And, as the city comes together to mark the 85th anniversary of the tragic night, Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce has been looking into how it continued to serve businesses in the city – and support the war effort - despite seeing its Earl Street offices totally destroyed.
The Coventry Chamber of Commerce, as it was previously known before it later added Warwickshire to its name towards the end of the Century, made record of the Blitz in its Council Minutes book of 1940-1946, one of the earliest surviving records in the Chamber’s archive.
And its 37th Annual Report 1940-41, which was presented to the Chamber’s Annual General Meeting on February 24, 1941, included a reference to the events of November 14 and the days following.
It stated: “Reference must be made in this report to the grievous and wanton raid inflicted on our city in November last, if only to pay tribute to the manifest will to win displayed by all sections of trade, commerce and industry of the City.
“The Chamber suffered total destruction of its premises and equipment, excepting the President’s Badge, which was in the President’s possession, but your Council is pleased and proud to report the work of the Chamber, although of necessity changed in nature, functioned without interruption the whole time, including the day following the raid.”
The Chamber President’s Badge, it turns out, survived as it had been worn to a function the previous evening but almost everything else was destroyed.
Office space in Hertford Street was offered and saw the Chamber back up and running to support local businesses.
“The Council take this opportunity of placing on record,” the AGM report continued, “the sincere thanks of the Chamber to the Association of British Chambers of Commerce, the Chambers of Birmingham, Glasgow, London and Sheffield, and other cities, and the International Chambers of Commerce, for the ready assistance given in replacing books and records etc. destroyed by enemy action.”
Another document – The History of Coventry Chamber of Commerce And Industry, by Fred Andrew – said: “Temporary premises were offered by an accountant in Hertford Street, telephones, gas and electricity, and water mains which had been damaged were gradually restored and the Coventry Chamber was back in business!
“Of course, there were still many problems to be solved, and the most important was the defence of the city against any further raids of that magnitude.
“For the temporary concealment of the city’s important factories, Army personnel distributed heavy smoke canisters all round these factories and, when the warning sirens sounded, noting the direction of the wind, the soldiers would blot-out the factories with thick black smoke. The Secretary was co-opted, along with the police and other civic officers on this committee to defend Coventry.”
The records show how the Coventry Chamber – like every other across the country – had moved to play a part in the war effort.
A year later, the AGM report stated: “The paramount object of the activities of the Chamber today is the winning of the war but, at the same time, some regard has to be given to the problems which will immediately be presented when the war is over, as it is apparent that a carefully considered system of planning is required to be provided for the time when reconstruction will replace destruction.”
Find out more about the history of the Chamber of Commerce in Coventry & Warwickshire here: https://www.cw-chamber.co.uk/about-us/chamber-history/
