Coventry Blitz Resource Centre
Looking for Coventry Blitz facts?
Here you will find lots of information about the Coventry Blitz, "Operation Moonlight Sonata", facts about other air raids on Coventry, lists of Coventry Blitz Victims, recollections of Coventry Blitz survivors and from family members of Blitz victims along with supplementary research.
Coventry Blitz Air Raids
Facts and information I have compiled regarding the major air raids suffered by Coventry during World War Two, including 'The Coventry Blitz' - code name Operation Moonlight Sonata.
- Coventry Air Raids prior to the Coventry Blitz
- Facts about the Coventry Blitz (Operation Moonlight Sonata)
- Air raids following the Coventry Blitz
Index of Coventry Blitz Victims
I have compiled an index of victims of the Coventry Blitz. I undertook this big project and published my findings here to help preserve local history, as well as to provide a free research resource for people tracing their own family histories. As time permits I continue adding additional research findings to my website, so check back from time to time.
If you have information to share about the Coventry Blitz such as family stories or photographs then please get in touch. It is important that we preserve memories of the horrors of the blitz and educate our children. If you would like me to research a particular individual's details not yet published here, please contact me
In London Road Cemetery, Coventry a war memorial honours the memory of many victims of the Coventry Blitz. I have transcribed the names onto my website, which you can access from the links below. These pages serve as an index so you can click on names to easily locate facts about Coventry blitz victims.
Coventry Blitz Victims from London Road War Memorial, part one
(Surnames A-H)
Coventry Blitz Victims from London Road War Memorial, part two (Surnames H-S)
Coventry Blitz Victims from London Road War Memorial, part three (Surnames S-Z)
A great many Coventry Blitz victims are not recorded on the memorial. I have researched facts about a lots of these people too, and added them to my website. If you follow the link below you will find a list of further Coventry Blitz victims, and again you can click on names to access additional information about them.
Index of additional Coventry Blitz victims not listed on the London Road memorial
Note that specific details pertaining to named blitz victims are organised alphabetically, and you can search for a person by surname if you click on relevant the initial below:
Quick navigation links for Coventry Blitz Victim research findings:
Blitz Story Archive
A collection of memories from Blitz survivors recounting their true life experiences and loss of homes and loved ones during the bombings. If you would like to preserve and share your family's memories of the Coventry Blitz and other Coventry air raids then please contact me
Support the Coventry Blitz Resource Centre
These Coventry Blitz resources are available free of charge as a service to the general public. I dread to think how many hundreds of hours I have voluntarily worked in order to make this site a reality. If you are able to support this Coventry Blitz project, whether by donating your family stories or photos, or by making a financial donation to help with my ongoing costs of researching and publishing these resources online, then you would be most welcome.
Please contact me if you wish to share your family recollections of the Coventry Blitz, or provide details about family members who lost their lives in the air raids.
If you are able to make a financial donation you can do so by clicking the Donate button. Thanks, as always, go to the generous people who have already supported this site.
Coventry Blitz facts
A detailed collection of facts and figures about the Coventry Blitz compiled by Maurice Rattigan, and reproduced here by kind permission of the author. Includes some sketches produced by Maurice as a teenager, depicting what he saw of the bomb damage, and a plan of where many bombs landed.
Coventry Blitz Memories
An extract from One Man: One Day by Paul W. Currie, telling the story of his father's memories of the Coventry blitzes of 1940 and 1941.
Home Guard Blitz Victims
Information I have collated on those members of the local Home Guard companies who were killed in the Blitz.
Coventry firemen killed in the Blitz
In memory of the firemen who gave their lives during the Coventry Blitz. Includes a list of victims.
Blitz Poetry
This is a new section of the website, to publish poetry about the Coventry Blitz. It starts with 'That Night of Death' by John J. Rattigan, written in November 1940 when he came home to Coventry after the Blitz, whilst on leave from the army.
Blitz News
I have transcribed a donated newspaper from November 1940 which provides names and further information related to some of the Blitz victims. As well as being a piece of interesting memorabilia, this may be of interest to anyone researching their family tree whose family members are mentioned in the article.
The significance of the Coventry Blitz
An essay by a lifelong Coventry resident who is descended from survivors of the Coventry Blitz, showing the author's thoughts on the events and significance of the carpet bombing of Coventry during Operation Moonlight Sonata.
Further details of Coventry Blitz victims
I have researched additional details for a great many Blitz Victims, which are published here. The lists are organised by surname to help you find the ancestor or person you are looking for. I update these records from time to time as I unearth more family history information for Blitz Victims, so you may wish to check back periodically.
Blitz Victims beginning A (Adams - Austin)
Blitz Victims beginning B (Bacon - Butterfield)
Blitz Victims beginning C (Cadman - Cutts)
Blitz Victims beginning D (Daly - Doyle)
Blitz Victims beginning E (Eaton - Evans)
Blitz Victims beginning F (Farndon- Frowen)
Blitz Victims beginning G (Galsworthy- Gilkes)
Blitz Victims beginning H (Hadingham- Hydon)
Blitz Victims beginning I-J (Ince - Jupp)
Blitz Victims beginning K (Keay - Knutton)
Blitz Victims beginning L (Laing - Lucas)
Blitz Victims beginning M (Maile - Munt)
Blitz Victims beginning N (Neale - Norman)
Blitz Victims beginning O (Ogilvie- Overend)
Blitz Victims beginning P-Q (Painter - Quinn)
Blitz Victims beginning R (Radburn - Rutter)
Blitz Victims beginning S (Sandford - Swinn)
Blitz Victims beginning T-V (Tallis- Villiers)
Blitz Victims beginning W (Wallbank- Worthington)
Blitz Victims beginning X-Z (Yardley - Young)
70th Anniversary of the Coventry Blitz
November 2010 marked the 70th anniversary of the night of the Coventry Blitz. The city put in a great deal of effort to honour the memory of the Blitz. I myself spoke twice on local BBC radio in the run up, and once on BBC Radion 5 live in the early hours of the morning of November 14th, standing at the site of the mass grave of Blitz victims and the memorial at London Road Cemetery watching the sun rise on this historic day.
Here is a list of the main events which commemorated the 70th anniversary of the Coventry Blitz
1940s Activity DayCoventry Transport Museum, November 13th, 11:00 - 15:00
70th Anniversary Service
Coventry Cathedral, November 14th, 8:00 - 8:50
70th Anniversary Service of Reflection and Commemoration
Coventry Cathedral including the ruins, November 14th, 18:00 - 29:25
Annual Service to remember those killed in the Blitz
London Road Cemetery, November 14th, 15:00 - 15:30
Award Ceremony - Coventry International Prize for Peace and Reconciliation
Coventry Cathedral, November 14th, 13:30
Blitz Family Day
Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, plus the Transport Museum, November 13th, 11:00 - 16:00
Building from the Rubble - shared memories of Blitz survivors
Holy Trinity, November 11th, 13:45
Concert to mark the 70th Anniversary of the Blitz
The Welcome Centre, November 13th, 19:00
Coventry Blitz commemoration. Includes the local scouts' gang show and the John Miller Orchestra
Coventry Transport Museum, November 13th, 19:00
One Night in Coventry. The famous play about the Coventry Blitz
Belgrade Theatre, October 30th - November 13th Time Varies, see www.belgrave.co.uk
Peace Collecting. This collection is related to activism for peace.
Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, November 13th, 11:00 - 16:00
Post Colonial War Requiem
Coventry Cathedral, November 14th, 20:30
Remembrance Sunday service and parade
War Memorial Park, November 14th, 10:45 - 12:00
The Armed Man. A mass dedicated to the victims of war in Kosovo
Coventry Cathedral, November 12th, 19:00
War Requiem - Benjamin Britten.
Coventry Cathedral, November 13th, 19:00
What If the Bomb Goes Off? (Timeliners) by Stewart Ross
What If the Bomb Goes Off? tells the story of the Coventry Blitz. While out hunting for German spies, Bill and his brother find an unexploded bomb. When his friends refuse to believe them, Bill takes his brother on a dangerous quest to prove that the bomb is real…. But what if the bomb goes off?
