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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Donaldson, David
David Donaldson
D Donaldson
Description
An account of the resource
309 Items and a sub-collection of 51 items. Concerns Royal Air Force career of Wing Commander David Donaldson DSO and bar, DFC. A pilot, he joined the Royal Air Force Reserve in 1934. Mobilized in 1939. he undertook tours on 149, 57 and 156 and 192 Squadrons. He was photographed by Cecil Beaton at RAF Mildenhall in 1941. Collection contains a large number of letters to and from family members, friends as well as Royal Air Force personnel. Also included are personal and service documents, and his logbooks. In addition, there are photographs of family, service personnel and aircraft. After the war he became a solicitor. The collection also contains an oral history interview with Frances Grundy, his daughter.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Anna Frances Grundy and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-06-02
2022-10-17
Rights
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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.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Donaldson, D
Grundy, AF
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
ARMED FORCES AIR LETTER
AIR MAIL
[postmark]
[postage stamps]
To: Wing/Cdr David Donaldson D.S.O., D.F.C
R.A.F.
42 Peartree Avenue
Bitterne Southampton
England.
[page break]
FROM:
Mrs. H.W.K Hale
3193 Westmount Blvd
Montreal P.Que
Canada.
[page break]
December 28, 1944
Dear David,
This is just to wish you a very happy and safe 1945. I would have written before to wish you a Merry Christmas, but I had mislaid your address. I am not sure whether I found it in time to give it to Jacqueline before she left for Britain. She asked for it especially, I remember, as she wanted to see you and your wife and your mother. In case you have not heard from her, I think it would be very cheering for her if you could drop her a line. She has been in England nearly four weeks now. Her address is: Ldg/Wren J. M Hale W867; C.F.M.O; 24 Haymarket, London. She has been in the Wrens for nearly two years now, and she was tremendously pleased when she and two of her friends were drafted for Overseas this autumn. Jackie is now 21 years old.
How is the little daughter? When last we saw Ken Lawson he had not seen her but said that “from all reports” (no doubt her father's) she was the finest baby in England.
We had Will [word indecipherable] with us for over three weeks in October. It was very nice having him. He spoke a lot about you, and the visit you spent with them in Porta Down, Ireland. Will is still in Bermuda, and is very pleased to be there.
Has Ken started on his 4th tour of operations yet? He is stretching his luck pretty far, I am afraid. He was [underlined] so [/underlined] kind in endeavouring to find out all possible information about Warrie, [underlined] after [/underlined] he was reported missing. You have, of course, heard of that. The later news has been very bad – but it is from the Germans – and there are certain inconsistencies about the reports that make them, to my husband and myself, very inconclusive. These reports have not, in fact, been given out at all to the next of kin of the two British crew members, by the British Casualty Branch, and merely reported, as such, to the New Zealand mother with the comment that the report was vague, unconfirmed and unevidential, and that the classification in the case
[page break]
of the N.Z. boy F/O Johnnie Fall would not be altered from “Missing”. The [deleted] evidence [/deleted] report, however, that came “from a secret source, from which no further information can be obtained” said that “all the crew” had lost their lives and yet Ottawa is the only Casualty Branch that has accepted the report as conclusive. So we are not giving up hope. Neither are any of the other next of kin. But it is a very long time – over six months.
We were very sorry to have missed meeting your brother while he was in Canada. I wrote him as soon as you gave me his address, but I rather think he didn't get to Montreal.
Hoping that you and your wife and your mother may all have a very bright, healthy, safe, and happy new year. I am
affectionately yours,
Esther M. Hale.
I don't believe I ever congratulated you upon your latest recognition of the fact that you are a hero – the medal didn't make you one, I send my love
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter to David Donaldson from Esther Hale
Description
An account of the resource
Wishes David the best for 1945. Catches up with family news and a relation who has been posted to England. Enquires as to whether Ken has started his fourth tour yet and comments that he is stretching his luck. Mentions he was very kind and helpful when Warrie went missing. States news from Germany is bad and not all reports have gone to next of kin. However they are not giving up hope. Sorry to have missed meeting David's brother while he was in Canada. Also mentions a mutual RAF friend, Ken Lawson, who was with David in 156 Squadron until June 1943.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
E Hale
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1944-12-28
Format
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Two page handwritten letter and envelope
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
EHaleEMDonaldsonDW441228
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Hampshire
England--Southampton
Canada
Québec
Québec--Montréal
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-12-28
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Frances Grundy
missing in action