Bomb likely dropped during November 1940 Blitz, historian sayspublished at 13:49 BST
13:49 BST
Image source, Getty Images
Coventry historian Pete Walters says he believes the bomb was most likely dropped during the November 1940 Blitz – the raid the Germans called Operation Moonlight Sonata.
He told BBC CWR: “The big site at Radford was targeted during that raid and I suspect, but I’m not entirely sure, that this probably happened at the same time.
“I’ve no doubt, really, that this is one of the bombs that were dropped on that factory, which did not explode, [and it’s] been there all these years.”
Walters said the Sandy Lane site had a long history even before the war, having started life as a cotton mill in the 1860s before being destroyed by fire in the 1890s.
It was later bought by Harry Lawson and Frederick Simms – the men who introduced the first car factory to Britain – who converted the ruins into what they called the Motor Mills, where the first Daimler cars were made.
“It’s a very historic site,” Walters said.