Gibbet Hill Anti Aircraft Artillery Site
Image courtesy of Gary Stocker.
Image courtesy of Gary Stocker.
Description of this historic site
The site of a heavy anti aircraft installation from the Second World War and identified at this grid reference from documentary evidence. It was located west of Gibbet Hill Road.
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Notes about this historic site
1 The site of a heavy anti aircraft artillery site which was part of the Coventry Gun Defended Area, and was listed as F, title H67, being first mentioned in February 1940. In June 1942 it was without large calibre guns or radar. Artillery was moved from site to site.
- For the sources of these notes, see the
- Timetrail record
- produced by the Historic Environment Record.
Comments
My father (Peter Stocker) was from Coventry originally. Although he was very young at the time, he says that he does vaguely remember this anti-aircraft gun. He got the impression that it was a naval gun because it seemed to be manned by Royal Naval personnel.
One story which he heard was that it could fire to a greater altitude than lots of other anti-aircraft guns. So it was used against high altitude, German reconnaissance aircraft which used to fly over during the day to photograph the damage done by the bombers the previous night. RAF interceptors could not get to those altitudes, so this anti-aircraft gun was the only thing which could reach them. One time, so the story goes, this one reconnaissance aircraft was flying over and the anti-aircraft gunners scored a direct hit. The aircraft was totally obliterated and no wreckage was reportedly found.
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