Letter to Les Pickford from Mrs Cox
Title
Letter to Les Pickford from Mrs Cox
Description
The writer advises that Mrs E Pepper, whose son flew with Les, had not got over the loss of her son and died of a heart attack.
Creator
Date
1943-10-24
Temporal Coverage
Spatial Coverage
Coverage
Language
Format
One double sided printed airgraph with handwritten annotations
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
ECox[Mrs]PickfordL431024-0001, ECox[Mrs]PickfordL431024-0002
Transcription
Write the address in large BLOCK letters in the panel below.
The address must NOT be typewritten.
TO:- SERGT: LESLIE PICKFORD
551653
P.G. 78 P.M. 3300
ITALIA.
[date stamp]
Write the message very plainly below this line.
[italics] Sender's Address [/italics] Mrs COX, HIGHFIELD, 115 CROSS OAK ROAD,
BERKHAMSTED, HERTS.
24.10.43
Dear Mr. Pickford, your letter to Ms. Pepper was sent on to me as she had left Lewes a long time ago. She was working at the War Office, but it was too much for her. She never got over the loss of her son, & she became ill & had to give up her work about a year ago. In March she came to this town, hoping to get better with rest, but after 6 days she had two or three heart attacks & died.
I am glad you are being so well treated & entertained.
This space should not be used.
MAKE SURE THAT THE ADDRESS IS WRITTEN IN LARGE BLOCK LETTERS IN THE PANEL ABOVE
[page break]
AIRGRAPH SERVICE.
(1) Particulars of the destinations to which the Airgraph Service is available, and the appropriate charges, may be obtained at any Post Office.
(2) Nothing should be written on this side of the paper.
(3) The whole of the message should be written on the other side below the double line.
(4) The name and address to which the message is to be sent should be written in large BLOCK letters wholly within the panel provided. The address should be the same as is appropriate in the case of an ordinary letter.
(5) A miniature photographic negative of the message and address will be made and sent by air mail. At the destination and a photographic print, measuring about 5 inches by 4 inches, will be made and delivered to the addressee. It is therefore important that the message should be written very plainly and that the address should be written as large as possible in BLOCK letters. Wherever possible, black ink should be used. Very small writing is not suitable.
(6) Stamps to the value of the appropriate charge should be affixed in the space provided below. The completed form should then be handed in at any Post Office. If preferred, the completed form (with stamps to the value of the appropriate charge affixed in the space below) may be forwarded to London in an envelope which should be addressed to:-
"Airgraphs,"
Foreign Section,
London.
In that case it is desirable that a large envelope should be used and that the form should be folded as few times as possible, preferably in the same direction as the writing. As an exception to the general rule that postage is payable on letters addressed to Government Departments, Postmasters, etc., postage is not payable on covers containing completed Airgraph forms addressed as indicated above.
(7) If it is desired to send more than one sheet a separate form must be completed and stamps to the value of the appropriate charge must be affixed to each form. The name and address of the sender and of the addressee must be inserted on each form in the usual way.
(8) Airgraph messages for personnel of Merchant Navy vessels employed on ordinary commercial service should be addressed, in the upper portion of the address panel, with the rank and name of the addressee and the name of the ship only. Stamps to the value of the appropriate charge should be affixed to the form and the sender should then post the form in an envelope, stamped 2 1/2d, addressed to the owners of the ship, or the owner's agents, in the United Kingdom, who will complete the address and forward the form to the Post Office.
(9) The original will be retained by the Post Office and eventually destroyed.
[postage stamp]
[postmark]
-McC & Co Ltd - 51-5235.
P2298G.
The address must NOT be typewritten.
TO:- SERGT: LESLIE PICKFORD
551653
P.G. 78 P.M. 3300
ITALIA.
[date stamp]
Write the message very plainly below this line.
[italics] Sender's Address [/italics] Mrs COX, HIGHFIELD, 115 CROSS OAK ROAD,
BERKHAMSTED, HERTS.
24.10.43
Dear Mr. Pickford, your letter to Ms. Pepper was sent on to me as she had left Lewes a long time ago. She was working at the War Office, but it was too much for her. She never got over the loss of her son, & she became ill & had to give up her work about a year ago. In March she came to this town, hoping to get better with rest, but after 6 days she had two or three heart attacks & died.
I am glad you are being so well treated & entertained.
This space should not be used.
MAKE SURE THAT THE ADDRESS IS WRITTEN IN LARGE BLOCK LETTERS IN THE PANEL ABOVE
[page break]
AIRGRAPH SERVICE.
(1) Particulars of the destinations to which the Airgraph Service is available, and the appropriate charges, may be obtained at any Post Office.
(2) Nothing should be written on this side of the paper.
(3) The whole of the message should be written on the other side below the double line.
(4) The name and address to which the message is to be sent should be written in large BLOCK letters wholly within the panel provided. The address should be the same as is appropriate in the case of an ordinary letter.
(5) A miniature photographic negative of the message and address will be made and sent by air mail. At the destination and a photographic print, measuring about 5 inches by 4 inches, will be made and delivered to the addressee. It is therefore important that the message should be written very plainly and that the address should be written as large as possible in BLOCK letters. Wherever possible, black ink should be used. Very small writing is not suitable.
(6) Stamps to the value of the appropriate charge should be affixed in the space provided below. The completed form should then be handed in at any Post Office. If preferred, the completed form (with stamps to the value of the appropriate charge affixed in the space below) may be forwarded to London in an envelope which should be addressed to:-
"Airgraphs,"
Foreign Section,
London.
In that case it is desirable that a large envelope should be used and that the form should be folded as few times as possible, preferably in the same direction as the writing. As an exception to the general rule that postage is payable on letters addressed to Government Departments, Postmasters, etc., postage is not payable on covers containing completed Airgraph forms addressed as indicated above.
(7) If it is desired to send more than one sheet a separate form must be completed and stamps to the value of the appropriate charge must be affixed to each form. The name and address of the sender and of the addressee must be inserted on each form in the usual way.
(8) Airgraph messages for personnel of Merchant Navy vessels employed on ordinary commercial service should be addressed, in the upper portion of the address panel, with the rank and name of the addressee and the name of the ship only. Stamps to the value of the appropriate charge should be affixed to the form and the sender should then post the form in an envelope, stamped 2 1/2d, addressed to the owners of the ship, or the owner's agents, in the United Kingdom, who will complete the address and forward the form to the Post Office.
(9) The original will be retained by the Post Office and eventually destroyed.
[postage stamp]
[postmark]
-McC & Co Ltd - 51-5235.
P2298G.
Collection
Citation
Mrs Cox, “Letter to Les Pickford from Mrs Cox,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed December 16, 2025, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/collections/document/42057.
![ECox[Mrs]PickfordL431024-0001.jpg ECox[Mrs]PickfordL431024-0001.jpg](https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/fullsize/2305/42057/ECox[Mrs]PickfordL431024-0001.jpg)
![ECox[Mrs]PickfordL431024-0002.jpg ECox[Mrs]PickfordL431024-0002.jpg](https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/fullsize/2305/42057/ECox[Mrs]PickfordL431024-0002.jpg)