Letter confirming John Wenham's death
Title
Letter confirming John Wenham's death
Description
Letter to John Wenham's father from the Station Commander R.A.F. Westcott confirming John's death and offering his and the station's sympathy.
Creator
Date
1945-01-09
Temporal 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
SWenhamJW1894709v10003-0001, SWenhamJW1894709v10003-0002
Transcription
Royal Air Force Station,
Westcott,
Aylesbury, Bucks.
9th January, 1945.
Ref:- WEST/1917/146/P.1.
Dear Mr. Wenham,
It is with very great regret that I have to write and confirm that your son, Sergeant John Arthur Wenham, lost his life as a result of a flying accident on the night of 4th January 1945.
The aircraft in which he was flying as Air Gunner, took off from this Station on a normal exercise and at 19.35 hours the aircraft crashed at a point near Long Marston, Buckinghamshire. No details as to how the accident occurred are available, but, should any information come to light, I will certainly write to you. In cases of this kind, however, where all the crew are killed, it is unlikely that any information will ever be obtained.
In your great sorrow it will be of some consolation to you to know that death was instantaneous and that your son and his colleagues were spared any suffering.
Your son had done exceedingly well on his course and was thought of very highly by both his colleagues and his Instructors alike. I am quite confident that had it not been for this tragic accident he would have proved himself to be a very worthy member of the Royal Air Force.
Mr. W.A. Wenham,
26 Penenden Heath Road,
MAIDSTONE, Kent.
CONTD….
[page break]
-2-
May I offer you my own deep sympathy and that of all the officers , N.C.Os and airmen of this Station in your sad bereavement.
Yours sincerely,
[signature]
Group Captain, Commanding,
[underlined] R.A.F. Station, WESTCOTT. [/underlined]
Westcott,
Aylesbury, Bucks.
9th January, 1945.
Ref:- WEST/1917/146/P.1.
Dear Mr. Wenham,
It is with very great regret that I have to write and confirm that your son, Sergeant John Arthur Wenham, lost his life as a result of a flying accident on the night of 4th January 1945.
The aircraft in which he was flying as Air Gunner, took off from this Station on a normal exercise and at 19.35 hours the aircraft crashed at a point near Long Marston, Buckinghamshire. No details as to how the accident occurred are available, but, should any information come to light, I will certainly write to you. In cases of this kind, however, where all the crew are killed, it is unlikely that any information will ever be obtained.
In your great sorrow it will be of some consolation to you to know that death was instantaneous and that your son and his colleagues were spared any suffering.
Your son had done exceedingly well on his course and was thought of very highly by both his colleagues and his Instructors alike. I am quite confident that had it not been for this tragic accident he would have proved himself to be a very worthy member of the Royal Air Force.
Mr. W.A. Wenham,
26 Penenden Heath Road,
MAIDSTONE, Kent.
CONTD….
[page break]
-2-
May I offer you my own deep sympathy and that of all the officers , N.C.Os and airmen of this Station in your sad bereavement.
Yours sincerely,
[signature]
Group Captain, Commanding,
[underlined] R.A.F. Station, WESTCOTT. [/underlined]
Collection
Citation
Officer Commanding RAF Westcott, “Letter confirming John Wenham's death,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed April 19, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/24710.
Item Relations
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