Letter to Commanding Officer from Senior Medical Officer, 57 Squadron
Title
Letter to Commanding Officer from Senior Medical Officer, 57 Squadron
Description
The letter recommends that Flight Lieutenant Nicklin and Flying Officer WF Martin are taken off operational flying and made tour expired.
Date
1944-08-23
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
MMartinWF1554690-191020-17
Transcription
From:- Senior Medical Officer, R.A.F. Station. East Kirkby. Linc’s.
To:- Officer Commanding, No.57. Squadron.
Date:- 23. August. 1944. [underlined] Confidential. [/underlined] (COPY)
Ref: EK/8018/1/Med.
[underlined] F/Lt. Nicklin. and Crew. [/underlined]
I have seen today on Sick Parade three members of the above crew. Allx [sic] are showing signs of operational strain. This has been aggravated by the fact that they feel that their pilot is now becoming very tired and unable to handle his aircraft as he used to. On his last few landings following operational sorties they state he has shown faulty judgment. This on top of the strain of flying on operations is having a marked effect.
2. F/Lt. Nicklin and F/O. Martin have done 32 trips and the rest of the crew 31. They have been attacked four times during their tour on one occasion having to “ditch”.
3. In view of the above it is strongly recommended that the crew be taken off operational flying and made tour expired.
T.M. Mansbridge for S/Ldr,
Senior Medical Officer,
[underlined] R.A.F. Station. East Kirkby. [/underlined]
Copy:- Officer Commaning [sic], R.A.F. Station, East Kirkby, Linc’s.
[inserted] Copy for F48 [/inserted]
[signature]
To:- Officer Commanding, No.57. Squadron.
Date:- 23. August. 1944. [underlined] Confidential. [/underlined] (COPY)
Ref: EK/8018/1/Med.
[underlined] F/Lt. Nicklin. and Crew. [/underlined]
I have seen today on Sick Parade three members of the above crew. Allx [sic] are showing signs of operational strain. This has been aggravated by the fact that they feel that their pilot is now becoming very tired and unable to handle his aircraft as he used to. On his last few landings following operational sorties they state he has shown faulty judgment. This on top of the strain of flying on operations is having a marked effect.
2. F/Lt. Nicklin and F/O. Martin have done 32 trips and the rest of the crew 31. They have been attacked four times during their tour on one occasion having to “ditch”.
3. In view of the above it is strongly recommended that the crew be taken off operational flying and made tour expired.
T.M. Mansbridge for S/Ldr,
Senior Medical Officer,
[underlined] R.A.F. Station. East Kirkby. [/underlined]
Copy:- Officer Commaning [sic], R.A.F. Station, East Kirkby, Linc’s.
[inserted] Copy for F48 [/inserted]
[signature]
Collection
Citation
Senior Medical Officer, East Kirkby, “Letter to Commanding Officer from Senior Medical Officer, 57 Squadron,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed July 19, 2026, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/collections/document/43765.