The Dean of Coventry Cathedral, John Witcombe told Premier what happened back in November 1940, he described the moment bomber planes were spotted over-head: "The first of 500 bombers appeared in the sky over Coventry and they criss-crossed the city for 11 hours - dropping heavy bombs to take out major arterial routes and then smaller shells to puncture holes in the buildings, great areas of the city centre was destroyed, and many hundreds of people were killed."
The bombing that destroyed two thirds of the City.
Now the old Cathedral ruins are linked to the new built Cathedral via a corridor.
Following the bombing Provost Howard wrote the words 'Father Forgive' on the charred walls behind the Altar and it is that action that the Cathedral is using to promote peace and reconciliation in the city.
He told Premier that he hopes that visitors will go on a journey: "People will be taken from a place of remembrance into something of the way that God can lead people into experiencing both His presence in a place of destruction but also His hope to find some courage, and hope for the future."
The Archbishop of Canterbury was once the Canon for Reconciliation and has made Coventry the office for his continued work in peace building.
Coventry is also home to the first female Canon for Reconciliation, Revd Canon Dr Sarah Hills.
Revd Canon Dr Sarah Hills, Canon for Reconciliation, made this statement of reflection: "Today is the 75th anniversary of the bombing in WW2 of Coventry, when we commemorate the destruction that happened here on the night of November 14th.
"On the morning after the bombing, Provost Howard the leader of the Cathedral community, stepped into the smouldering ruins of the cathedral and said two words – 'Father, forgive'.
"This was an acknowledgment that we are all in need of God's forgiveness – victim and perpetrator alike, and so our work of reconciliation and peace began.
"It is equally imperative today that we respond to darkness with light; despair with hope; conflict with reconciliation."
Listen to Premier's Hannah Tooley speak to The Dean of Coventry Cathedral, John Witcombe, here:
