Letter to Mrs Cahir from Wing Commander 466 Squadron

EOC466SqnCahirM431226.jpg

Title

Letter to Mrs Cahir from Wing Commander 466 Squadron

Description

The letter refers to Jim Cahir being reported missing. It explains events on the night he went missing and explains that his personal effects will be carefully stored.

Creator

Date

1943-12-26

Temporal Coverage

Language

Format

One typewritten sheet

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

EOC466SqnCahirM431226

Transcription

[crest]
No. 466 Squadron, R.A.A.F.
ROYAL AIR FORCE.
26th December, 1943.
Reference.
466/2050/38/P1.
Dear Mrs Cahir,
Prior to receiving this letter you will have received a telegram from Air Board, Melbourne, informing you that your son, Flight Sergeant Francis Shamus Cahir, has been reported missing from an operational flight on the night of 20th December, 1943.
It is with sincere regret that I am writing this letter to confirm this sad news, and to convey the heartfelt sympathy of all members of the Squadron to you, and to other members of Flight Sergeant Cahir’s family, in your great anxiety.
On the night of 20th December, 1943, the aircraft, in which your son was Air Gunner, took off to carry out a bombing attack on enemy territory. This flight represented one of the many courageous efforts called for from the Royal Air Force in this war, and it was undertaken with efficiency and resolution, for which your son’s crew was noted in the Squadron. Unfortunately the aircraft did not return.
The most searching enquiries through all possible channels have so far revealed nothing, but naturally it will take some time for possible information to reach this country from enemy sources. Meanwhile we can only hope that Flight Sergeant Cahir and the other members of his crew are prisoners of war. If any further news does come through you will, of course, be notified immediately.
A Committee of Officers, called a “Standing Committee of Adjustment”, has gathered together all your son’s personal effects, and will look after them carefully until the end of the war.
Flight Sergeant Cahir is greatly missed by his many friends in the Squadron, where he had always seemed to be happy doing such grand work for our cause. I should like to express my personal sympathy and profound regret that it should fall to my lot to convey to you tidings such as these. I can only hope that the New Year will bring you all more hopeful news.
Yours Sincerely
[signature]
Wing Commander.
Mrs. M. Cahir,
505, Bell Street,
Melbourne,
Victoria, Australia.

Citation

466 Squadron, “Letter to Mrs Cahir from Wing Commander 466 Squadron,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed March 29, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/20134.

Item Relations

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