大象传媒

The Coventry Blitz 1940 Thursday 14th by Reg Buggins

I was a schoolboy aged 13 and the German Airforce had
bombed my school John Gulson in a previous raid.We
had been relocated in the nearby Red Lane School.Due
to staff shortage the Head teacher covered the French
lessons,we were awaiting the results of our homework.
When he arrived he expressed his disgust at the standard
of work and I with 5 other pupils were to be punished.
However he was required to answer a telephone call,he
cancelled it until the next day.Little did I realise what the
following hours would bring.

The air-raid sirens wailed about 7.00pm that evening,when
Dad came home from work he ordered us to the air-raid
shelter as quickly as possible.A factory had been hit by
a load of incendary bombs and was burning furiously.We
shared the air-raid shelter with the "Lacey family" who were
already there.

The first wave of bombers arrived shortly after and dropped
their deadly loads,the anti-aircraft batteries opened up,The
noise was unbearable especially one salvo that appeared to
be heading for the air-shelter,everyone screamed.The bomb
exploded yards away.I recall the waves of air pressure on my
chest.I thought I was going to die.Fortunately the air-raid
shelter had been sunk by some five feet and that may have
saved our lives as we were below ground level.The "all-clear"
sounded around 6.30am.We vacated the air-raid shelter,looked
towards the city centre.It was burning furiously,we felt the heat
from half a mile away.We returned to the house to assess the
damage.The main structure was standing however the street
was full of debris.Devistation beyound imagination.

At 11.am mother answered the front door,It was the landlord's
daughter accompanied by a policeman.She could not find her
father or the rest of the family.Dad quickly organised a search
party,while mother looked after the daughter.Half an hour later
he returned to the house and shook his head.All the occupants
including the landlord were dead,.his daughter ran into mother's
arm's.After consoling her she made tea for everyone.The police
-man thanked mother and escorted the daughter through the city
centre, which was still burning, back to her residence.

Mother and Dad decided to leave the present enviroment.We
had friends in the village of "Shilton" Warwickshire.Dad and I
set out on our bicycles to find a route acceptable for the car.
We spent the evenings there,returning each day for Dad's work
and my schooling.This lasted until the petrol ran out.The relief
of moving into a safe area had fortified our recovery and faith .

How the bombing of 1940-41 affected my Education.

When war was declared in Sept 1939 the schools term was
suspended for the first 3 weeks to enable them to organise
schedules for the evacuation of children to safe areas .This
allowed for re-location of new schools and homes.It was a
free choice for parents.I stayed at home.School got under
way with smaller classes and less staff due to mobilisation.
I remember the first" black out" exercise.I had arranged a
visit to a friend to do our maths homework.All the houses
were in darkness and all the street lights were off. I walked
into at least 3 lamp-posts on the way to my friends house.On
my return journey home I used my torch to help me along when
I heard the shout "Put that bloody light out".I responded
immediatley.

On the night of Oct14th-1940 the air-raid sirens wailed about
7.00pm.I was assisting my Dad who was a leader on fire watch.
The search lights were scanning the sky when 3 explosions
illuminated an area north of the city.I noted the location
took a deep breathe and realised it could be my school that
had been hit.Dad and I returned to the air-raid shelter,the
all-clear sounded around 6.00am.We then returned to the house.

After a 2hour rest,I had breakfast then set off to school on
my bicycle.As I was about to turn into the road that lead to
the school I noticed 2 fire-engines at the entrance,my fears
were realised.The school had suffered direct hits.I looked in
amazement at the devastation caused by the bombing, I viewed
the scene and recognised my desk.I was given permission by
the fireman to climb the debris to retrieve what I could find.
I opened the desk there was my Atlas and school dictionary.
Having retreived them I climbed down and thanked the fireman
for his help.I met other bewildered school friends,we were
instructed to report next day at the local Methodist Church
where there were avaiable facilities.

About 10 students turned up and we were in a lounge furnished
with 2 settees and easy seats.We were equipped with a pencil
and any form of writing paper.The teacher's equipement was an
an out of date board and easel,and a board rubber.He began the
day by asking what we would like to study.Someone called out
"Chemistry Sir",he turned to the blackboard, started to write
about Hydrogen and its applications.It was a lecture straight
off the cuff;it was great and we enjoyed it. The same with
geometry,we were told use our eyes.The shape of a door was
rectangular,the gable-end of a house a triangle and so on.

After a week we were told to report to Red Lane School.It had
surplus classrooms with desks and equipment,but there was a
shortage of text books for English and French lessons.It was
not all doom and gloom,one of the students who had reason to
visit the store room came across equipment for playing table-
tennis.We reached an agreement with the staff, we arrived
at school at 8.00am and set up the equipment in the assembly
hall.The staff played the students in a ding dong competition
to see who was best.At 9.00am the equipment was returned to
storage and school began.This continued through the week;the
relationship between the staff and student was certainly
enhanced.

To overcome the lack of text books for French lessons,the
school purchased copies of the Free French Newspapers.They
were given out to the class for translation from French to
English.We would follow the war news in French and the
location of enemy action which incorporated geographics
related to the fighting areas.

The air-raids were becoming more intensive and the staff were
becoming stretched due to being attached either to the Home
Guard, or the Auxiliary Fire Service.I well recall the maths
lesson; we were given questions from an exercise book.I
completed them in a reasonable time.I looked up and went to
his desk.There he was, head lying on the desk eyes closed.
I shouted down his ear"I have completed the exercise what
next?"He opened his eyes and said,"Exercise 18 page 23" and
then closed his eyes.I found out the evening before, he had
travelled to Sheffield to fight the fires created by heavy
bombing. They arrived back in Coventry around dawn he had a
2 hour nap and then came to school.

Probably the worst period was taking registration the morning
after a heavy raid the night before.The teacher called the
register and we would reply "Sir".One day there was no reply,
everyone turned and looked for an vacant seat;then "absolute
silence".A hand was raised,"Direct hit no survivors sir".We
all held our breath.A school friend had gone for ever.

The intensity of the bombing was now increasing to a nerve
racking situation.On Nov14th Coventry was blitzed by the
German Airforce and again on the 7th- 9th of April 1941.
The nearby Coventry & Warwickshire hospital suffered
many direct hits,in the April blitz.About 14 school days had
been lost between the two blitzs'.One student who lived
between Kenilworth and Warwick walked 4 miles to school and
4 miles on return journey making a total of 8 mile walking
trip every day.He was never late.

Late July1941 Dad informed me he had made an application for
an apprenticeship on my behalf and that I would have leave
school one year early.I protested but to no avail.My form
master asked about further education.I replied I would be
given day release to attend the local Technical College.He
looked straight into my eyes and said"It is not the building,
but what they teach you inside that matters".Words of Wisdom
how true that is even for today!

So ended my Daytime Education.