Redevelopment of Coventry - general material, 1939-1945

During World War II, Coventry civic centre was destroyed by bomb damage. The raid on 14 November 1940 made it necessary to completely rebuild the area. City Architect Sir Donald Evelyn Edward Gibson took the opportunity to further develop his planning ideas which he had already displayed in the "Coventry of Tomorrow Exhibition" held between 6-13 May 1940.

As a member of Gibson's team, between1938-1941, Percy Johnson-Marshall took an active part in the planning process. He collected photographs of the architectural models which he participated in creating and of the redevelopment plans these were derived from. He also collected press clippings with articles relating to the redevelopment.

After leaving Coventry City Council for active service in India and Burma Johnson-Marshall retained his interest in the project and continued to collect press clippings, plans and related papers. He later used these as the basis for a chapter in his book Rebuilding Cities ( 1966)