Coventry’s links with Volgograd, formerly Stalingrad, were established in 1944 as a result of both cities experiencing the devastation of the Second World War. The epic battle for the city raged from the spring of 1942 to February 1943.

More than 1,000 tons of bombs were dropped on the city and fierce fighting took place. At the time of the onslaught women from Coventry sent a message of hope to the women of Stalingrad, having experienced the Blitz a few years earlier.

‘From this city scarred and ravaged by the enemy of civilisation,’ their message said, ‘our hearts go out to you, who now face slaughter and suffering even more fearful.’