Letter to Mrs Scott from Commanding Officer of 37 Squadron
Title
Letter to Mrs Scott from Commanding Officer of 37 Squadron
Description
Informs her that her husband was missing in action from operations on night 21 Oct 1944. Gives assessment of character and mentioned he had just recommended him for commission. Gives some account of operation to marshalling yards in northern Yugoslavia and offers hope that he might have baled out safely. He wrote that he would immediately pass on any further news and offers sympathy.
Date
1944-10-24
Spatial Coverage
Language
Format
Three page handwritten letter mounted on album pages
Conforms To
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
SScottEW188329v10004, SScottEW188329v10005, SScottEW188329v10006
Transcription
Wing Commander H.A. Langton,
37 Squadron R.A.F,
[underlined] C.M.F. [/underlined]
[underlined] October 24th 1944 [/underlined]
Dear Mrs. Scott,
It is with much regret that I have to write to you & confirm the sad news, already passed to you by the Air Ministry, that your husband Eric is missing from operations on the night of the 21st October 1944.
Before giving you a few extra details I would like to say two things about your husband. Since being on the Squadron he has, by his behaviour, proved himself to be [deleted] an [/deleted] excellent & conscientious in his work both in the air & on the ground. I had just recommended him for his Commission. He had worked hard in his Mess & had won many friends. I wish to join with all his many friends in offering you our
[page break]
sympathy at this time & to assure you that we are all thinking of you.
Your husband was in good health & spirits when he took off with his crew to attack a marshalling yard in Northern Yugoslavia No news has since been heard of his aircraft. Aircraft returning reported severe icing conditions over the target but there were no reports of Aircraft shot down by enemy action. From this it might be presumed that your husband’s aircraft iced up to such an extent that it became unmanageable & the crew baled out. Your husband’s pilot P/O Jeffares, a New Zealander, was one of the most capable & skilful operational pilots we had on the squadron & I feel confident that were it humanly possible then he would have got his crew out safely. Presuming that they did bale out safely in the target area then they would fall very close to country occupied by the Partisans & we can hope to get some news fairly quickly. Should
[page break]
I get any you can rest assured that I will write immediately & so relieve your anxiety. Please don’t hesitate to write to me & raise any queries, however trivial they may seem, as I shall be only too pleased to help.
Your husband’s personal belongings are being carefully packed & will be returned to you through the official channels.
May I repeat my sympathy to you & I sincerely hope I may soon be writing to you with better news.
Yours sincerely,
Henry A. Langton
37 Squadron R.A.F,
[underlined] C.M.F. [/underlined]
[underlined] October 24th 1944 [/underlined]
Dear Mrs. Scott,
It is with much regret that I have to write to you & confirm the sad news, already passed to you by the Air Ministry, that your husband Eric is missing from operations on the night of the 21st October 1944.
Before giving you a few extra details I would like to say two things about your husband. Since being on the Squadron he has, by his behaviour, proved himself to be [deleted] an [/deleted] excellent & conscientious in his work both in the air & on the ground. I had just recommended him for his Commission. He had worked hard in his Mess & had won many friends. I wish to join with all his many friends in offering you our
[page break]
sympathy at this time & to assure you that we are all thinking of you.
Your husband was in good health & spirits when he took off with his crew to attack a marshalling yard in Northern Yugoslavia No news has since been heard of his aircraft. Aircraft returning reported severe icing conditions over the target but there were no reports of Aircraft shot down by enemy action. From this it might be presumed that your husband’s aircraft iced up to such an extent that it became unmanageable & the crew baled out. Your husband’s pilot P/O Jeffares, a New Zealander, was one of the most capable & skilful operational pilots we had on the squadron & I feel confident that were it humanly possible then he would have got his crew out safely. Presuming that they did bale out safely in the target area then they would fall very close to country occupied by the Partisans & we can hope to get some news fairly quickly. Should
[page break]
I get any you can rest assured that I will write immediately & so relieve your anxiety. Please don’t hesitate to write to me & raise any queries, however trivial they may seem, as I shall be only too pleased to help.
Your husband’s personal belongings are being carefully packed & will be returned to you through the official channels.
May I repeat my sympathy to you & I sincerely hope I may soon be writing to you with better news.
Yours sincerely,
Henry A. Langton
Collection
Citation
Wing Commander Henry Langton O.C. 37 Squadron, “Letter to Mrs Scott from Commanding Officer of 37 Squadron,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed April 19, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/33119.
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