85 years since the Blitz, Coventry endures

The morning after the Coventry Blitz, Provost Richard Howard visited the remains of St. Micheals Cathedral not just to appraise the damage but to formulate its rebirth, reconstruction and to secure the future of its flock.

The Coventry Blitz started at ten past seven in the evening, with an air raid that took the lives of approximately 554 people and left 850 more critically injured. Coventry was left unrecognisable, including the building of St. Michael's Cathedral.

Six weeks later, Provost Richard Howard made an impactful speech broadcasted on BBC radio straight from the ruins, projecting a message of forgiveness towards their enemy. He said: “we’re trying hard as it may be to banish all thoughts of revenge” this speech was the catalyst for the new Coventry Cathedral we see today. Though his Christian-based convictions may have been unpopular, it allowed Coventry to become a city of peace and reconciliation.  

Photo of New Cathedral in Coventry.

Reverend Canon Nitano Muller detailed how Coventry’s recovery resonates to him: “I come from South Africa, a country with its own history around reconciliation having experienced Apartheid for about forty years and prior to that three hundred years of colonial rule” adding “coming to Coventry was indeed a part of my own journey around thinking about and doing the inner work of reconciliation myself”