Letter to Roy Ellis's Wife from the Red Cross
Title
Letter to Roy Ellis's Wife from the Red Cross
Description
The letter refers to her husband's burial and advises that efforts will be made to find out more detail from the International Red Cross.
Date
1944-01-11
Temporal Coverage
Language
Format
One double sided typewritten sheet
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
SEllisRHG918424v10035-0001, SEllisRHG918424v10035-0002
Transcription
WAR ORGANISATION
OF THE
BRITISH RED CROSS SOCIETY AND ORDER OF ST. JOHN OF JERUSALEM
[underlined]WOUNDED, MISSING AND RELATIVES DEPARTMENT[/underlined]
7 BELGRAVE SQUARE,
LONDON, S.W.1
Reference: DL/MHD/RAF/C.8775
11th January, 1944.
Dear Mrs. Ellis,
Thank you for your letter of 8th January, in which you tell us of the sad report you have now received from the Air Ministry about the burial of your husband Sergeant R. H. G. Ellis 918424.
This information was included in an official German report, which was sent through the International Red Cross Committee at Geneva direct to the Air Ministry, and we did not then write to you, as we did not wish to add to your distress by duplicating this grievous news.
We are now sending an urgent and special enquiry to the International Red Cross Committee at Geneva asking whether any details are available about the circumstances in which your husband and his companions lost their lives, and we will include a special request about the date and form of his burial and whether any of his personal belongings were found.
We certainly find that in a great number of the reports which reach us about the burial of our airmen, it is specified that military honours were accorded, and this is we believe the usual practice adhered to by the German authorities.
As regards the inclusion of your husband’s name in the casualty list published by “The Aeroplane” I am afraid we are not able to help you and can only suggest that you would perhaps like to write to the Editor of that Magazine.
[page break]
We fear it may be several months before any reply reaches us from the International Red Cross Committee at Geneva, but you can rest assured that we will not fail to write to you immediately this is received, for we realise most fully how you must long to receive all possible details.
Please accept our renewed and deep sympathy in the great loss you have sustained.
Yours sincerely,
[signed] Margaret Ampthill
Chairman
Mrs. D. Ellis,
253, Balham High Road,
London, S.W.17.
OF THE
BRITISH RED CROSS SOCIETY AND ORDER OF ST. JOHN OF JERUSALEM
[underlined]WOUNDED, MISSING AND RELATIVES DEPARTMENT[/underlined]
7 BELGRAVE SQUARE,
LONDON, S.W.1
Reference: DL/MHD/RAF/C.8775
11th January, 1944.
Dear Mrs. Ellis,
Thank you for your letter of 8th January, in which you tell us of the sad report you have now received from the Air Ministry about the burial of your husband Sergeant R. H. G. Ellis 918424.
This information was included in an official German report, which was sent through the International Red Cross Committee at Geneva direct to the Air Ministry, and we did not then write to you, as we did not wish to add to your distress by duplicating this grievous news.
We are now sending an urgent and special enquiry to the International Red Cross Committee at Geneva asking whether any details are available about the circumstances in which your husband and his companions lost their lives, and we will include a special request about the date and form of his burial and whether any of his personal belongings were found.
We certainly find that in a great number of the reports which reach us about the burial of our airmen, it is specified that military honours were accorded, and this is we believe the usual practice adhered to by the German authorities.
As regards the inclusion of your husband’s name in the casualty list published by “The Aeroplane” I am afraid we are not able to help you and can only suggest that you would perhaps like to write to the Editor of that Magazine.
[page break]
We fear it may be several months before any reply reaches us from the International Red Cross Committee at Geneva, but you can rest assured that we will not fail to write to you immediately this is received, for we realise most fully how you must long to receive all possible details.
Please accept our renewed and deep sympathy in the great loss you have sustained.
Yours sincerely,
[signed] Margaret Ampthill
Chairman
Mrs. D. Ellis,
253, Balham High Road,
London, S.W.17.
Collection
Citation
Great Britain. Red Cross and St John war organisation, “Letter to Roy Ellis's Wife from the Red Cross,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed April 20, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/28608.
Item Relations
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