Harry Carter, from his granddaughter, Susan Carter
My late grandfather, Harry Carter, worked at Harvey's Warehouse, wholesale grocers, at Priestly Bridge on the Stoney Stanton Road.
He was a member of the Homeguard and did fire watch duty at the warehouse during air raids. When the war started, he would take my dad, John, on a Sunday to make tea whilst the men painted the sky lights black.
Dad said they rarely saw him. Either he was at work or on fire watch duty. He would come home, get washed, shaved and changed and then go back into Coventry.
Grampy never spoke of what happened, what he witnessed, especially on 14 November onwards. Only in his sleep, through his nightmares, talking in his sleep, my grandmother, Annie, found out some of what happened. And when he was ill with cancer he would relive again those events.
Once, when we went to visit him in hospital, he thought my younger brother was my dad, and asked if the family was OK, as the bombing had been bad that night.
We know he was just coming off duty when the bombing started and he stayed on. At one point he found an abandoned fire engine, which he got going and drove over to the canals, which were pumped dry, trying to fight the fires.
We also know that when the engines ran out of petrol he set off with an empty petrol can, heading for the old fire station to see if they had any petrol. On the way there he walked through a tunnel of fire which was formed from the flames meeting overhead from the buildings on either side of him. Somewhere near The Hippodrome Theatre he had to lie down in the gutter and let the bloody water wash over him to prevent being burnt alive.
Harvey's was hit and dad thinks it was probably around the Blitz - 13 people were trapped under the stairs and had to be rescued. Then when they were out, they pitched in and helped rescue other people and fight fires.
He eventually managed to drive home, using a works van. No one knows how he drove home as he was completely exhausted. The first anyone knew he'd survived was when my grandmother heard a bump at the door, when she opened it Grampy fell in, asleep on his feet. She managed to pull him in. He was black head to foot, covered in clay, blown from the foundations of the city. His hair, eyelashes and eyebrows were all singed off and his eyes were bloodshot for days.
In December 1940, my grandfather received a letter of thanks from the head ARP warden. Then in April 1941 he received a letter and bill for his Home Guard uniform, which he'd worn during the air raid, "as it was returned in a worn condition." Sum of £1.17S.9d.
He received another letter saying as he hadn't paid the money the police would be informed. He also received a letter of support from Leslie Bonham, of Bonhams Chemist, then on Stoney Stanton Road and Head warden, "regarding the valuable assistance he gave during the air raids on Coventry, including the 14th Nov and the following days."
He never paid the bill.