Missing believed killed letter from Air Ministry
Title
Missing believed killed letter from Air Ministry
Description
Letter to Isabel confirming the information from the International Red Cross that Andrew had lost his life when his aircraft was lost. But he would formally be listed as 'missing believed killed' for six months.
Creator
Date
1943-11-09
Temporal Coverage
Coverage
Language
Format
One 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
ECasBraBainID431109-0001, ECasBraBainID431109-0002
Transcription
[underlined] GERrard 9234 [/underlined]
(Casualty Branch)
77 Oxford Street,
London, W.1.
P.407893/3/43/P.4.A.2.B.
9 November, 1943.
Madam,
I am commanded by the Air Council to inform you that they have with great regret to confirm the telegram in which you were notified that, in view of information now received from the International Red Cross Committee, your husband, Sergeant Andrew Bain, Royal Air Force, is believed to have lost his life as the result of the air operations on the night of 23rd/24th August, 1943.
The Committee’s telegram, quoting official German information, states that your husband and the six other occupants of the aircraft in which he was flying on that night were killed on 24th August. It contains no information regarding the place of their burial nor any other details.
Although there is unhappily little reason to doubt the accuracy of this report, the casualty will be recorded as “missing believed killed” until confirmation by further evidence, or until, in the absence of such evidence, it becomes necessary, owing to lapse of time, to presume for official purposes that death has occurred. In the absence of confirmatory evidence death would not be presumed until at least six months from the date when your husband was reported missing.
/The
Mrs.A.Bain,
25 Beaufort Gardens,
Bishop Briggs,
Glasgow.
[page break]
The Air Council desire me to express their deep sympathy with you in your grave anxiety.
I am, Madam,
Your obedient Servant,
[signature]
(Casualty Branch)
77 Oxford Street,
London, W.1.
P.407893/3/43/P.4.A.2.B.
9 November, 1943.
Madam,
I am commanded by the Air Council to inform you that they have with great regret to confirm the telegram in which you were notified that, in view of information now received from the International Red Cross Committee, your husband, Sergeant Andrew Bain, Royal Air Force, is believed to have lost his life as the result of the air operations on the night of 23rd/24th August, 1943.
The Committee’s telegram, quoting official German information, states that your husband and the six other occupants of the aircraft in which he was flying on that night were killed on 24th August. It contains no information regarding the place of their burial nor any other details.
Although there is unhappily little reason to doubt the accuracy of this report, the casualty will be recorded as “missing believed killed” until confirmation by further evidence, or until, in the absence of such evidence, it becomes necessary, owing to lapse of time, to presume for official purposes that death has occurred. In the absence of confirmatory evidence death would not be presumed until at least six months from the date when your husband was reported missing.
/The
Mrs.A.Bain,
25 Beaufort Gardens,
Bishop Briggs,
Glasgow.
[page break]
The Air Council desire me to express their deep sympathy with you in your grave anxiety.
I am, Madam,
Your obedient Servant,
[signature]
Collection
Citation
Great Britain. Air Ministry, “Missing believed killed letter from Air Ministry,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed July 22, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/16467.
Item Relations
This item has no relations.