Letter to Frank Claydon's Widow from Air Ministry
Title
Letter to Frank Claydon's Widow from Air Ministry
Description
The letter advises that her husband's body has been positively identified after exhumation. He has now been moved to the British Military Cemetery, Berlin.
Creator
Date
1949-05-02
Temporal 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
ERowleySClaydonFM490502
Transcription
Tel. No GW. Edg.2361
[deleted] ABBEY 3411 Ext . . . [/deleted]
P. 412715/44/S.14.Cas.C.6.
AIR MINISTRY
[deleted] WHITEHALL
LONDON, SW1. [/deleted]
Casualty Branch,
London Road,
Stanmore,
Middlesex.
2 MAY 1949
Dear Mrs. Clayton,
It is not without hesitation that I refer again, after so long an interval, to the loss in action of your son, Flying Officer F.E. Claydon, but I feel sure you will wish to know the result of investigations undertaken by the Royal Air Force Missing Research and Enquiry Service in Germany.
These investigations show that they have located his grave in HalBerstadt [sic] Cemetery where he has been buried by the Germans with five members of his own crew and seven of another crew.
On exhumation it was possible to identify your son and six others individually.
Where adequate arrangements cannot be made for the permanent upkeep of graves, it is the policy of His Majesty’s Government to transfer them to Service cemeteries where facilities are available for their proper care by the Imperial War Graves Commission. It is in accordance with this policy that your son has now been moved to the British Military Cemetery Berlin (Heerstrasse), where he rests in Grave 3, Row A, Plot 14.
We have, therefore, arranged for his grave to be registered with the Imperial War Graves Commission and marked with a temporary cross showing his service particulars.
I am sorry that, owing to the formidable task of our search teams it has not been possible to let you have this information earlier, but I do hope this somewhat belated news will afford you a measure of comfort in your sad loss.
Yours sincerely,
S. Rowley
Mrs. F.M. Claydon,
60, St. Augustins Road,
Camden Square,
N.W.1.
[deleted] ABBEY 3411 Ext . . . [/deleted]
P. 412715/44/S.14.Cas.C.6.
AIR MINISTRY
[deleted] WHITEHALL
LONDON, SW1. [/deleted]
Casualty Branch,
London Road,
Stanmore,
Middlesex.
2 MAY 1949
Dear Mrs. Clayton,
It is not without hesitation that I refer again, after so long an interval, to the loss in action of your son, Flying Officer F.E. Claydon, but I feel sure you will wish to know the result of investigations undertaken by the Royal Air Force Missing Research and Enquiry Service in Germany.
These investigations show that they have located his grave in HalBerstadt [sic] Cemetery where he has been buried by the Germans with five members of his own crew and seven of another crew.
On exhumation it was possible to identify your son and six others individually.
Where adequate arrangements cannot be made for the permanent upkeep of graves, it is the policy of His Majesty’s Government to transfer them to Service cemeteries where facilities are available for their proper care by the Imperial War Graves Commission. It is in accordance with this policy that your son has now been moved to the British Military Cemetery Berlin (Heerstrasse), where he rests in Grave 3, Row A, Plot 14.
We have, therefore, arranged for his grave to be registered with the Imperial War Graves Commission and marked with a temporary cross showing his service particulars.
I am sorry that, owing to the formidable task of our search teams it has not been possible to let you have this information earlier, but I do hope this somewhat belated news will afford you a measure of comfort in your sad loss.
Yours sincerely,
S. Rowley
Mrs. F.M. Claydon,
60, St. Augustins Road,
Camden Square,
N.W.1.
Collection
Citation
Great Britain. Air Ministry, “Letter to Frank Claydon's Widow from Air Ministry,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed April 19, 2026, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/collections/document/43441.