1939 Register mystery

I have come across an anomaly in the 1939 Register. I tried to trace a family living at 71 Harper Road, having been unable to find any reference to them by name I tried by address and was told there was no record for Harper Road, neither was there for Acacia Avenue or Strathmore Avenue and possibly other nearby roads. It was almost as if a small enclave had been missed out which seems unlikely. Is it possible that the records for that area have been lost/mislaid. I looked on FindMyPast but there are only two areas in the whole country that are definitely not covered. I have asked them to look into it but wondered if anyone else has failed to find people in that part of Coventry when researching their family.

Harper Road certainly existed in 1937. 71 was William Henry Miles. It terminated at Gulson Road and started at Acacia Avenue. They were just west of the river and south of Gulson Road. The numbering in the area post war 1950 map is funny. I wonder if there was a lot of damage... I seriously can't tell what's going on with the numbering in the area. I can't decide if the properties were ok but they couldn't be bothered to number every property or they were left blank for reason. It could be that the records were destroyed in the war, especially so close to 1940.

Could it be a digitisation issue where the roads have been misspelt? eg: been submitted as Larper road or Harpen Road, etc. Many times had issues with names misspelt causing issues on older records with dodgy, difficult handwriting.

Not impossible if someone's handwriting was particularly bad but if Acacia Avenue and Strathmore Avenue are also missing, it seems less likely that there would be a mistake in all of them. Reading about how the Register was created, it's not obvious exactly when the records were centralised. As the identity cards were issued when the forms were collected the forms may have resided in Coventry until after the bombing, thus increasing the chance that they may have been subject to an incident. From Wikipedia here. "Unlike the decennial censuses, the 1939 Register was designed as a working document for the duration of the war, and it was later used in the foundation of the National Health Service. It recorded subsequent changes of name, notably in the case of single women who married after 1939. Those born after 1939 are recorded separately and that register has not been released. The original register books relating to England and Wales were collated and maintained by the Central National Registration Office at Southport, Merseyside, and are now held by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (NHS Digital)."

Agreed I see what you mean. So you think the whole folder of that Lower Stoke sub- area has been lost or destroyed in the offices they were held?

I mean looking at the maps, it isn't hard to believe they'd have been destroyed.

The records were to manage rationing, recruitment and security, so the police station is a possible location. Recruitment was at the Sibree Hall off Warwick Row I think and ration books were administered at what was recently the Litten Tree on the same road.

My mum's shop in White St, was supposed to have been Mercia Gowns, but was spelt Marcia Gowns. That was 1936.

I have taken yet another look at this today searching by street name and although it's easy to plot inhabitants of the surrounding area (Seagrave Road, Cornwall Road, and, my apologies, Strathmore Avenue is also listed), the two streets of Harper Road and Acacia Avenue are definitely not available. I've had a reply (of sorts) from FindMyPast but the person misunderstood and responded with detail about electoral registers, quite a different kettle of fish altogether. I've replied and ask them to reinvestigate. I do agree with all the comments about mistranscriptions. I realise some of the handwritten entries in census forms ( the 1939 Register was to all intents and purposes, a census) are difficult to read but some of the transcriptions are appalling and nonsensical. It's the same with the local directories, absolutely full of typos and errors.