Letter from Air Casualty Section
Title
Letter from Air Casualty Section
Description
Detailing the cooperation with the Air Ministry to collect evidence relating to the fate of missing aircrew and offering condolences regarding their son, Nigel Bruce Carrall.
Date
1945-09-19
Temporal Coverage
Language
Format
Two typed sheets
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
ELangslowMCCarrallM450919-0001; ELangslowMCCarrallM450919-0002
Transcription
M.M. 12/9/45. Enc.21A.
210283
Casualty Section,
391 Lit. Collins St.,
MU. 9981.
RAAF. 166/7/694 (21A)
SEP 19 1945
Dear Madam,
I acknowledge your letter concerning your late son, Flying Officer Nigel Bruce Carrall.
I have noted your comments regarding a newspaper account of 40 men, previously missing or presumed dead, being located in Germany and repatriated to the United Kingdom.
I can assure you that not one Royal Australian Air Force member whose death has been presumed has since been found to be alive.
With regard to missing members having been located, it is assumed that the paragraph in the newspaper refers to those men who were missing and taken prisoner of war just prior to the cessation of hostilities and whom the Germans had not had time to report as prisoners of war. The obvious cause of this was the disruption of German communications and administration by the Allied invasion.
I fully sympathise with you in your natural inclination to maintain the hope that your son is still alive and I desire to assure you that although an official presumption of his death has been made, this Department will not relax its efforts to secure any evidence which may later come to light in regard to the circumstances of the loss of your son’s aircraft, and to transmit to you any facts which might at least afford you the comfort of more definite knowledge.
In this regard, I desire to inform you that this Department has co-operated with Air Ministry, London, in the establishment of an organisation designed to collect evidence[missing letter] which may be discovered in regard to the fate of aircrews lo[missing text] over Europe during the war. This organisation has already begun to operate in France, Belgium and Holland, but has not as yet extended to Germany and other sectors. You will appreciate that its task will be prolonged and difficult.
. .2/
[page break]
– 2 –
It is hoped that the foregoing information will be helpful to you and your family.
Permit me to again extend the sympathy of this Department.
Your faithfully,
[signature]
(M.C. Langslow)
[underlined] SECRETARY. [/underlined]
Mrs. B. Carrrall,
Excelsior Parade,
[underlined] TORONTO. [/underlined] N.S.W.
E. Delves s/o
D.P.S. P6 [N.1.]
13.9.45
210283
Casualty Section,
391 Lit. Collins St.,
MU. 9981.
RAAF. 166/7/694 (21A)
SEP 19 1945
Dear Madam,
I acknowledge your letter concerning your late son, Flying Officer Nigel Bruce Carrall.
I have noted your comments regarding a newspaper account of 40 men, previously missing or presumed dead, being located in Germany and repatriated to the United Kingdom.
I can assure you that not one Royal Australian Air Force member whose death has been presumed has since been found to be alive.
With regard to missing members having been located, it is assumed that the paragraph in the newspaper refers to those men who were missing and taken prisoner of war just prior to the cessation of hostilities and whom the Germans had not had time to report as prisoners of war. The obvious cause of this was the disruption of German communications and administration by the Allied invasion.
I fully sympathise with you in your natural inclination to maintain the hope that your son is still alive and I desire to assure you that although an official presumption of his death has been made, this Department will not relax its efforts to secure any evidence which may later come to light in regard to the circumstances of the loss of your son’s aircraft, and to transmit to you any facts which might at least afford you the comfort of more definite knowledge.
In this regard, I desire to inform you that this Department has co-operated with Air Ministry, London, in the establishment of an organisation designed to collect evidence[missing letter] which may be discovered in regard to the fate of aircrews lo[missing text] over Europe during the war. This organisation has already begun to operate in France, Belgium and Holland, but has not as yet extended to Germany and other sectors. You will appreciate that its task will be prolonged and difficult.
. .2/
[page break]
– 2 –
It is hoped that the foregoing information will be helpful to you and your family.
Permit me to again extend the sympathy of this Department.
Your faithfully,
[signature]
(M.C. Langslow)
[underlined] SECRETARY. [/underlined]
Mrs. B. Carrrall,
Excelsior Parade,
[underlined] TORONTO. [/underlined] N.S.W.
E. Delves s/o
D.P.S. P6 [N.1.]
13.9.45
Collection
Citation
Australia. Royal Australian Air Force. Air Casualty Section, “Letter from Air Casualty Section,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed September 14, 2026, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/collections/document/45341.