportunity to commemorate and honour the memory of the Coventry blitz in a similar fashion. However, regardless of social distancing, we will be able to honour the spirit and the lessons of the event. It is worth recognising the powerful message of peace and reconciliation that has come from that night.

The experience of the blitz spurred Coventry to look outwards and offer support and solidarity to cities around the world facing tragedy. In 1942, the first twinning of cities happened when Coventry was twinned with Stalingrad in recognition of the plight of that city during the German invasion. Alongside aid, a tablecloth containing the embroidered names of 900 Coventry women was sent to the city of Stalingrad. The link between the two cities continues to this day, showing that out of the horror of war can come hope and friendship. Perhaps an even more powerful statement can be seen in Coventry’s twinning with the German cities of Kiel and Dresden, demonstrating clearly a desire to see peace and reconciliation triumph over the hatred of the war years.

Today, Coventry cathedral still does vital work across the world to foster peace and understanding between communities. The International Cross of Nails Schools network supports schools that seek to cross sectarian divides, in Northern Ireland, South Africa, Israel, Palestine and many more. All this is inspired by the strength of feeling that came from that night that there was a brighter and more peaceful future for both the city of Coventry and the wider world. It is this desire to look to the future as a community against all odds that is most important for us to remember and recognise. In the face of all the horror and fear, ordinary citizens did extraordinary things. Out of the ashes of that night, Coventry rose like a phoenix. In the years following the war, it thrived, becoming home to many more who have surely drawn on this historic spirit.

It goes without saying that the story of the Coventry blitz—a story of courage and community, of resilience and reconciliation—is worthy of recognition. I am grateful to be given the opportunity in this place to recall and commemorate the Coventry blitz: the most horrific event in my city’s history. I am grateful for this chance to applaud the courage, spirit and resilience of the people of Coventry, both for those who were there and those like me, who grew up with memories of the night. Finally, to hope—that, for the future, resources will always be available to keep reminding people of all these things. Lest we forget.