You may remember from the story of the Enigma code machine that, in November 1940, Winston Churchill knew the Germans were to raid Coventry. He could have evacuated the city but then the Germans would have known their code had been penetrated and the machine would be useless. Churchill badly needed the intelligence the code machine would provide and, therefore, decided that Coventry would have to be sacrificed.

During the horrendous raid, many hundreds, perhaps thousands of residents were killed and incredible devastation was wrought by the bombs. Among the buildings hit was Coventry Cathedral.

The skeleton of the cathedral was left as a memorial to the dead and incorporated into the new cathedral. When I saw the skeletal remains of the World Trade Center, I thought about Coventry (which has remained etched into my memory since I walked about those ruins) and tracked down a photograph. I think you'll see what I mean.

-- Anonymous, September 12, 2001