After the bombing raid, I remember a ring of anti-aircraft guns around Leicester, and a battery at Stoughton. My Dad was fire-watching the night a gun went off — a fearsome crack indeed!

Despite their importance during World War II, the guns lost their front-line defensive role during the jet age that followed, eventually giving way to faster and more-accurate anti-aircraft missiles.

German police have found an arsenal of World War II-era weaponry ... a number of guns and tanks in his home, including a 45-ton Panther battle-tank, a torpedo and a 3.5in anti-aircraft gun from ...