Letter to Leonard Cheshire from Flying Officer Ralph Stutt
Title
Letter to Leonard Cheshire from Flying Officer Ralph Stutt
Description
Letter states that Stutt wants to get back on operations on Lancaster after six months off. Recounts that he completed a tour on 425 Squadron. In addition he does not like the fact that his current station is becoming all Canadian. Requests to join Cheshire's squadron.
Creator
Date
1944-01-17
Temporal Coverage
Language
Format
Three page handwritten letter
Is Part Of
Publisher
Rights
This content is property of the Leonard Cheshire Archive which has kindly granted the International Bomber Command Centre Digital Archive a royalty-free permission to publish it. Please note that it was digitised by a third-party which used technical specifications that may differ from those used by International Bomber Command Centre Digital Archive. It has been published here ‘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.
Contributor
Identifier
SCheshireGL72021v10023
Transcription
[RAF Crest]
22 O.T.U.
R.A.F. Wellesbourne Mountford,
Warwick.
Jan. 17/44.
Dear Sir,
I am writing to you because F/O Duffy, from this O.T.U., has been posted to your unit and speaks very highly of it.
As I want to to get back to ops and preferably on Lancasters, it would be a great honour to fly under you and a pleasure. Although this method of writing to you
[page break]
[underlined] 2 [/underlined]
is quite improper, I hope you will forgive me under these circumstances, as I do so want to get onto operations again.
My first tour was with 425 squadron and consisted of thirty two trips – twenty two from England and ten from North Africa. I have been off ops for six months, Sir, and know it is time I went back again. The special work of your squadron does appeals [sic] to me. If necessary I could and have already a crew lined up who would like
[page break]
[underlined] 3 [/underlined]
to be posted to your squadron. The majority of the crew would be R.A.F., myself being a Canadian.
Another thing, Sir, is this station is becoming an all Canadian outfit, and I do not want any part of it then.
My record here is good, Sir, and with no blacks, but even so I must get back on ops.
Please by kind enough, Sir, to answer this request in the affirmative I hope.
Yours respectfully
Ralph A Stutt F/O
51178 R.C.A.F.
22 O.T.U.
R.A.F. Wellesbourne Mountford,
Warwick.
Jan. 17/44.
Dear Sir,
I am writing to you because F/O Duffy, from this O.T.U., has been posted to your unit and speaks very highly of it.
As I want to to get back to ops and preferably on Lancasters, it would be a great honour to fly under you and a pleasure. Although this method of writing to you
[page break]
[underlined] 2 [/underlined]
is quite improper, I hope you will forgive me under these circumstances, as I do so want to get onto operations again.
My first tour was with 425 squadron and consisted of thirty two trips – twenty two from England and ten from North Africa. I have been off ops for six months, Sir, and know it is time I went back again. The special work of your squadron does appeals [sic] to me. If necessary I could and have already a crew lined up who would like
[page break]
[underlined] 3 [/underlined]
to be posted to your squadron. The majority of the crew would be R.A.F., myself being a Canadian.
Another thing, Sir, is this station is becoming an all Canadian outfit, and I do not want any part of it then.
My record here is good, Sir, and with no blacks, but even so I must get back on ops.
Please by kind enough, Sir, to answer this request in the affirmative I hope.
Yours respectfully
Ralph A Stutt F/O
51178 R.C.A.F.
Collection
Citation
Ralph Stutt, “Letter to Leonard Cheshire from Flying Officer Ralph Stutt,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed April 25, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/16886.
Item Relations
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