Letter to Les Pickford's Mother from 139 Squadron
Title
Letter to Les Pickford's Mother from 139 Squadron
Description
The author is delighted that Les is safe, albeit a prisoner of war.
Creator
Date
1941-07-24
Temporal Coverage
Coverage
Language
Format
One typewritten sheet
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
EOC139SqnRAFPickfordA410724
Transcription
No. 139 (Jamaica) Squadron,
R.A.F. Station,
Aylsham, Norfolk.
July 24th. 1941.
139S/460/76/P.3.
Dear Mrs. Pickford,
Your letter has just reached me (you will observe [deleted letter] that we have now moved from Horsham St. Faith) and I need scarcely tell you how delighted we all are at the good news. It is the first intimation we have had that your Son is a Prisoner of War and we are making enquiries from official sources to see whether there is any further news of him or the other members of the Crew. By the way, have you had any official communication from the Air Ministry, or is your Son's letter the only intimation you have had? It seems rather strange that we should not have heard from official sources, and I am very anxious to know whether there is any possibility of W/Cdr. Pepper & Sgt. Hyde being prisoners as well.
If I receive any further information, I will pass it on to you immediately, while I shall be very pleased to have any further news which you may have.
Once again may I say how pleased we are to know Leslie is safe – it is indeed good news.
Yours sincerely
[signature]
Fight Lieutenant, Adjutant, for Squadron Leader, Commanding,
[underlined] No.139 (Jamaica) Squadron, R.A.F. [/underlined]
Mrs. A. Pickford,
41, Broadlea Road,
Kingsway,
Manchster
R.A.F. Station,
Aylsham, Norfolk.
July 24th. 1941.
139S/460/76/P.3.
Dear Mrs. Pickford,
Your letter has just reached me (you will observe [deleted letter] that we have now moved from Horsham St. Faith) and I need scarcely tell you how delighted we all are at the good news. It is the first intimation we have had that your Son is a Prisoner of War and we are making enquiries from official sources to see whether there is any further news of him or the other members of the Crew. By the way, have you had any official communication from the Air Ministry, or is your Son's letter the only intimation you have had? It seems rather strange that we should not have heard from official sources, and I am very anxious to know whether there is any possibility of W/Cdr. Pepper & Sgt. Hyde being prisoners as well.
If I receive any further information, I will pass it on to you immediately, while I shall be very pleased to have any further news which you may have.
Once again may I say how pleased we are to know Leslie is safe – it is indeed good news.
Yours sincerely
[signature]
Fight Lieutenant, Adjutant, for Squadron Leader, Commanding,
[underlined] No.139 (Jamaica) Squadron, R.A.F. [/underlined]
Mrs. A. Pickford,
41, Broadlea Road,
Kingsway,
Manchster
Collection
Citation
139 Squadron, “Letter to Les Pickford's Mother from 139 Squadron,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed June 14, 2025, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/collections/document/42520.