On 14th November 1940 the city of Coventry in the English Midlands suffered the most severe bombing raid of the war. It was the single most concentrated attack on a British city in the Second World War.

At the start of the Second World War, Coventry was an industrial city containing metal and wood-working industries. In Coventry's case, these included cars, bicycles, aeroplane engines and munitions factories.

The Coventry Blitz lasted from August 1940 until August 1942, but the raid on 14th November 1940 was by far the worst, carried out by over 500 German bombers.

Pictured are the remains of Coventry Cathedral which was set on fire by incediaries at around 8pm. Volunteer firefighters managed to put the first fire out, but other direct hits followed and soon the flames spread out of control.

During the raid, the Germans dropped about 500 tonnes of high explosives, including 50 parachute air-mines, of which 20 were incendiary petroleum mines, and 36,000 incendiary bombs. An estimated 568 people were killed and hundreds badly injured. More than 43,000 homes, just over half the city's housing stock, were damaged or destroyed in the raid.
 
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© Colourised by Tom Marshall (PhotograFix).  All Rights Reserved.