Letter to Mrs Doreen Ellis from the Air Ministry
Title
Letter to Mrs Doreen Ellis from the Air Ministry
Description
The letter refers to the crash of Doreen's husband's aircraft.
Creator
Date
1943-12-04
Temporal Coverage
Language
Format
One 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
SEllisRHG918424v10028
Transcription
AIR MINISTRY
(Casualty Branch)
73-77 OXFORD STREET, W.1.
4th December, 1943
P.408122/43/P4.Cas.B4.
Madam,
I am directed to refer to your letter dated the 1st January 1944 regarding your husband, No. 918424 Sergeant R. H. G. Ellis, Royal Air Force.
In reply to your enquiry, I am to state that the report received from the International Red Cross Committee contained no details to indicate where the aircraft crashed.
There is, unhappily, little reason to doubt the accuracy of the German reports and experience has shown the chances are very remote of airmen being reported safe when they have been identified by the German Authorities as having lost their lives. However, action to presume death for official purposes is not now taken until further evidence or confirmation is received , or until, in the absence of such evidence, it becomes necessary, owing to lapse of time, to presume for official purposes that death has occurred.
In writing this I am to assure you of the sincere sympathy of the Departmentwith you in your grave anxiety.
I am, Madam,
Your obedient Servant,
[signature]
for Director of Personal Services.
Mrs. R. H. G. Ellis,
253 Balham High Road,
S.W.17.
(Casualty Branch)
73-77 OXFORD STREET, W.1.
4th December, 1943
P.408122/43/P4.Cas.B4.
Madam,
I am directed to refer to your letter dated the 1st January 1944 regarding your husband, No. 918424 Sergeant R. H. G. Ellis, Royal Air Force.
In reply to your enquiry, I am to state that the report received from the International Red Cross Committee contained no details to indicate where the aircraft crashed.
There is, unhappily, little reason to doubt the accuracy of the German reports and experience has shown the chances are very remote of airmen being reported safe when they have been identified by the German Authorities as having lost their lives. However, action to presume death for official purposes is not now taken until further evidence or confirmation is received , or until, in the absence of such evidence, it becomes necessary, owing to lapse of time, to presume for official purposes that death has occurred.
In writing this I am to assure you of the sincere sympathy of the Departmentwith you in your grave anxiety.
I am, Madam,
Your obedient Servant,
[signature]
for Director of Personal Services.
Mrs. R. H. G. Ellis,
253 Balham High Road,
S.W.17.
Collection
Citation
Great Britain. Air Ministry, “Letter to Mrs Doreen Ellis from the Air Ministry,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed May 18, 2025, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/28642.
Item Relations
This item has no relations.