Letter to the editor of Pegasus journal from Eric Keen

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Title

Letter to the editor of Pegasus journal from Eric Keen
Story of the Five Franc Note

Description

Story of paratroopers dropped from Stirling over Normandy on 5/6 June 1944 all signing 5 franc note with message 'thanks for the lift'. Stirling crew survived the war and the pilot kept the note. Lists names of paratroopers and the fact that Eric Keen was the flight engineer.

Creator

Date

1990-03-17

Temporal Coverage

Language

Type

Format

Two page handwritten letter

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

EKeenEDLEdPegJour900317

Transcription

17TH. March 1990.

THE EDITOR. PEGASUS JOURNAL.
BROWNING BARRACKS.
ALDERSHOT, HANTS.

SIR,

ON THE NIGHT OF 5TH./6TH. JUNE 1944 TWENTY MEN OF THE PARACHUTE REGIMENT BOARDED A STIRLING BOMBER AND WERE DROPPED OVER NORMANDY. THEY BOARDED THE AIRCRAFT AT MIDNIGHT, [inserted] AT KEEVIL AIRDROME IN WILTSHIRE [/inserted] AND WERE DROPPED ABOUT AN HOUR LATER. WHILST EN ROUTE ONE OF THE PARTY WROTE OUT ALL THEIR NAMES ON A FIVE FRANC NOTE WITH THE MESSAGE “THANKS FOR THE LIFT.” THIS WAS HANDED TO THE PILOT OF THE AIRCRAFT. THE CREW KEPT TOGETHER FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE WAR, AND, DESPITE TAKING PART IN MANY BOMBING RAIDS, SURVIVED. [deleted] [indecipherable letters] [/deleted] THE PILOT KEPT THE FIVE FRANC NOTE AND IT IS NOW A TREASURED MEMENTO.
THEY HAVE OFFERED WONDERED HOW MANY [inserted] (PARACHUTISTS) [/inserted] SURVIVED, FOR TO THE CREW IT SEEMED IMPOSSIBLE THAT ANYONE COULD HAVE SURVICED THE DESCENT THROUGH ALL THE FLAK THAT WAS COMING UP. IT WOULD BE MOST PLEASANT IF IT COULD BE ARRANGED FOR AN EVENING TOGETHER AGAIN. THE NAMES OF THE PARTY ARE AS FOLLOWS:-

LT. STIRLING. – PTES. DOBBINSON
SGT. HARCOURT. – PTES. RUFF
SGT. MILBURN. – PTES. HOLBELLS
SGT. FOX. – PTES. RUDOLPH
SGT. JONES – PTES. DOBSON
CPL. THOMPSON – PTES. CADE
L/CPL. GLEESON – PTES. STONE
PTE. CHADWELL – PTES. CHEETAM
PTS. HARDING – PTES. TOWERS
PTE. NESS. – PTES. MAYES.

P.T.O.

[page break]

OF THE ORIGINAL CREW OF SEVEN MEN [missing words] SURVIVE AND WOULD WELCOME A NIGHT OUT WITH THEIR ERST-WHILE PASSENGERS. I WAS THE FLIGHT ENGINEER ON BOARD, AND WILL BE VERY HAPPY TO RECEIVE NEWS OF ANY OF THOSE NAMED.

PLEASE WRITE OR PHONE.

YOURS SINCERELY.

ERIC KEEN.

Collection

Citation

E Keen, “Letter to the editor of Pegasus journal from Eric Keen,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed March 29, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/38151.

Item Relations

Item: Five Franc note dcterms:relation This Item