Letter from Red Cross to Reg Muir's mother
Title
Letter from Red Cross to Reg Muir's mother
Description
Confirming the death of three crew members, with the remaining reported as missing in action, including her son Reg.
Creator
Date
1943-10-05
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
EAmpthillMMuirPE431005
Transcription
WAR ORGANISATION
OF THE
BRITISH RED CROSS SOCIETY and ORDER OF ST. JOHN OF JERUSALEM
[crest] President: HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN Grand Prior: H.R.H. THE DUKE OF GLOUCESTER, K.G. [crest]
[underlined] WOUNDED, MISSING AND RELATIVES DPARTMENT [/underlined]
Chairman:
THE DOWAGER LADY AMPTHILL, C.I., G.B.E.
7 BELGRAVE SQUARE
LONDON, S.W.1
In replying please quote reference:
S/CM RAF/C 8016
5th. October, 1943.
Dear Mrs. Muir,
We very much regret to have to tell you that no information has come through attached to the name of your son, Sergeant R.W.L. Muir, 1388470, although full enquiries are being made on your behalf. We feel it is only right, however, that you should be informed of the grievous report which has reached us through the International Red Cross Committee at Geneva, concerning the crew of which your son was a member, for although the information which this contains can but add most deeply to your already great anxiety, we feel that you would not wish it to be withheld.
Since we wrote to you on the 21st. September, another official German report has reached us, through the organisation at Geneva, which states that Sergeant R.C. Barrett and Sergeant E. Hannell lost their lives with Sergeant Johnson on the 9th. July, 1943, and also three members of the crew whose identity it has not yet been possible to establish. On receipt of this tragic news the Air Ministry has posted Sergeant Barrett and Sergeant Hannell as Missing, believed Killed in Action, but since the crew consisted of seven men, you will understand that until further information is forthcoming, the remaining four members must still be classified as Missing.
We realise what this report will mean to you, and we wish you to know that every effort is being made in order to clarify this distressing situation. Please understand that whenever further information comes to light you will be notified immediately, and we ask you to accept meanwhile our sympathy in your suspense.
Yours sincerely,
Margaret Ampthill
pp DB
Chairman
Mrs. Muir,
24, Holcroft Road,
London. E.9.
OF THE
BRITISH RED CROSS SOCIETY and ORDER OF ST. JOHN OF JERUSALEM
[crest] President: HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN Grand Prior: H.R.H. THE DUKE OF GLOUCESTER, K.G. [crest]
[underlined] WOUNDED, MISSING AND RELATIVES DPARTMENT [/underlined]
Chairman:
THE DOWAGER LADY AMPTHILL, C.I., G.B.E.
7 BELGRAVE SQUARE
LONDON, S.W.1
In replying please quote reference:
S/CM RAF/C 8016
5th. October, 1943.
Dear Mrs. Muir,
We very much regret to have to tell you that no information has come through attached to the name of your son, Sergeant R.W.L. Muir, 1388470, although full enquiries are being made on your behalf. We feel it is only right, however, that you should be informed of the grievous report which has reached us through the International Red Cross Committee at Geneva, concerning the crew of which your son was a member, for although the information which this contains can but add most deeply to your already great anxiety, we feel that you would not wish it to be withheld.
Since we wrote to you on the 21st. September, another official German report has reached us, through the organisation at Geneva, which states that Sergeant R.C. Barrett and Sergeant E. Hannell lost their lives with Sergeant Johnson on the 9th. July, 1943, and also three members of the crew whose identity it has not yet been possible to establish. On receipt of this tragic news the Air Ministry has posted Sergeant Barrett and Sergeant Hannell as Missing, believed Killed in Action, but since the crew consisted of seven men, you will understand that until further information is forthcoming, the remaining four members must still be classified as Missing.
We realise what this report will mean to you, and we wish you to know that every effort is being made in order to clarify this distressing situation. Please understand that whenever further information comes to light you will be notified immediately, and we ask you to accept meanwhile our sympathy in your suspense.
Yours sincerely,
Margaret Ampthill
pp DB
Chairman
Mrs. Muir,
24, Holcroft Road,
London. E.9.
Collection
Citation
Red Cross, “Letter from Red Cross to Reg Muir's mother,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed March 13, 2026, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/collections/document/42554.