Wartime mystery scene

Heathite, thanks for that. You can see the shiny patches and whole roofs where they've had to replace the old tiles around the area of the bomb.

As sad as it may seem, this thread has been very controversial and all you Sherlocks on here seem to have cracked the mystery so thank you unless of course there is still more digging to do. Keep up the excellent work. They say a picture paints a thousand words well this one has.

A little bit more showing the probable location and a new shiny roof. The pub must have taken a direct hit and the rescuers appear to be standing in the remains of the pub.

Helen That you cracked the location is marvellous, but the actual photo must have been taken in July 1945 as Annewiggy said, and long after the raid as Argon said, and it's a summer picture on a winter scene of an old bombed building. I now think it would be bodies come to light after being entombed for five years. The reason I didn't remember the photo was that I was not in Coventry in July '45. There was a little dog seen with a child's arm in its mouth, someone took a photo and was attacked by people, the camera and its contents destroyed, all while bombs were falling. It was a time of deep imprint on the mind.

Helen, Just found a newspaper article from 1945 stating that Mr Potter, previously from the Plough Hotel, had recently died. It continues saying that the hotel was destroyed in the raids of April 1941. Mr Potter was sponsor of a motoring trophy for the club associated with the hotel.

Thank you argon. The poor soul lost everything.

To me the Germans knew exactly what damage they did in Nov '40, so they moved a little to the left, coming from the south west and an outer ring in April with their bomb load, caught Spon St and the top of Stoney Stanton Rd and the hospital etc.

Was it not Gilly Potter that always started his patter with "This is Gilly Potter speaking to you in English"? I vaguely recall he continued with a Gobbledygook English as she is speak type gargon. Such a long time ago now I'm probably talking about someone else.

Gilly Potter was a Coventry comedian in the thirties/forties, wasn't his real name, but can't remember much about him. He was on radio?

This is how he was listed in a 1942 newspaper Another Gillie Potter programme from the Hogsnorton Station will be broadcast "on a wavelength of one gasmeter" at 8.15 in the Forces programme to-night. He seems to have been going through the 1930's as well as a comedian. He was born Hugh William Peel, in Bedford

Wikipedia link - Gillie Potter

Yeh, we didn't listen to a lotta potta, he bored us to tears - we turned to George Formby who became top comedian.

Coventry Blitz Apr 1941 - but where is it?

With that slope my initial guess is Cross Cheaping looking North?

I've read somewhere that it was Hertford Street and it looks like the buildings match some of the views in the library.