大象传媒

I was 4, nearly 5, when they bombed Coventry on 14 November 1940. We had to cross a field at the rear of our house to get to the shelter, my mother father and I were half way across when we heard a plane, my father shouted to drop down to the ground.

The first bomb missed the air-raid shelter by 25 yards - the next hit about 25 yards in front of us, the third bomb hit 30 yard behind us. We very lucky to be alive, the next one hit a house about 12 houses from ours and completely destroyed it.

After the Blitz there was no water as they had destroyed the pipes - we were very lucky in our street, the bomb that exploded in the field exposed a spring, so we had plenty of fresh water.

A few days later my mother took me to an aunt in Wales. As we had no transport we walked and hitched there. It took two days. My mother went home after staying with me one night, leaving me in a strange place with people I didn't know. My aunt and uncle were very good to me, but not having children of their own didn't know how to treat a young boy. They were strict chapel people, and I was sent to chapel every Sunday. After a while i got used to it, I also made some good friends. About three years later I was sent home, as it was deemed safe for me to return.

Coventry was flattened by the German planes - lots of the old houses in the centre were lost - a few were left in Spon End as you will see today. The cathedral was also bombed (I was christened there). In later years my friends and I used to climb up the steeple, and see how they rebuilt the city. I hope that future generations will read this story and remember what we went through to keep them free

James (Ted) Packer

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