The Blitz - 14th November 1940

According to The National Archive, Coventry City Archives have patient and clinical records from 1928 to 1948. It might also be worth asking your GP if there is anything in your medical notes. Regards, Peter.

Thanks Peter B for the prompt information, The Coventry City Archives might be a goer, but I am more doubtful about my medical notes, since I must have had a dozen different doctor`s surgeries since the 1940`s and I cannot think of a system that has passed them on - one to another. I must admit though I have never enquired if my complete medical notes are available or stored anywhere.

The way I saw it. From around 1937 Churchill had been urging the government to re-arm, build aeroplanes to defend our land, although he was a Naval man he knew the future was in the air, but Chamberlain said no. Chamberlain had a strong ally in the young King, the King did not like Churchill but was great friends with Chamberlain, and backed him in his paper waving days. Had they just upped the building of planes a little, would the blitz not have happened - 60 or 70 night fighters in the sky would have made a great difference. I wonder if the King felt a little guilty when he visited Coventry. Anyone interested, the daily papers for the week before Dunkirk may tell you the disarray in Parliament while British troops were being annihilated in France.

Hansard, the official record of parliamentary debates is available online, for example Churchill's speeches in 1940 You just have to know a date or exactly what you are looking for.

I used to think exactly the same thing - that surely a handful of fighters could not fail in shooting down many German bombers - especially as they knew exactly where they were going to be in order to drop their bombs over Coventry. However, since I read this paragraph from Guy Gibson's own autobiography, 'Enemy Coast Ahead', which I've quoted in my Blitz section (3rd paragraph down, highlighted), I was forced to change my mind. What he says is almost unbelievable, but yet there it is from someone we all admire.

I`ve just read the Guy Gibson paragraph you quoted Rob and was impressed that the Hampdens were there and flying at various levels and yet seeing nothing, nor even each other - one would wonder at this form of warfare. But I once read a question where somebody asked about desert warfare and asked how you could hide forces and avoid contact there and the answer was "imagine the desert as an ocean you can hide big ships pretty successfully". Kaga will probably have a view on this!!

Roger Turner, I have little or no knowledge of bombing techniques, and I do have admiration for Guy Gibson, but that paragraph poses a lot of questions. I also know we were short on fighters, but you could build four fighters for one bomber, so could we afford such extravagance? Five hundred feet, would we risk that with so many guns around the city - to me the guns never stopped firing while possible, was the RAF on radio silence? Now we could hear the German planes drone clearly, but heard no other, we could see the German planes clearly against the moon, not only I but other people did. I cannot remember speeds of aircraft that I knew in my ATC days, but Hampdens trying to catch Heinkels? It was a clear moonlight night, the heavens stretched clear and bright, we could count the formations, let alone a plane. Yes a lot of questions.

For what it is worth, I looked up the following 17/9/1940 First operational patrol by Bristol Beaufighter nightfighter fitted with Air Interception (A1 Mark 1V), is flown by an aircraft of No 29 squadron = the Beaufighter was the 1st truly effective nightfighter by the RAF. 19/11/1940 1st Bomber shot down by a Bristol Beaufighter nightfighter. It was downed by John Cunningham - he subsequently becomes the most successful nightfighter pilot.

At 9pm Thursday evenings on BBC2 a 4 part series starting this Thursday - 'Blitz: The Bombs That Changed Britain' It may mention Coventry so will be worth watching.

mcsporran. Hansard, haven't seen one since the fifties, used to read them on the coach coming back from the races. A little bigger than a page from a book, little smaller than a computer sheet, slipped into the pocket well. But Hansard told you official parliament news and speeches, but I wanted more. If there was a three day meeting at Hurst Park, or Sandown Park, I caught the coach in Pool Meadow, stayed two days in London visiting museums, newspaper offices - looked through back numbers, birth and deaths - the Wills Office, Westminster Abbey, Smithfields Market etc. In 1940 Churchill lived at Admiralty House, here he invited people like Halifax, Eden, Chamberlain, Emery to lunch etc. Here the problems were discussed, you could only read these in the back-dated daily papers. Churchill's son was one of our first SAS officers, his nephew a captain at Dunkirk, his daughter akk-battery commander, and much more. On the third day I would return to Coventry on the coach.

Roger Turner. Look at all the pieces we have, Hampdens over Coventry on the 14th, Beaufighters, 1st fighters operational 17th, shot down on the 19th, two planes crash at Withybrook. It goes on, contradictory all the time.

coventry49, It wasn't the bombs that changed Britain, it was MAY 1940 - in one month it changed Europe. In that one month five countries came under the jackboots of Germany. Britain stood alone, even the USA refused us a loan of warships, or anything else, and we had lost lost eleven of our ships in Norway. That one month wrote the history of our nation's morale and willingness to stand up to aggression at great odds and sacrifices made by our parents and grandparents. Cities took the brunt of his fury, none more so than Coventry.

You should be working for the War Office Kaga, I think you know more than what they would now. Love reading all about those years from your points of view so - 'keep em' coming lad', and thank you.

Dreamtime (briefly) It read like a schoolboy's comic book. The British forces were alongside the French on the Western Front again when the winter set in - hardly a shot was fired. But the British found a crashed German plane with a briefcase of all the plans of the German offensive. They copied everything then left it as they found it. The top brass thought they had an ace up their sleeve. For five months hardly a shot was fired. Russia invaded Finland - we sent troops, they were badly mauled. Then Germany invaded Norway - we lost eleven ships, tried to recapture and took a beating. Denmark and Sweden fell, but the middle of that May Germany invaded Belgium and Holland - the allies moved troops to rush to their aid, left weak spots. The Germans then sent their main force through France encircling most of the BEF force - it had been a trap. We had a corridor about 5 miles wide to Dunkirk - he ordered a withdrawal. He would not sacrifice the flower of England's army if France was about to fall. Thousands were leaving Paris clogging the roads. France asked for aid, especially 10 fighter squadrons. Churchill went to Paris to see for himself, promised he would do what he could. Came home and immediately asked for his war lords. The air chiefs told Churchill we were outnumbered 3 to 1 just to defend our home land. Churchill said then the Battle of Britain would be over the south of England, more time in the air for the RAF, less fuel. We pulled five times the number we expected to from Dunkirk. But they would take time to recover and re-arm. Invasion was imminent. The Home Guard was formed. A large number of our ministers and daily papers wanted to come to terms with the Germans - that's when Churchill delivered his finest speeches and brought the British people to their most gallant time. The morale of the people soared. But it left us to the mercy of night time raids. The Battle of Britain had cost us heavily. The Germans mined the Channel but left a corridor for invasion - most of our navy could not operate in the shallow Channel. Nine months after war was declared we had the blitz in our cities. The war started and finished within a month for so many countries.