Coventrys Blitz

Download or read book Coventry's Blitz written by David McGrory and published by Amberley Publishing Limited. This book was released on 2015-08-15 with total page 201 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first book on the blitz that blighted Coventry during the Second World War, commemorating its 75th anniversary.

Download or read book The Blitzed City written by Karen Farrington and published by Aurum Press. This book was released on 2016-08-30 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Luftwaffe's targetting and destruction of Coventry city remains the biggest and most destructive air raid on British soil during the Second World War. Seen as a centre of British armaments production, the German high command wished to inflict terror and panic on the British public, a plan that had paid dividends during their relentless conquest of France that year. Attacking over two nights in November, 1940 they systematically bombed and destroyed the bulk of the city, making thousands homeless, and killing over 400 men, women and children. Such was the devastation, panic and disorder it wrought, that Winston Churchill ordered a news blackout for three weeks in order to quell the unease and morale-sapping effect that the raid had. But people at the time acted with great bravery to save those trapped in bombed out and burning buildings, as well as caring for those badly injured (of which there were thousands), and fighting the Nazi planes coming in to attack the city itself. Now, for the very first time we interview those veterans who survived the raid and helped fight the flames and bombs to tell the story of this iconic event. Such was the effect it had on the country that when Bomber Command began night time raids against German cities — Hamburg, Cologne and most famously, Dresden — the call 'Remember Coventry!' went up.

Download or read book Coventry: A Novel written by Helen Humphreys and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2010-02-22 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Elegant . . . illuminates the impact of war on ordinary people . . . an elegy and a celebration.”—Ann Hood, author of The Knitting Circle On the evening of November 14, 1940, Harriet Marsh stands on the roof of the historic Coventry cathedral and marvels at the frost glittering beneath a full moon. But it is a bomber’s moon, and the Luftwaffe is coming to unleash destruction on the city. For Harriet; for the young fire watcher, Jeremy, standing beside her; and for his artist mother, Maeve, hiding in a cellar, this single night of horror will resonate for the rest of their lives. Coventry is a testament to the power of the human spirit, an honest and ultimately uplifting account of heartache transformed into compassion and love.

Download or read book Blitzcat written by Robert Westall and published by Pan Macmillan. This book was released on 2012-12-13 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: She made her way down the cliff, and on to the beach. At the edge of the waves, she stopped, shaking her wet paws. She knew that somewhere ahead was her person, but far, far away. She miaowed plaintively; stood staring at the moving blur of uncrossable sea. She led the way to safety, out of the blazing hell of blitzed Coventry. People touched her for luck; feared her as an omen of disaster. Wherever she went, she changed lives . . . From her beginning to her end she never wavered. She was the Blitzcat. Blitzcat by Robert Westall is the Smarties Prize-winning book about one brave cat's experiences during World War Two. Now with a brilliant new cover look and including an extended author biography.

Download or read book Coventry written by Frederick Taylor and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2015-10-22 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At a few minutes past seven on the evening of Thursday, 14 November 1940, the historic industrial city of Coventry was subjected to the longest, most devastating air raid Britain had yet experienced. Only after eleven hours of continual bombardment by the German Luftwaffe could its people emerge from their half-sunk Anderson shelters and their cellars, from under their stairs or kitchen tables, to venture up into their wounded city. That long night of destruction marked a critical moment in the Second World War. It heralded a new kind of air warfare, one which abandoned the pursuit of immediate military goals and instead focused on obliterating all aspects of city life. It also provided the push America needed to join Britain in the war. But while the Coventry raid was furiously condemned publically, such effective enemy tactics provided Britain's politicians and military establishment with a 'blueprint for obliteration', to be adapted and turned against Germany. A merciless four-year war of attrition had begun. In this important work of history Frederick Taylor draws upon numerous sources, including eye witness interviews from the archives of the BBC which are published here for the first time, to reveal the true repercussions of the bombing of Coventry in 1940. He teases out the truth behind the persistent rumours and conspiracy theories that Churchill knew the raid was coming, assesses this significant turning point in modern warfare, looks at how it affected Britain's status in the war, and considers finally whether this attack really could provide justification for the horror of Dresden, 1945.

Download or read book Aunty Nell's Table written by John Kelly and published by . This book was released on 2018-10-17 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On the night of 14th November 1940 the Germans bombed the city of Coventry with a million pounds of high explosives & thirty thousand incendiaries. The raid lasted eleven hours.Coventry was a prime target in early World War II as its factories made war planes, motor vehicles and communications for Army and Air force.Even so the inhabitants were civilians, who had once considered themselves safe and far from the front line. Now, many of these people lost their homes or, far worse, loved ones.Despite the suffering there were many stories of altruism and heroism. At the centre of the story are the Mansell family, the staff of their pub and a group of Polish airmen.The family, like their neighbours, rallied round, rescuing bomb victims, providing emergency accommodation, eking out food and fuel supplies, and keeping the factories and city going.Through it all they tried to maintain normal lives, but the constant threat of death changed those norms; homes were looted, children evacuated. Coventry was bombed over forty times. For the Mansells, it was an experience that changed their lives forever. The author was a boy in Coventry at the time. The book is founded on his experiences and those of his family and friends. Most of the stories in the book are true, all are typical of peoples experiences.

Download or read book The King Cried for Coventry written by Mark Scott and published by . This book was released on 2019-04-06 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The King Cried for Coventry" is a factual account of a "Who do you think you are?"- style family history quest to uncover the story of civilian fireman called Frank Archer. He was killed in April 1941 in the Blitz on Coventry. The investigation started with a tiny and fragile newspaper clipping announcing his death. It was found among the effects of the author's deceased grandmother. The story that unfolds is one of an ordinary young family caught up in an extraordinarily fierce assault on one of Britain's proud cities. Although far from the first such raid (London, in particular, having been repeatedly targeted prior to this), the fury that was unleashed against Coventry during the first Blitz was unprecedented at the time it first occurred. It marked a new type of attack that was overwhelmingly intense. Fireman Frank Archer was killed in the April 1941 Blitz raid on Coventry. But how and where did he die? What happened to his family? Answering these questions provides a window through which one can glimpse the war experience of this representative family, and how they coped. Doing so illustrates the reality of one of the greatest disasters British people have faced, and the way those left behind are affected for decades after.