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This story was submitted to the People's War site by a volunteer on behalf of Mike Logan and has been added to the site with his permission. Mike fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

On the night of the 13th of October 1940, there was a German bombing raid on Coventry. Seven-year-old Mike Logan ran to the pavement shelter on Henry Street, with his pregnant mother and two brothers. His father, who had been in the pub at the start of the raid, joined them later. While they were sitting there, the shelter took a direct hit.

Many of the people in the shelter were killed, including both Mike's parents and his five-year-old brother Frank. Mike and his brother Patrick were amongst the survivors trapped in the rubble.

The explosion caused a gas leak, and everyone was warned to stay away from the area. However three brave men ignored the warnings and risked their lives to help the survivors. Albert Fearn and Fred Mason were both local ARP wardens, while Thomas Lee was a civilian who lived at no. 8, Henry Street, next door to Mike's family. The three men crawled fearlessly under concrete blocks to pull out the nine survivors, and were all awarded George Medals for their heroism. But young Mike knew nothing more about the men who had saved him, and didn't even realise that one of them had been a neighbour.

Mike Logan later took a job at Massey Ferguson, where Albert Fearn was working, but had no idea that his rescuer was so close by. It was only later on, when he put a piece in the local paper asking about the local heroes, that Albert's widow contacted him and confirmed the story. He later found out about the other two men who had saved his life, Fred Mason and Thomas Lee.

Some years afterwards, Mike bought Albert's George medal to donate to the Herbert Art Gallery, which now also houses Fred Mason's medal. He still knows very little about Thomas Lee, his civillian neighbour who later left Coventry.

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