Letter to Mr H A Bower

Letter to Mr H A Bower

The letter expresses regret and sympathy on the loss of his son in a flying accident.

1943-04-04

One typed letter

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.

ELoweGBower HA430404

[Royal Air Force Crest]

Royal Air Force,
Upper Heyford,
Oxon.
4th April, 1943.

Dear Mr Bower,
It is with regret and deepest sympathy that I have to inform you that your son was killed early this morning as the result of a flying accident.
Your son was the Navigator of an aircraft which took off on a night practice bombing flight, the weather being fine but dark. The cause of the accident is obscure, but it is known that the aircraft dived into the ground with considerable force and there is no doubt that death for the entire crew was instantaneous. A full Service Investigation is being held in an endeavour to establish the cause for this regrettable accident.
Sergeant Bower had completed sufficient training to show that he was one of our keenest trainees and he was making excpetionall (sic) good progress. He was eager to take part in operations against the enemy and it is to be regretted that he did not get his chance of doing so.
Your son will be sadly missed by the many friends he made during his stay here, all of whom, I am sure, would wish me to extend to you their heartfelt sympathy.
Yours sincerely
[signature]
Wing Commander,
Royal Air Force,
Upper Heyford, Oxon.

Mr. H.A.Bower
27, Annesley Road,
Hucknall,
[underlined] NOTTINGHAMSHIRE. [/underlined]