On 3rd Apr 2025 6:53pm, Rob Orland said:
That's right, Mike, two very heavy raids on the 8th and 10th of April 1941 - the second one saw the end of Christ Church. They became known as the Easter Raids.
My father, who would have been active with the St John's Ambulance, always reckoned that the April raids did more damage to industry and infrastructure than the previous November one. That was his perception of the damage he saw. Although the tonnage of bombs may have been less in April the accumulated effects of the bombing caused greater disturbance.
Death notices for Special Constable William Robert Lambe - known as Billy in Coventry - that were published in is his hometown of Belfast. He married his wife Sarah (Sadie) at Shankill Road Methodist Church in October 1935 and they must have moved to Coventry shortly after as their child Jane (Jean) was born here in 1936. Sadie and Jean returned to Belfast prior to the Blitz as it was considered to be safer there - Belfast was hammered in April and May 1941 by the Luftwaffe. Jean grew up not knowing much about her father and made an appeal in the C.E.T. in 1998 for more information on him and where he was buried. The local police helped her and she visited in 1999 and was able to see his name on the police roll of honour and visit the memorial garden / communal grave. His name was not on the memorial so it was arranged to add his name to it and this duly happened. He was one of the specials and regular police that were killed at Jordan Well as they attempted to rescue people trapped in a cellar.
. I've done his family tree; just waiting on a birth certificate for the daughter Jane (Jean) who was born in Coventry to complete the info. [ On Ancestry he is included in a lot of incorrect trees ]. He played a big part in establishing the 3rd Coventry (Heath Road Methodist) Boys' Brigade Company. Worked for Daimler - which is interesting as his father, when a Councillor, was on the tramways / bus committee of Belfast Council and had regular dealings with Daimler - visiting the Coventry factory in 1934 and entertaining senior management in Belfast when they demonstrated buses there. Billy's profession was recorded as Motor Mechanic on his marriage certificate so he would have easily found work in Coventry but his old man's connections may have helped him re. Daimler. I'll write it all up and submit it to Rob for consideration as a History Article as his family's history is quite interesting too, and I can include a little of John and Lily Maguire's story - they were from the Falls Road area and died in a raid on October 12. They too had evacuated their child back to Belfast, but sadly whereas as least Jean still had her mum as she grew up, Patrick was left with no parents.