Letter from British Red Cross Society to Mrs H. Wells
Title
Letter from British Red Cross Society to Mrs H. Wells
Description
A letter from the British Red Cross Society to Mrs H. Wells, expressing condolences and confirming that her son Sergeant R. H. Wells (No. 1318974), has been missing and believed killed in action on 2 December 1943. The letter notes that the report was based on an official German statement sent to the International Red Cross Committee at Geneva, and further enquiries are being made regarding the place of burial.
Creator
Date
1944-02-04
Spatial Coverage
Language
Format
One page typed letter
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
EAmpthillMWellsH440204
Transcription
WAR ORGANISATION OF THE
BRITISH RED CROSS SOCIETY and ORDER OF ST. JOHN OF JERUSALEM
[Red Cross Crest]
[Order of St John of Jerusalem Crest]
President: HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN
Grand Prior: H.R.H. THE DUKE OF GLOUCESTER, K.G.
[underline] WOUNDED, MISSING AND RELATIVES DEPARTMENT [/underline]
Chairman: THE DOWAGER LADY AMPTHILL, C.I., G.B.E.
Telephone No. SLOANE 9696
S/GEW/RAF/C. 9986.
7 BELGRAVE SQUARE,
LONDON, S.W.I
4th February, 1944.
Dear Mrs Wells,
We deeply regret that you will by now have heard from the Air Ministry that your son, Sergeant R. H. Wells, No. 1318974, has been posted Missing, believed Killed in Action, and we should like to offer you the deep sympathy of all in this Department.
The report that your son and all the members of the crew lost their lives on the 2nd December 1943, was sent to the International Red Cross Committee at Geneva in an official German statement.
Further enquiries are being made about your son's death and place of burial and you will be notified without delay when any information reaches the Air Ministry or ourselves.
Many answers are being received to enquiries of this kind, but we are afraid that they often take several months to come through.
With again our deepest sympathy,
Mrs H. Wells,
115 Ashdon Road
Saffron Waldon
Essex.
Yours sincerely,
Margaret Ampthill
Chairman
BRITISH RED CROSS SOCIETY and ORDER OF ST. JOHN OF JERUSALEM
[Red Cross Crest]
[Order of St John of Jerusalem Crest]
President: HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN
Grand Prior: H.R.H. THE DUKE OF GLOUCESTER, K.G.
[underline] WOUNDED, MISSING AND RELATIVES DEPARTMENT [/underline]
Chairman: THE DOWAGER LADY AMPTHILL, C.I., G.B.E.
Telephone No. SLOANE 9696
S/GEW/RAF/C. 9986.
7 BELGRAVE SQUARE,
LONDON, S.W.I
4th February, 1944.
Dear Mrs Wells,
We deeply regret that you will by now have heard from the Air Ministry that your son, Sergeant R. H. Wells, No. 1318974, has been posted Missing, believed Killed in Action, and we should like to offer you the deep sympathy of all in this Department.
The report that your son and all the members of the crew lost their lives on the 2nd December 1943, was sent to the International Red Cross Committee at Geneva in an official German statement.
Further enquiries are being made about your son's death and place of burial and you will be notified without delay when any information reaches the Air Ministry or ourselves.
Many answers are being received to enquiries of this kind, but we are afraid that they often take several months to come through.
With again our deepest sympathy,
Mrs H. Wells,
115 Ashdon Road
Saffron Waldon
Essex.
Yours sincerely,
Margaret Ampthill
Chairman
Collection
Citation
British Red Cross Society, “Letter from British Red Cross Society to Mrs H. Wells,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed August 12, 2026, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/collections/document/61267.