Cadets and staff from 2438 (Bishop Ullathorne) Squadron Air Training Corps joined the approximately 3000 people that gathered to commemorate the Blitz which destroyed vast swathes of Coventry.

The service which took place at the new Coventry Cathedral on Sunday November 14 marked the 70th anniversary of the night Coventry was devastated by German raids.

During the service messages were read out by local school children, families, the Lord Mayor of Coventry and the Lord Mayor's cadets for 2010. The services was lead by The Dean of Coventry, The Very Reverend John Irvine

He said: “We gather to recall the events of 70 years ago when much of the city of Coventry, including her medieval cathedral, was destroyed by enemy action.

“Many lost their lives and many more were injured. Numerous homes and businesses were obliterated. “Many here today bring painful memories of those days in 1940 and 1941 when our city and her people suffered so terribly.”

Local school children made 1,085 paper flowers which were handed out to the congregation. Each flower represented a person who died in the Coventry air raids, according to numbers on the Coventry Roll of Honour.

After the service the congregation were led out of the cathedral by the standard bearers, one of which was the banner of 2438 (Bishop Ullathorne) Squadron Air Training Corps held by Cadet Flight Sergeant John Ormsby, followed by city dignitaries.

The congregation walked into the ruins of the old cathedral to the music of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, which was chosen because the November 14 raid was code-named Operation Mondscheinsonate (Moonlight Sonata),

Thousands of people gathered in and outside the old cathedral ruins to hear the air raid sirens sound at 7.15pm, the moment when bombers first appeared over the city of Coventry on November 14, 1940.

Coventry’s Lord Mayor, Coun Brian Kelsey, addressed the congregation he said “I invite you to join me in honouring the memory and sacrifice of all who suffered in the bombing of the city”.

A two minutes silence was then observed.

After the two minutes silence the cathedral bells rang and searchlights lit up the sky and the cathedral ruins.

Flight Lieutenant Nathan Adams, Officer commanding 2438 (Bishop Ullathorne) Squadron Air Training Corps said: ' This was a very poignant moment in the history of Coventry. It has been a huge honour to be able to attend this service of remembrance and honour the memory of the victims of this terrible night in 1940.'