Coventry Cathedral A reminder
I visited Coventry for a couple of days recently as it is the current UK City of Culture. Curiously it was not culture but the city’s history that struck me most strongly. Nowhere I have been to in England has been so affected by war. The city centre of Coventry is not pretty, it contains a huge number of concrete buildings erected in the nineteen fifties and sixties . This is not because the people there did not care about their historic city. It is simply that on the 14th November 1940 the city centre of Coventry was obliterated in one of the most damaging and prolonged air raids of the World War . When you have to rebuild a city quickly perhaps you cannot worry over much about aesthetics .
This image is of the ruins of the original fourteenth century gothic cathedral that was virtually destroyed that evening The following day the Dean of the Cathedral vowed that it would be rebuilt. They made the decision not to restore the original church but to create a new cathedral that would be built next to and physically joined to the ruined church. In the photograph the arch on the left hand side leads you into the new cathedral. The people of Coventry decided that the ruins ruins should remain as a reminder of what happens when civilians are used as targets in warfare. The modern cathedral that was finally completed in 1963 is in my opinion that finest modern building in England. It is a showcase of British modern art particularly sculpture .
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Coventry was bombed many times during the Second World War by the German Air Force . The most devastating of these attacks was a 11 hour raid occurred on the evening of 14 November 1940 and continued into the morning of 15 November.
The raid was the most severe to hit Coventry during the war. It was carried out by 515 German bombers The initial wave of 13 specially modified Heinkel 111 which were equipped with X-Gerät navigational devices, accurately dropped marker flares .The first wave of follow-up bombers dropped high explosive bombs, knocking out the utilities the water supply, electricity network, telephones and gas mains and cratering the roads, making it difficult for the fire engines to reach fires started by the later waves of bombers. These final wave of aircraft dropped a combination of high explosive and incendiary bombs. There were two types of incendiary bomb: Those made of magnesium and those made of petroleum. The high explosive bombs and the larger air-mines not only hindered the Coventry fire brigade, they were also intended to damage roofs, making it easier for the incendiary bombs to fall into buildings and ignite them.
In one night, more than 4,300 homes in Coventry were destroyed and around two-thirds of the city's buildings were damaged. The raid was heavily concentrated on the city centre, most of which was destroyed. Two hospitals, two churches and a police station were also damaged
At around 8pm, Coventry Cathedral was set on fire by incendiaries for the first time. The volunteer firefighters managed to put out the first fire but other direct hits followed and soon new fires broke out in the cathedral; accelerated by a firestorm, the flames quickly spread out of control. During the same period, more than 200 other fires were started across the city, most of which were concentrated in the city-centre area, setting the area ablaze and overwhelming the firefighters. As the Germans had intended, the water mains were damaged by high explosives, meaning there was not enough water available to tackle many of the fires.
It is impossible to imagine the the feelings of those survivors emerging from shelters looking at their city which in 11 hours had been utterly destroyed . Of course the bombing of Coventry was carried out on other English cities including Hull. The Allies also committed similar atrocities in Berlin Hamburg and Dresden and the ultimate attack on a civilian population in Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
THANKS FOR YOUR VISIT TO MY STREAM.
I WOULD BE VERY GRATEFUL IF YOU COULD NOT FAVE A PHOTO WITHOUT ALSO LEAVING A COMMENT .
Coventry Cathedral A reminder
I visited Coventry for a couple of days recently as it is the current UK City of Culture. Curiously it was not culture but the city’s history that struck me most strongly. Nowhere I have been to in England has been so affected by war. The city centre of Coventry is not pretty, it contains a huge number of concrete buildings erected in the nineteen fifties and sixties . This is not because the people there did not care about their historic city. It is simply that on the 14th November 1940 the city centre of Coventry was obliterated in one of the most damaging and prolonged air raids of the World War . When you have to rebuild a city quickly perhaps you cannot worry over much about aesthetics .
This image is of the ruins of the original fourteenth century gothic cathedral that was virtually destroyed that evening The following day the Dean of the Cathedral vowed that it would be rebuilt. They made the decision not to restore the original church but to create a new cathedral that would be built next to and physically joined to the ruined church. In the photograph the arch on the left hand side leads you into the new cathedral. The people of Coventry decided that the ruins ruins should remain as a reminder of what happens when civilians are used as targets in warfare. The modern cathedral that was finally completed in 1963 is in my opinion that finest modern building in England. It is a showcase of British modern art particularly sculpture .
More Information
Coventry was bombed many times during the Second World War by the German Air Force . The most devastating of these attacks was a 11 hour raid occurred on the evening of 14 November 1940 and continued into the morning of 15 November.
The raid was the most severe to hit Coventry during the war. It was carried out by 515 German bombers The initial wave of 13 specially modified Heinkel 111 which were equipped with X-Gerät navigational devices, accurately dropped marker flares .The first wave of follow-up bombers dropped high explosive bombs, knocking out the utilities the water supply, electricity network, telephones and gas mains and cratering the roads, making it difficult for the fire engines to reach fires started by the later waves of bombers. These final wave of aircraft dropped a combination of high explosive and incendiary bombs. There were two types of incendiary bomb: Those made of magnesium and those made of petroleum. The high explosive bombs and the larger air-mines not only hindered the Coventry fire brigade, they were also intended to damage roofs, making it easier for the incendiary bombs to fall into buildings and ignite them.
In one night, more than 4,300 homes in Coventry were destroyed and around two-thirds of the city's buildings were damaged. The raid was heavily concentrated on the city centre, most of which was destroyed. Two hospitals, two churches and a police station were also damaged
At around 8pm, Coventry Cathedral was set on fire by incendiaries for the first time. The volunteer firefighters managed to put out the first fire but other direct hits followed and soon new fires broke out in the cathedral; accelerated by a firestorm, the flames quickly spread out of control. During the same period, more than 200 other fires were started across the city, most of which were concentrated in the city-centre area, setting the area ablaze and overwhelming the firefighters. As the Germans had intended, the water mains were damaged by high explosives, meaning there was not enough water available to tackle many of the fires.
It is impossible to imagine the the feelings of those survivors emerging from shelters looking at their city which in 11 hours had been utterly destroyed . Of course the bombing of Coventry was carried out on other English cities including Hull. The Allies also committed similar atrocities in Berlin Hamburg and Dresden and the ultimate attack on a civilian population in Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
THANKS FOR YOUR VISIT TO MY STREAM.
I WOULD BE VERY GRATEFUL IF YOU COULD NOT FAVE A PHOTO WITHOUT ALSO LEAVING A COMMENT .