Letter to Doris Weeks from Royal Australian Air Force
Title
Letter to Doris Weeks from Royal Australian Air Force
Description
Advising her that information had been received from the Municipal Councillor of Arc En Barrios about the crash of Malcolm Payne's aircraft on 13 July 1944 and the burial of seven crew in the local cemetery at Court L'Eveque. News had been passed to Australian Air Force Board who would have forwarded it to next of kin in Australia.
Creator
Date
1945-09-11
Spatial Coverage
Language
Format
One-page typewritten 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
EPitcherRSWeeksD450911
Transcription
COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
ROYAL AUSTRLIAN AIR FORCE,
OVERSEAS HEADQUARTERS
KODAK HOUSE,
63 KINGSWAY,
LONDON, W.C.2.
1401/7658/P.4.(41A).
11th September, 1945.
Dear Miss Weeks,
[underlined] Aus/417512 Flight Sergeant PAYNE, M.H. [/underlined]
Referring to this Headquarters’ letter of the 4th July, 1945, it is advised that a report has now been received from Monsieur Louis Sirvaux, Municipal Councillor, Arc En Barrois, which advises that Flight Sergeant PAYNE’S aircraft crashed in a wood on the boundary of the territories of Arc en Barrois and Cour L’Eveque on the 13th July, 1944. The indications are thatall[sic] the members of the crew must have lost their lives instantaneously.
2. As already advised the seven members were buried in the local cemetery of Cour L’Eveque. Flight Sergeant PAYNE’S grave being No.1.
3. A large number of people rendered homage at the burial and a collection was made to provide a suitable grave.
4. Since the liberation of France, Religious services have been held and the grave is carefully tended.
5. The above information has bee n[sic] passed to the Australian Air Board and will, no doubt, have been forwarded by that Headquarters to Flight Sergeants PAYNE’S next-of-kin in Australia.
Yours faithfully
R S PITCHER
(R.S. PITCHER),
Flight Lieutenant,
For Air Vice Marshal,
[underlined]Air Officer Commanding.[/underlined]
Miss D. Weeks,
37, Hawthorne Road,
Bunkers Hill,
[underlined] LINCOLN[/underlined]
ROYAL AUSTRLIAN AIR FORCE,
OVERSEAS HEADQUARTERS
KODAK HOUSE,
63 KINGSWAY,
LONDON, W.C.2.
1401/7658/P.4.(41A).
11th September, 1945.
Dear Miss Weeks,
[underlined] Aus/417512 Flight Sergeant PAYNE, M.H. [/underlined]
Referring to this Headquarters’ letter of the 4th July, 1945, it is advised that a report has now been received from Monsieur Louis Sirvaux, Municipal Councillor, Arc En Barrois, which advises that Flight Sergeant PAYNE’S aircraft crashed in a wood on the boundary of the territories of Arc en Barrois and Cour L’Eveque on the 13th July, 1944. The indications are thatall[sic] the members of the crew must have lost their lives instantaneously.
2. As already advised the seven members were buried in the local cemetery of Cour L’Eveque. Flight Sergeant PAYNE’S grave being No.1.
3. A large number of people rendered homage at the burial and a collection was made to provide a suitable grave.
4. Since the liberation of France, Religious services have been held and the grave is carefully tended.
5. The above information has bee n[sic] passed to the Australian Air Board and will, no doubt, have been forwarded by that Headquarters to Flight Sergeants PAYNE’S next-of-kin in Australia.
Yours faithfully
R S PITCHER
(R.S. PITCHER),
Flight Lieutenant,
For Air Vice Marshal,
[underlined]Air Officer Commanding.[/underlined]
Miss D. Weeks,
37, Hawthorne Road,
Bunkers Hill,
[underlined] LINCOLN[/underlined]
Collection
Citation
R S Pitcher, “Letter to Doris Weeks from Royal Australian Air Force,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed July 23, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/10634.
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