“I was about ten years old when Coventry was destroyed. After the raids, we used to go out and play in ruined houses. We used to find a lot of shell fragments and bits of bombs. Sadly, damage was also caused by our own anti-aircraft shells. The shrapnel from the shells exploded in the sky and showered down onto the roofs.
Sometimes, after the raids, they would bring in crashed planes. I remember getting into the cockpit of a Messerschmitt 109. There was hatred against the Germans. Once an airplane went down, the pilot was pitchforked by a farmer.”
-John Huthwaite, Coventry blitz survivor’
The British city of Coventry was bombed several times during the Second World War by the German Luftwaffe. The most devastating of those attacks came on the evening of November 14th, 1940. During “Operation Moonlight Sonata,” high explosive, incendiary,and landmine bombs cascaded upon the city. When the fires smoldered, the majority of the city lay in ruin. The city center and more than 4,000 homes were destroyed. The raid had resulted in such epic levels of destruction for the time that the Germans used the term “Coventrated’ when later describing similar levels of destruction to enemy cities.
This portrait is a part of my From Above project, which is a collection of portraits and reminiscences of atomic bomb survivors and firebombing survivors from Dresden, Tokyo, Coventry, Rotterdam and Wielun. A portion of From Above is permanently exhibited at the Nagasaki Peace Memorial Hall for Atomic Bomb Victims. It has also been exhibited in museums and exhibition spaces throughout Asia, Europe, North America and including the United Nations.
From Above was released as a limited edition book that was sold at PhotoEye.com. The book is sold out on the site, but I have the last 20 copies that can be bought directly from me. Contact me through social media or at paule.saviano@gmail.com if you’re interested in purchasing a book.
“We lost quite a lot of friends and we never found the bodies of some.” -Jean Taylor, Coventry blitz survivor
Jean Taylor was eleven years old when the air raid sirens sounded at 7pm (19:00). She, her younger brothers and mother, crammed into a bomb shelter with 400 others. The shelter was basically a deep hole dug across the road that had two buckets used as toilets.
“In the morning, we came out of the shelter. Everything looked horrible. All the windows at our home were blown out. We had no water, electricity, or gas. In the estate next to us there was a huge crater the depth of two double-decker buses. My mother made a little fire in the garden to cook a pot of stew. I told my mother I was going to school. She insisted that I wouldn’t make it there, but I still tried. I got as far as half a street when I began to see bodies covered in blankets and firemen with no water as everything was burning. Then a fireman said to me:
‘What do you think you’re doing?’
‘I’m going to school.’
‘You can’t get to school!’
As I was standing there in my school uniform, one of my classmates came. He took me through the burning rubble,and we finally got there. We started in September with 27 students in the class. After the blitz ,here were 17 remaining. We never discovered what happened to the other 10.”
The British city of Coventry was bombed several times during the Second World War by the German Luftwaffe. The most devastating of those attacks came on the evening of November 14th, 1940. During “Operation Moonlight Sonata,” high explosive, incendiary,and landmine bombs cascaded upon the city. When the fires smoldered ,he majority of the city lay in ruin. The city center and more than 4,000 homes were destroyed. The raid had resulted in such epic levels of destruction for the time that the Germans used the term “Coventrated’ when later describing similar levels of destruction to enemy cities.
This portrait is a part of my From Above project, which is a collection of portraits and reminiscences of atomic bomb survivors and firebombing survivors from Dresden, Tokyo, Coventry, Rotterdam and Wielun. A portion of From Above is permanently exhibited at the Nagasaki Peace Memorial Hall for Atomic Bomb Victims. It has also been exhibited in museums and exhibition spaces throughout Asia, Europe, North America and including the United Nations.
From Above was released as a limited edition book that was sold at PhotoEye.com. The book is sold out on the site, but I have the last 20 copies that can be bought directly from me. Contact me through social media or at paule.saviano@gmail.com if you’re interested in purchasing a book.
“To see the searchlights sweeping the sky, hearing the loud noise of exploding bombs and the fires- it was like a great big barn fire. Because you were occupied, you didn’t have time to be afraid. Until 70 years after, I wonder how did I do that? It took courage, but it had to be done.
On the night of November 14th, 1940 I was an Air Raid Precautions messenger in Coventry. After midnight, the Germans started dropping canisters of incendiaries. When the canisters got to a certain height all the small incendiary bombs would fall. They would aim for the roofs of houses so that when the incendiary landed on the roof, the house would burn. The burning houses lit up the target area to make the factories visible which was what they were after. We were going around to put these incendiary bombs out. But the Germans knew and put an explosive cap on the tail of some. Our warden was injured while trying to extinguish a bomb. Suddenly it exploded and threw hot metal into his face and hands. His clothes were on fire.
Someone had to get an ambulance for the warden. I told the deputy that I would take my bike- but she said “No, I have children your age. It’s too dangerous at the height oft he blitz!” I told her, “This is my job! I’m going!” I got on my bike and rode towards the center of the city. The sky was glowing and there were flames, sparks and smoke all over. Big shards of red hot shrapnel and ammunition were falling around me because whatever the anti-aircraft guns shot up had to come down when the shells burst. When I got near the city center, houses and shops were burning and at the end of Spon Street there was a huge crater 30 yards deep. Through the flames I could see water at the bottom of the crater because the River Sherbourne goes under the city. I had to cross the crater to get to Broadgate. Fortunately there was two feet of pavement and a wall on my right that didn’t fall into the crater. With my tin hat and gas mask, I carried the bike on my shoulder and edged my way along the wall until I got to the other side. I couldn’t ride my bike further because there was rubble and glass sprune all over. As I went up a narrow road there was a shopping arcade with a glass roof. Heat and flames were shooting out of it and the whole thing collapsed with a big roar of broken glass. When I got to Broadgate, in front of me was the Council House and across the road an incendiary had just landed on the cycle shop. Outside there was a fireman with a blackened face, he stood there holding his hose with just a trickle of water coming out because all the water mains were damaged.” -Alan Hartley, Coventry blitz survivor
The British city of Coventry was bombed several times during the Second World War by the German Luftwaffe. The most devastating of those attacks came on the evening of November 14th 1940. During “Operation Moonlight Sonata”, high explosive, incendiary and landmine bombs cascaded upon the city. When the fires smoldered the majority of the city lay in ruin – the city center and more than 4,000 homes were destroyed. The raid had resulted in such epic levels of destruction for the time that the Germans used the term “Coventrated’ when later describing similar levels of destruction to enemy cities.
This portrait is a part of my From Above project, which is a collection of portraits and reminiscences of atomic bomb survivors and firebombing survivors from Dresden, Tokyo, Coventry, Rotterdam and Wielun. From Above is permanently exhibited at the Nagasaki Peace Memorial Hall for Atomic Bomb Victims. It has also been exhibited in museums and exhibition spaces throughout Asia, Europe, North America and including the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
From Above was released as a limited edition book that was sold at PhotoEye.com. The book is sold out on the site, but I have the last 20 copies that can be bought directly from me. Contact me through social media or at paule.saviano@gmail.com if you’re interested in purchasing a book.
