*** World War II air campaign -- Battle of Britain the Blitz Coventry








The Blitz on Provincial Cities: Coventry (November 14-15, 1940)

Coventry bombing
Figure 1.--Coventry was shattered by the Luftwaffe attack. The bombing created a fire storm that obliterated the center of the historic city. The Luftwaffe used incendiaries as seondary armament and did not fully understrand their potential. This acquainted RAF Bomber Command which like the Luftwaffe at the time was wedded to high explosives with the potential of incendiary attacks. Bomber Command would use this tactic to devestating effect on German cities. Another outcome of the Coventry raid was the speed with which even a bomb devestated city could be brought back to life.

After beginning the Blitz (September 1940) t The Luftwaffe at first concentrated on London. Unable to break London, Hitler turned to other British cities. London was such a large city, that Goering concluded that even a sustained attack could not bring a decisive result. He hoped that larger attacks on smaller cities might be more decisive. [Churchill, p. 376.] The Luftwaffe in mid-November extended its night raids outside of London. Hitler was always anxious to teach his enemies a lesson. A British air raid on Munich on the night of the anniversary celebration for his abortive Beer Hall Putch infuriated him. Hitler who had destroyed Warsaw did not think it civilized that his enemies should bomb German cities. Retribution was a night strike on Coventry with 500 bombers (November 14). The target was the factories around Coventry. The raid was one of the most notorious and significant of the War. The attack November 14-15 on Coventry was especially severe. Coventry is located in the industrial Midlands north of London. It was a city of about 1000,000 inhabitants and had Britain's largest machine tool works and thus an important part of the British war effort. Britain's air craft production in particular was concentrated in Coventry and Birmingham. The British had advanced notice of the raid. The Luftwaffe was notoriously careless about the use of the Enigma machines. The attack is a subject of debate among historians. Some historians report Ultra code breakers intercepted radio communications ordering the attack from Luftwaffe headquarters on November 12. Such was the importance of Ultra, neither the civilian population or the RAF was warned of the attack.[Cave-Brown] Other historians dispute this charge. Apparently the British did conclude that the Luftwaffe was preparing a major attack. They were unable, however, to learn the specific target. The British did launch attacks on German bases, but in 1940 there capability was limited. The British only learned that the target was Coventry 4 hours before the attack. This came as a result of the so called battle of the beams. RAF intelligence detected Luftwaffe navigational beams intersecting at Coventry. With only four hours notice, there was no way of even attempting an evacuation of the city. The Luftwaffe code named the attack Operation Moonlight Sonata. The Luftwaffe deployed 509 Heinkel bombers. It was a moonlit night and the Luftwaffe bombers easily found the city. Finding and attacking bombers at night was a very difficult undertaking at this stage of the War. The raid did extensive damage to the Coventry war plants, but the center of the historic old city had been destroyed. Estimates suggest that 60,000 of the 75,000 buildings in the city center were destroyed. Dr. Goebbels coined a new word--" Koventrieren " meaning to Coventrate or totally obliterate an entire city. It was a word they would soon need. There were 564 people killed at Coventry, high for the time, but modest given the damage. So many fires were created that a "fire storm" was created. Air Marshall Harris, not yet assigned to Bomber Command later explained that the raid taught RAF planners the potential impact of starting 'so many fires at the same time'. [Gilbert, p. 352.] This would be later put to work on German cities. The aftermath in 1940, however, was a destroyed city and the biggest mass funeral in British history. The attack was not, however, the decisive result Goering sought. Aircraft production was not seriously interrupted. In less than a week the restoration of city life was well underway. [Churchill, p. 377.]

The Blitz (September 1940-May 1941)

The Luftwaffe at first concentrated on RAF forward bases and Channel ports. Hitler had been advised by his military commanders that they need air superiority over southern England to launch an invasion. Air Chief Marsall Dowding and RAF Fighter Command stunned Hitler and Recihmarshall Göring with their capabilities. (July-August 1940). The Luftwaffe suffered real losses. For the first time they were sustaining higher losses that their opponent. The Germans were unaware of Fighter Command capabilities, British aircraft production, and the vital role of the Britain's Chain Home Network. But they were also shooting down large numbers of RAF pilots. And with their larger force, it was unclear how long Fighter Command could sustain the punishment. The issue was decided when on Hitler's orders, the focus of the battle was switched from Fighter Command's forward bases to London and eventually other British cities--the Blitz. Defeating the RAF was taking too long. Hitler reverted to his true character--murder and destruction. He would destroy London and other British cities. This became known as the Blitz. After beginning the Blitz (September 1940), the Luftwaffe at first focused on daylight raids targeting London. When unable to break London and suffering staggering aircraft and crew losses, Hitler turned to other British cities. This meant night-time raids. German fighters did not have the range to escort the bombers beyond London and even over London during the day there were unsustainable losses. So the Luftwaffe turned to nighttime raids. This meant terror raids because at night specific targets could not be identified--only whole cities.

Smaller Cities

Britain was a highly urbanized, industrial nation with many cities. London was acase by itself. It streched out over a huge area. None of Britain's many other cities approached the population or area of London. London was such a large city, that Göring concluded that even a sustained attack could not bring a decisive result. He hoped that massed attacks on smaller cities might be more decisive. [Churchill, p. 376.] The Luftwaffe as a result in mid-November extended its night raids outside of London.

Terror Bombing

Hitler was always anxious to teach his enemies a lesson. A British air raid on Munich on the night of the anniversary celebration for his abortive Beer Hall Putch infuriated him. Hitler who had destroyed Warsaw and Rotterdam, not to mention Guernica before the War did not think it civilized that his enemies should bomb German cities. Destroying cities apparently was only permissible for the Germans in his twisted mind. The Germans eventually would pay a terrible price for these actions. The Blitz and subsequent German terror attacks would set the stage for the utter destruction of German cities. It should be born in mind that terror bombing was only one part of the NAZI murder repertoire. As part of Generalplan Ost, Hitler planned to destroy all of the large Soviet industrial cities, and accomplished a great deal of that during the War. This also mean murdering, largely through starvation, the people in them. The NAZI plan was to turn the East (occupied Soviet Union), into a huge German agricultural colony.

Coventry

Coventry was a lovely medieval city in the English industrial Midlands, located in the historic county of Warwickshire. Thev city originated in medieval times after the withdrawl of the Roman Legions. The Saxon nunnery of St. Osburga survived the initial Viking onslaught, but was sacked by the Danes (1016). In the aftermath, Earl Leofric of Mercia (one of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms) and his wife, Godgifu (Godiva) founded a monastery (1043). This of course was the legendary Lady Godiva who rode a white horse through the town without her clothes. The monastery promoted trade and prosperity. The town as a result came to be an important medieval center of the wool trade and eventually the textile industry, especially noted for thread. The wool trade was at the center of England's medieval economy. Other crafts developed as well. The city's beautiful town center was one of the best preserved medieval towns in England. The city had two cathedrals. The first was St Mary's, a monastic building (1102-1539), destroyed by King Henry VIII as part of his dissolution of the monasteries. The second was St Michael's ( 14th-century). It was a magnificent Gothic church designated as a cathedral (1918). The Industrial Revolution transformed the city. Factories opened and small to medium size businesses and industrial center created the modern city. At the time of World War I, the the city was continued to grow, this included private and council housing. New production and manufacturing facilities appeared. One of the most import industries was automobile manufacturing. As in America, many of the plants were converted to war production. This included metal work, airplane engine production and munition factories. Coventry at the time of World War II was one of the largest manufacturing and engineering cities in Britain. Factories in and around the city were an important part of Britain's war production. St. Michael's Cathedral was left a ruined shell as part of the Luftwaffe destruction of the Coventry town center (1940). The ruins were left a memorial to Britain's heroic World War II resistance to the NAZI hordes. Coventry's third cathedral is the new St Michael's Cathedral, built adjacent to the ruins after World War II.

Selection of Coventry

Reichmarshall Göring was a major part of the reason that Germany lost World War II. He was an intelligent man , but much that intelligence was manifested itself in animal cunning and ways to enrich himself. .he was particularly skilled at robbing terrorized Jews.) He understood that his position and authority was based on his close relationship with Hitler. He knew that having been defied by the British that nothing would please Hitler more than the destruction of British cities. This would be a fixation Hitler would have throughout the rest of the War. Göring finally understood that the Luftwaffe did not have the capacity to destroy London--it was too large for the force at hand. , he came up with the idea of destroying smaller cities. He decided that a major attack on an industrial city (working class area) would provoke an anti-war revolution. He ignored the impact of on British morale of bombing London's East End. A factor here would be regaining Hitler's esteem after losing the Battle of Britain. Destroying a city was the best he could do at this stage of the War. And Coventry was probably chosen because of the aircraft plants. Coventry is located in the industrial Midlands north of London. It was a city of about 100,000 inhabitants and had Britain's largest machine tool works and aircraft plants and thus an important part of the British war effort. Britain's air craft production in particular was concentrated in Coventry and Birmingham.

Warning

The British had advanced notice of the raid. The Luftwaffe was notoriously careless about the use of the Enigma machines. The attack is a subject of debate among historians. Some historians report Ultra code breakers intercepted radio communications ordering the attack from Luftwaffe headquarters on November 12. Such was the importance of Ultra, neither the civilian population or the RAF was warned of the attack.[Cave-Brown] Other historians dispute this charge. Apparently the British did conclude that the Luftwaffe was preparing a major attack. They were unable, however, to learn the specific target. The British did launch attacks on German bases, but in 1940 there capability was limited. The British only learned that target was Coventry 4 hours before the attack. This came as a result of the so called battle of the beams. RAF intelligence detected Luftwaffe navigational beams intersecting at Coventry. With only four hours notice, there was no way of even attempting an evacuation of the city. The Luftwaffe code named the attack Operation Moonlight Sonata. The Luftwaffe deployed 509 Heinkel bombers.

Navigation

It was a moonlit night, but German navigational beams directed guided the the Luftwaffe bombers to he city. Finding and attacking targets at night was a very difficult undertaking at the beginning of the War. RAF Bombers had great difficulty. The Germans led at this stage having in the Battle of the Beams. The Germans had huge advantage with bases right across the Channel in occupied France. RAF Bomber Command had a lengthy flight to reach targets in the Reich. British scientists soon realized what the Germans were up to, aided by examining the wreckage of Luftwaffe bombers shot down. The German had cleverly hidden the navigational technology, but the British found the devices. As a result, by 1942 when Bomber Command was capable of reaching the Reich with modern bombers like the Lancaster, they also had effective navigation beam systems--essential for nighttime bombing.

City AA Defenses

Coventry had almost no anti-aircraft (AA) defenses. British industry was working overtime building artillery for the Army which was bracing for a German invasion. The British Army had left most of its artillery behind at Dunkirk. And at any AA was not an effective deterent even when deployed in mass as the Germans were to do with their FLAK parks surrounding German cities. The real defense is fighter aircraft, but the British were not yet prepared with night fighters. That was a technolofy being developed. And thus Coventry was at the time of the German raid essentially undefended.

The Raid: Moonlight Sonata (November 14-15, 1940)

Hitler's wrath resulted in a night strike on Coventry with 500 bombers--a major force a this time of the War (November 14). The target was the theoretically the industrial factories in and around Coventry. The Luftwaffe meticulously planned the raid. The goal was to create a firestorm in the city that would obliterate factories and destroy the city’s residents morale. Most of the destruction occurred in the historic, medieval town center. The German attack reached its climax at midnight. The Germans did indeed achieve a firestorm, but only in the town center. This was where the medieval buildings were located, but not the war industries. The fires in the city continued to burn throughout the night. The all-clear was not sounded until around 6:00 AM in the morning. The raid was one of the most notorious and significant of the War. The attack November 14-15 on Coventry was especially severe. The bombing went on for 13 hours during the night. The Luftwaffe dropped 30,000 incendiaries along with 500 tons of high explosive bombs.

Result

The raid did some damage to the Coventry war plants, 71 were damaged, but not destroyed. They were not located in the city center. What was destroyed was historic old city, a surviving medieval jewel. Almost a third of the city was flattened, including virtually all of the city's medieval heritage. The beautiful medieval cathedral was destroyed, left a ghostly shell and pile of rubble. This was the only cathedral in England to suffer such a fate during the war. King George VI reportedly wept at the sight of the ruins. Estimates suggest that 60,000 of the 75,000 buildings in the city center were destroyed. About 4,300 homes were destroyed. NAZI Propaganda Minister, Dr. Goebbels, coined a new word--" Koventrieren " meaning to Coventrate or totally obliterate an entire city. It was a word they would soon need. There were 564 people killed at Coventry and hundreds more injured , high for the time, but modest given the damage. So many fires were created that a 'fire storm' was created. Air Marshall Harris, not yet assigned to Bomber Command later expalained that the raid taught RAF planners the potential impact of starting 'so many fires at the same time'. [Gilbert, p. 352.] This would be later put to work on German cities. The aftermath in 1940, however, was a destroyed city and the biggest mass funeral in British history.

Morale

Morale is a difficult matter to measure and in most cases during World War II simply assessments without any real data to back it up. British morale during the War was actually being measured by a non-governmental research organization -- Mass Observation (MO). The MO project was the brain child of three former students from Cambridge: anthropologist Tom Harrisson, poet Charles Madge, and filmmaker Humphrey Jennings. there were also important collaborators. It had no government support and run on a shoestring budget with their own funds, occasional philanthropic contributions, and book advance. Its major source of information was a network of volunteer correspondents. It first major focus as the Abdication Crisis of King Edward VIII. MO observers appeared in Coventry immediately after the bombing. They reported a 'collective nervous breakdown'. The MO report angered the government because it also criticized the lack of assistance being provided the people who were injured and lost their homes. The Government was not pleased with this reporting which was carried on the BBC. (The Government for a time toyed with the idea of taking over the BBC.) Help did arrive Food kitchens appeared as well as emergency medical care. Of course there is no way that the morale could not have been severely damaged after such a devastating raid. Some 100,000 people reportedly fled to the countryside to get outside the city. The second bombing attack never came. Mass burials began (November 20). A second mass funeral would follow. The city’s infrastructure was severely damaged. Even so the population remained in the city through choice. The Government set up an evacuation scheme. Only 300 people took up the offer. The lasting impact of the bombing on morale was a sense of defiance and a burning desire for revenge.

War Impact

The Luftwaffe attack on Coventry was devastating. It was not, however, the decisive blow that Göring sought. The city was stunned. Life in the city came to a sudden halt. City services were not operating. Shops were closed. But the city came back to life very quickly. More quickly than anyone had imagined before the war. World War II was the first real air war. And no one really knew how civilians would react. Knocking down medieval buildings did not advance the German war effort, especially when you expend valuable combat power to do so. And you do not destroy a city by killing 564 people. Most importantly, British aircraft production was not seriously int erupted. Destroying these factories would have required daylight raids. A capability the Luftwaffe did not have. Bombers attacking British cities north of London during the day would have been savaged by RAF fighter defenses. The Luftwaffe had already been seriously weakened by the fierce daylight fighting (July-September 1940). The Luftwaffe did not come back for a second raid. This would be in sharp contrast to the Allies when they began the strategic bombing of Germany. In less than a week the restoration of city life in Coventry was well underway. [Churchill, p. 377.] Within two weeks of the bombing factories began reopening. City services came back on line. The people Coventry buried their dead, sifted through the rubble of their bombed out homes for whatever could be salvaged, and got on with their lives.

Bomber Command

RAF Bomber Command did not have the ability to retaliate in force during the Blitz. Sir Arthur Harris, appointed chief of Bomber Command 2 years after the Coventry attack, said it best, "The Nazis entered this war under the rather childish delusion that they were going to bomb everybody else and nobody was going to bomb them .... They sowed the wind and now they are going to reap the whirlwind... It may take a year. It may take two.... There is a great deal of work to be done first, and let us all get down to it." The same can be said of the Japanese. Reichmarshall Göring had assured the German people that enemy bombers would never reach German cities. When you start a war and bomb enemy cities, you had better quickly win the war quickly, especially against countries with advanced aviation industries. The Germans after bombing England in World War I escaped devastation from the skies by asking for the Armistice (November 1918). The British after enduring German bomber raids during World War I were preparing a massive strategic bombing campaign on German cities. Only the Armistice prevented this. World War II would be very different. The RAF not only defeated the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain, but learned a great deal from the Luftwaffe about strategic bombing, in particular the power of incendiaries. Not only the British, but Hitler had added America to the Germany's enemies. Bomber Command began the Strategic Bombing Campaign in earnest with the arrival of the Avro Lancaster (1942). The USAAF would join in with the Eighth Air Force and the around the clock bombing of the Reich (1943). Much of what the Allies did was taught to them by the Luftwaffe in 1940 with London and Coventry being leading examples. It should not be forgotten that it was the Germans who created the word--' Koventrieren " meaning to Coventrate or totally obliterate an entire city. But fortunately it would be their own German cities that would be left mounds of smoldering rubble.

Sources

Cave-Brown, Anthony. Bodyguard of Lies.

Churchill, Winston. Their Finest Hour (Houghton Mifflin: Boston, 1949), 751p.

Gilbert, Martin. A History of the Twentieth Century Vol. 2 1933-54 (William Morrow and Company, Inc.: New York, 1998), 1050p.






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Created: 5:31 PM 9/30/2005
Spell checked: 1:54 PM 1/15/2023
Last updated: 1:54 PM 1/15/2023