Missing believed killed
Title
Missing believed killed
Description
Sympathy letter from the Royal Air Force, Record Office, to Mabel Pexman.
This item was sent to the IBCC Digital Archive already in digital form. No better quality copies are available.
This item was sent to the IBCC Digital Archive already in digital form. No better quality copies are available.
Creator
Date
1942-07-27
Temporal Coverage
Language
Format
One-page typewritten letter
Publisher
Rights
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
Identifier
ESaundersHWPexmanM420727
Transcription
RECORD OFFICE,
ROYAL AIR FORCE,
GLOUCESTER.
Date 27th July 1942
Telephone No.: SPRINGWELL (GLOUCESTER) 2402
Telegraphic Address:
RECORDS TELEX, GLOUCESTER.
Any communications on the subject of this letter should be addressed to:
AIR OFFICER i/c RECORDS,
[italics] Address as opposite, [/italics]
and the following number quoted:-
Your Ref.: C7/1202557
Dear Madam,
In confirmation of my telegram dated 25th July 1942 it is my painful duty to inform you that according to a telegram from the International Red Cross Committee, quoting information from Berlin, your husband No. 1202557 Sergeant Kenneth Richard PEXMAN of No. 9 Squadron, Royal Air Force, previously reported as 'missing', is now reported 'missing believed killed in action'. The report states he lost his life on 31st May 1942.
Although there is, I fear, little reason to doubt the accuracy of the report that your husband was killed in action, it will be necessary to record the casualty for official purposes as 'missing believed killed in action' until his death is confirmed by written evidence or, in the absence of such confirmation, it becomes necessary to presume his death owing to lapse of time.
In conveying this information may I assure you of the sympathy of the Royal Air Force with you in your great anxiety.
I am,
Dear Madam,
Your obedient Servant,
[signature] S.L [indecipherable letters]
for Air Commodore,
Air Officer i/c Records,
ROYAL AIR FORCE.
Mrs. K.R. Pexman,
38 Warley Road,
Old Brumby,
Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire.
ROYAL AIR FORCE,
GLOUCESTER.
Date 27th July 1942
Telephone No.: SPRINGWELL (GLOUCESTER) 2402
Telegraphic Address:
RECORDS TELEX, GLOUCESTER.
Any communications on the subject of this letter should be addressed to:
AIR OFFICER i/c RECORDS,
[italics] Address as opposite, [/italics]
and the following number quoted:-
Your Ref.: C7/1202557
Dear Madam,
In confirmation of my telegram dated 25th July 1942 it is my painful duty to inform you that according to a telegram from the International Red Cross Committee, quoting information from Berlin, your husband No. 1202557 Sergeant Kenneth Richard PEXMAN of No. 9 Squadron, Royal Air Force, previously reported as 'missing', is now reported 'missing believed killed in action'. The report states he lost his life on 31st May 1942.
Although there is, I fear, little reason to doubt the accuracy of the report that your husband was killed in action, it will be necessary to record the casualty for official purposes as 'missing believed killed in action' until his death is confirmed by written evidence or, in the absence of such confirmation, it becomes necessary to presume his death owing to lapse of time.
In conveying this information may I assure you of the sympathy of the Royal Air Force with you in your great anxiety.
I am,
Dear Madam,
Your obedient Servant,
[signature] S.L [indecipherable letters]
for Air Commodore,
Air Officer i/c Records,
ROYAL AIR FORCE.
Mrs. K.R. Pexman,
38 Warley Road,
Old Brumby,
Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire.
Collection
Citation
Great Britain. Royal Air Force, “Missing believed killed,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed June 15, 2025, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/collections/document/42047.