Letter to Ron Wood's father
Title
Letter to Ron Wood's father
Description
Confirming, with sympathy, that Sergeant Ronald ‘Ron’ Charles Wood has been reported missing and advising that his personal belongings were being collected for onward transmission.
Creator
Date
1944-11-05
Temporal Coverage
Language
Format
One typed 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
EDobsonPWoodCE441105
Transcription
No.158 Squadron,
ROYAL AIR FORCE.
5th November, 1944.
158S/C.452/137/P1.
Dear Mr. Wood,
It is with the greatest regret that I have to write confirming the news given in my telegram of today that your son, Sergeant Ronald Charles Wood, has been reported missing from an operational sortie against Bochum on 4th November.
The aircraft in which your son was Air Gunner took off at 17.37 hrs. on 4th November, since when nothing has been heard. There is, of course, a possibility that the crew may have landed safely, but it is too early yet to expect any news of such an eventuality. Should I hear anything I will communicate with you immediately.
The request in the telegram notifying you of the casualty was included to avoid his chance of escape being prejudiced by undue publicity should he still be at large. This is a precaution adopted in the case of all personnel reported missing.
I expect you may wish to write to the next of kin of the English members of the crew, but I regret that it is contrary to Air Ministry policy for me to disclose the addresses of relatives of aircrew missing from operations. If you wish to write to them and will send me the letters sealed and addressed under cover I shall be pleased to forward them. I enclose a list of the crew with the names and relationships of the next of kin.
Your son’s personal effects are being collected and sent to the Standing Committee of Adjustment, Colnbrook, Slough, for onward transmission to you in due course, and you will receive from the Effects Officer, R.A.F. Lissett, a detailed communication about them.
May I, on behalf of myself and the Squadron as a whole, extend to you our sincere sympathy and understanding at this anxious time.
Yours sincerely,
[signature]
Wing Commander, Commanding,
[underlined] No. 158 Squadron. R.A.F. [/underlined]
Mr. C.E. Wood,
55, Bonnington Square,
Vauxhall,
S.W.8.
ROYAL AIR FORCE.
5th November, 1944.
158S/C.452/137/P1.
Dear Mr. Wood,
It is with the greatest regret that I have to write confirming the news given in my telegram of today that your son, Sergeant Ronald Charles Wood, has been reported missing from an operational sortie against Bochum on 4th November.
The aircraft in which your son was Air Gunner took off at 17.37 hrs. on 4th November, since when nothing has been heard. There is, of course, a possibility that the crew may have landed safely, but it is too early yet to expect any news of such an eventuality. Should I hear anything I will communicate with you immediately.
The request in the telegram notifying you of the casualty was included to avoid his chance of escape being prejudiced by undue publicity should he still be at large. This is a precaution adopted in the case of all personnel reported missing.
I expect you may wish to write to the next of kin of the English members of the crew, but I regret that it is contrary to Air Ministry policy for me to disclose the addresses of relatives of aircrew missing from operations. If you wish to write to them and will send me the letters sealed and addressed under cover I shall be pleased to forward them. I enclose a list of the crew with the names and relationships of the next of kin.
Your son’s personal effects are being collected and sent to the Standing Committee of Adjustment, Colnbrook, Slough, for onward transmission to you in due course, and you will receive from the Effects Officer, R.A.F. Lissett, a detailed communication about them.
May I, on behalf of myself and the Squadron as a whole, extend to you our sincere sympathy and understanding at this anxious time.
Yours sincerely,
[signature]
Wing Commander, Commanding,
[underlined] No. 158 Squadron. R.A.F. [/underlined]
Mr. C.E. Wood,
55, Bonnington Square,
Vauxhall,
S.W.8.
Collection
Citation
Wing Commander Peter Dobson, “Letter to Ron Wood's father,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed October 6, 2026, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/collections/document/45339.