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The Coventry UXB (unexploded bomb)
Since the mild kerfuffle reported here a couple of weeks or so ago, a number of letters have appeared in The Times commenting on the original bombing.
There was, after the end of WW2, a conspiracy theory that thanks to Ultra - the cracking of the Enigma code at Bletchley Park - Churchill had advanced warning of the German intentions but declined to take action for fear of exposing Britain's knowledge of how they could read the code. This theory has been largely debunked and it seems inconceivable that Churchill would not have done all he could to save Coventry - he had walked the streets after London's blitz many times.
And a letter published a couple of days ago in The Times claims that "on the night in question, RAF Fighter Command launched 125 sorties against the raiders, but such was the rudimentary state of Britain's defences against night attack that only seven contacts were made, and these did not result in a single claim".
This was (I'm pretty sure) in 1941 and during the course of the same winter cities such as Norwich, Bristol and Liverpool also suffered. It was only later in the war that airborne radar was developed which allowed effective defence against night raiders and, even then, the story was put about that the success of the RAF's night fighter pilots was due to their eating carrots to improve their night vision!
All of which was a long time ago but it is worth remembering that this country did come under serious bombing attack at the cost of many lives - and, even now, we can still expect the occasional UXB to turn up from time to time, as happened in Coventry.
Tony (in mild military history mode).
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