The Blitz - 14th November 1940

Rob, hi! The way I saw it. A fighter station was so unruly - an outbreak of indiscipline, underperforming - in 1940 that Guy Gibson was asked to help sort out the mess with the station Commander. A colossal job. The weeding out of underperforming officers and splitting up squadrons by a Bomber Command boy was going to cause a mighty lot of friction and dislike - he was as ruthless at that as he was in the sky, he had few friends and most airmen disliked him from the start of his days. He was asked to report to the fighter station on 13th November 1940 - this he did. Nowhere can I find he flew around in any plane, neither can I find any mention of RAF bombers in the sky on the 14th other than in his book. His first time in a fighter plane was 1st December. Early 1944 he was asked by the RAF to write a book as a sort of flying manual, to tell new aircraft crew what to expect over enemy territory, and was given the time to do so. But he was no writer, it was suggested he had an editor. I believe the RAF did publish it but not to the public. Five months later he was killed in a crash. The book did not appear to the public until 1946. I believe it had some alteration but we will never know. I have no idea if any of the manuals survived.

Thank you for that information Kaga - something else I had no idea about. Thinking again about Guy's wording from his book, he says "one of the first heavy raids made on a provincial town". This makes me think that I was wrong about it being the 14th November, but more probably an earlier heavy raid - perhaps 25th October? The moon would've been far less bright on that occasion.

Guy Gibson had another connection with Coventry. He first met his wife, Eve Moore, here in 1939 when she was appearing at the New Hippodrome as part of a touring revue. They were married on 23rd November 1940, just a week after the Coventry blitz, in Penarth, Wales. Google Books has what appears to be a complete version of his memoir.

Yes, it was a naughty show called 'Come out to play' at the Hippodrome, and I am almost sure I saw it - I saw most shows at the Hippodrome in those days.

Wearethemods, I could not make out "Raids on 12th and 14th Oct resulted in the deaths of 50 people, the roof of the 14th century Cathedral was damaged", and he does not mention the Cathedral again in a raid, so did he mean that was when the Cathedral was gutted? He also said, talking of Churchill, "If we take ourselves back to 1940, we may have a measure of sympathy with those mainly older people who were horrified at the prospect of this political wild man leading the country". I'm mystified by some of these historians.

I have just finished reading an interesting, unusual book "She could not have loved more", the wartime diary of Doreen Wright. Doreen's husband was a pilot in 605 Squadron. His parents' home was Wootton Court, Leek Wootton. Gilbert Wright was reported as going missing on 22nd May 1940. Doreen had been invited to stay at Wootton Court with her 3 children when Gilbert was told to report to RAF Tangmere in August 1939. In order to keep the hope of him surviving she started to write a day-to-day diary in the form of letters to him which she kept up until the end of 1942. She not only writes about her day-to-day activities, looking after the children, jam and butter making, running a mobile canteen etc., she also talks about the bombing raids and other wartime news. On 13th October she talks about "Molotoff bread basket over the golf course and garden and 2 houses struck". On 14th October she says "Jerry very busy just now flying round in circles. There is a sort of ground mist that is confusing him a bit I think". 20th October she reports bombing over Leamington, no serious damage. She talks on 23rd October about mostly fire bombs in Coventry and to find room in the house for Coventry people. Cars parked along the road with people trying to sleep. 27th October, Coventry getting it again. Getting to 14th November she says "Sounds and looks as if these beasts are trying to annihilate Coventry. There has been the most terrific attack going on since seven o clock and now it's past midnight". She says it is a brilliant clear night, she saw her first Jerry, thinks it was a Junkers, brought down the other side of Leamington. On 15th she takes the canteen out and reports that Coventry Cathedral and a large part of the city are in ruins. She was told that the all-clear did not go till 6.30 and fires were still raging, "water gave out apparently, and electric". She takes the canteen into Coventry the next day and describes the city as worse than Ypres. She refers to a Bardie Mahler, a director of Alfred Herberts, a relative, who was going to bring his drawing office out to the garage and girls' Brownie room. I could go on but I have just tried to cover the dates recently mentioned. She carried on the diaries until the end of 1942. She received a letter in February 1943 saying a French organisation reported pilot Wright died 22nd May 1940 and was buried at Bernville. Her son recalls that she put a box in the loft. After she died the box was found to contain the diaries amongst other things which were later published by the Leek Wootton History Group.

Kaga, you commented : He also said, talking of Churchill, "If we take ourselves back to 1940, we may have a measure of sympathy with those mainly older people who were horrified at the prospect of this political wild man leading the country". I can understand where Joshua Levine is coming from, as the majority of people thought the same at the first General Election following the end of the war. Churchill was a great orator and figurehead during those dark days, but people have a long memory and as a politician he wasn't highly regarded.

Annewiggy Yes, there were thousands that did the same thing - remember the story I posted about the couple that vowed to meet in Lyons Corner House and kept visiting until they did get back together. This mass observation where stories by thousands of people that wrote diaries but mainly so the government could judge the mood of the people. For a time I kept one as a child, but as I got older never dreamed that it could be interesting to anyone - like all my fag card albums, Capern cards, etc they all got lost over time. As a child I stole bits of the Cathedral woodwork and part of an incendiary that did the damage, on the 16th, still with my family, but because of serious illness and family things it will get lost in time. But historians and authors only copy things that will make them money, they do not search for the real background, or perhaps it's just me - now you do, for newspapers like diaries are near to the truth as people will get other than personal experience, and that is the only real truth, for the rest is hearsay, and misleading.

Wearethemods Hi! As his sentence says 'If we take ourselves back to 1940', well as I remember, everyone loved him in 1940, he had the attitude we all wanted to hear. That's why Churchill got the job. We were in no position to fight a war. France had capitulated, Dunkirk happened, a huge loss to the country that Churchill turned to a victory to give us courage - the country had never rallied round a man as much as they did round Churchill. That sentence was so outlandish to me, that it made me comment. The attitude in 1946 like the city we wanted a new dawn, a new beginning, a new future, and as it worked out a new government. So this is why I make these comments, because I feel people are led astray by these so called historians whose only interest is to make money. If you feel I'm wrong by all means tell me. Keep your views coming, I love debate.

Hi Kaga, there is no need to debate anything! My previous post was not hearsay, misleading, my opinion, contradicting your memories or anything else that 'historians' have conjectured - but well established fact! The General Election result was nothing to do with Churchill's wartime coalition leadership. It was down to Conservative Party policies and their weak manifesto. That said, there are other mitigating factors. The miners detested Churchill which haunted him throughout his political career. Many Coventry people (my parents included, who married in 1940 aged 21) thought, (rightly or wrongly), that he had sacrificed Coventry knowing in advance of the devastating November raid. Don't forget the Navy. After the disastrous First World War Dardanelles Campaign and when at the outbreak of WW2 he was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty, (the same Post he held for part of WW1), there was a lot of disillusionment within the service especially after the Norwegian failures under his 'watch'. This tenure lasted 9 months until May 1940 when Chamberlain stood down and Viscount Halifax stood aside. People had a long memory as I stated above.

Wearethemods, Just a minor error in your post and it may have been an accidental omission. Churchill was never made First Sea Lord which is a Royal Navy appointment, he was made First Lord of The Admiralty which was a government appointment. The First Sea Lord is the professional head of the Royal Navy. Until 1964 the First Lord of the Admiralty was a civilian political head of the Royal Navy and a member of cabinet.

Yes, Ken you are completely right. I had my "Lords" mixed up! I have an original Daily Mirror newspaper dated Monday 4th September 1939, the headline being 'Britain's First Day of War, Churchill is new Navy Chief'. It goes on to say that a War Cabinet had been assembled and Churchill was appointed "First Lord of the Admiralty when Britain had last gone to war, and he returns to that post".

Wearethemods Yes, we do need to debate because we are at crossroads. Nothing to do with elections - in early May 1940 the Cabinet was in disarray, everyone up in arms, for the Germans had just put the BEF in a stranglehold, and they were about to be annihilated. Churchill had been telling them for over a year what would happen the way government were acting, they now put him in charge, and most of the army was saved (Dunkirk). Again in June, we looked like being overrun. He came up with his famous speech - "We shall defend our island, we shall fight on the beaches". He picked us back of the floor. Yes, I remember it quite clearly. As I said, in 1946 there was no war - he was a Navy man, and a lot of the Navy was disbanded and demobbed, and so was he. Only if you look at the films of the government, the first week of May 1940 and our Army, can you get a sense of what happened.

The day after war was declared, a U-boat sank a liner, a great loss of life, then they sank two ships, one in the Scapa Flow. The war cabinet appointed Churchill First lord of the Admiralty, the same position he held in the first war No-one in the gov't had any doubts about him. He only held it for a few months, then appointed Prime Minister, but in the first war Roosevelt had the same job in the U.S.A., assistant secretary to the Navy, but given a free hand. In 1941 these two sailors were now in charge of their countries. Roosevelt phoned Churchill; "Look we have the same jobs again, keep in touch". Churchill wrote/phoned; "Hey look, the U-boats are sinking our merchant ships, can you help?" "No, we're a neutral country." "You wouldn't be breaking any rules if you extended your coastal zone of three miles, how about 300 miles?" They did. All this was in official jargon, and a lot more besides that it would take a lengthy war book to explain.

I don't know if this book - Coventry: Thursday, 14 November 1940 - has been mentioned before but it is excellent, and used, very cheap.