Ken Souter's RAF reference
Title
Ken Souter's RAF reference
Description
A reference written by his commanding officer, praising his skills and mentioning his contribution to the filming of 'The Dam Busters'.
Creator
Date
1958-03
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
MSouterKP129001-210710-03
Transcription
No. 35 Squadron,
Royal Air Force,
Upwood,
Huntingdonshire.
March, 1958
[underlined] To Whom it May Concern [/underlined]
I have known Flight Lieutenant K. Souter for the past four years. During this time he has served as a Flight Commander under my Command, a task which he carried out efficiently from a planning and organisation point of view. However, he was outstanding in the air as an aircraft captain and Flight Commander. He had been given “Exceptional” assessments by his previous Commanding Officers and, after flying with him on Instrument Rating and other Tests, I was satisfied to renew his exceptional assessment.
Furthermore, when crews were selected to fly for the filming of the “Dam Busters” Flt, Lt. Souter was an automatic selection as the Flight Leader. This task was not an easy one in the circumstances but Flt. Lt. Souter was left entirely on his own with his Flight and, the first class results that he produced were well seen in the quality of the flying recorded in the film. Souter produced these results more by his leadership and his own flying ability than by the fact that he was the Flight Commander.
At all times I have found him to be reliable, straightforward and co-operative but particularly, I have always been most impressed by his ability and efficiency as an aircraft captain. Therefore, I have no hesitation in recommending him for any flying appointment after conversion to aircraft type.
G. NEWBERRY
(G. NEWBERRY)
Wing Commander,
Officer Commanding,
No. 35 Squadron.
Royal Air Force,
Upwood,
Huntingdonshire.
March, 1958
[underlined] To Whom it May Concern [/underlined]
I have known Flight Lieutenant K. Souter for the past four years. During this time he has served as a Flight Commander under my Command, a task which he carried out efficiently from a planning and organisation point of view. However, he was outstanding in the air as an aircraft captain and Flight Commander. He had been given “Exceptional” assessments by his previous Commanding Officers and, after flying with him on Instrument Rating and other Tests, I was satisfied to renew his exceptional assessment.
Furthermore, when crews were selected to fly for the filming of the “Dam Busters” Flt, Lt. Souter was an automatic selection as the Flight Leader. This task was not an easy one in the circumstances but Flt. Lt. Souter was left entirely on his own with his Flight and, the first class results that he produced were well seen in the quality of the flying recorded in the film. Souter produced these results more by his leadership and his own flying ability than by the fact that he was the Flight Commander.
At all times I have found him to be reliable, straightforward and co-operative but particularly, I have always been most impressed by his ability and efficiency as an aircraft captain. Therefore, I have no hesitation in recommending him for any flying appointment after conversion to aircraft type.
G. NEWBERRY
(G. NEWBERRY)
Wing Commander,
Officer Commanding,
No. 35 Squadron.
Collection
Citation
G Newberry, “Ken Souter's RAF reference,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed September 10, 2026, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/collections/document/42818.