Wartime maps reveal bomb targets

In August 1940 a German plane flew over the West Midlands taking photographs of sites they hoped to obliterate with their bombs.

For 60 years, these photographs, showing many important sites, have been hidden away under the bed of a Birmingham man - but now they have been uncovered and donated to the RAF Museum at Cosford.

"The maps belong to my Uncle Ron who was stationed in Berlin in 1945 when he was ground crew with the New Zealand squadron," says Keith Cowdrill, from Vicarage Road in Oldbury.

"My uncle will soon be 85-years-old, and he has recently suffered a second stroke, so he told me he didn't want his war memorabilia lying around.

"I said I would donate the items to the RAF Museum at Cosford and so I went in search of them. I was shocked when I found everything hidden under his bed."

The maps show that the Germans planned to bomb the Spitfire and Lancaster Bomber factory at Castle Bromwich, the Singer car company at Acocks Green, Longbridge in Birmingham and the Rover works in Solihull.

There is also a map of an area around Wednesbury, with the area planned to be bombed written as "Doe Bank" - an area at Pheasey, Great Barr.

Ron Cowdrill has lived in Sheldon in Birmingham since he came back to England in 1947 and Keith says he is still not happy to talk about his memories of the Second World War.

"My uncle Ron hasn't spoken much about the war, but while he was in Berlin he saw so much devastation," says Keith, 71.

"He saw people were starving, had no running water and were living in bombed-out houses.

"So, he went to the Naffie, which was a cafe and shop for the RAF, and bought food and drink to give to all the children he could find.

"To thank him, the locals got together a few items that they thought would be useful for him. They gave him the photos of Birmingham and the Black Country as well as some from the Berlin Olympics in 1936."

Clare Carr, assistant curator at the RAF Museum at Cosford, says the photos are a good find. "There is nothing like this for the Birmingham and Black Country area in the RAF Museum Archive and Library," she says.

"They will be helpful for educational groups that come to the museum."

Keith added: "People need to think about what they have got.

"There may be a lot more gems like this hiding away under someone's bed."