Letter to Jimmy Doughty' s father from the air ministry
Title
Letter to Jimmy Doughty' s father from the air ministry
Description
Reports the result of the investigation carried out by the RAF missing research and enquiry service in Germany. States his aircraft crashed after combat with fighter and crew were buried in common communal grave at Rehborn. Advisees that remains of crew had been moved to the British Military Cemetery at Rheinberg.
Creator
Date
1949-01-29
Spatial Coverage
Language
Format
Two page typewritten latter
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
ERowleySDoughtyFA490129
Transcription
AIR MINISTRY,
[deleted] WHITEHALL
LONDON, S.W.1. [/deleted]
2, Seville Street,
Knightsbridge,
London, S.W.1.
Tel No. Sloane 3467
[deleted] ABBEY 3411 [/deleted]
P.421593/44/S.14.Cas.C.6.
29 JAN 1949
Dear Mr. Doughty.
It is not without hesitation that I refer again, after so long an interval, to the loss in action of your son, Sergeant J.C. Doughty, but I feel sure you will wish to know the result of investigations undertaken by the Royal Air Force Missing Research and Enquiry Service in Germany.
These investigations show that after a combat with fighter, the aircraft crashed 300 yards north of Rehborn Railway Station, at about 0100 hours on the 13th August, 1944, and that the whole of the crew were buried in a communal grave in the cemetery at Rehborn. Unfortunately on exhumation, it was not possible to identify any of the crew individually.
Where adequate arrangements cannot be made for the permanent upkeep of graves, it is the practice of the Army Graves Service to transfer them to Service cemeteries where facilities are available for their proper care in perpetuity by the Imperial War Graves Commission. It is in accordance with this policy that the remains of your son and his seven crew companions have now been moved to the British Military Cemetery at Rheinberg, where they rest in a multiple group of graves numbered 7 – 11, Riow E, Plot 8.
The cemetery is situated in the district of Moers, 11 miles north west of Duisburg.
We have, therefore, arranged for these graves to be registered with the Imperial War Graves Commission and marked
/with
F.A. Doughty,
49, Tavistock Gardens,
Ilford,
Essex.
[page break]
with temporary crosses showing service particulars of all eight airmen. When the time comes the crosses will be replaced by permanent headstones.
I am sorry that, owing to the formidable task of our search teams it has not been possible to let you have this information earlier, but I do hope this somewhat belated news will afford you a measure of comfort in your sad loss.
Yours sincerely,
[signature]
[deleted] WHITEHALL
LONDON, S.W.1. [/deleted]
2, Seville Street,
Knightsbridge,
London, S.W.1.
Tel No. Sloane 3467
[deleted] ABBEY 3411 [/deleted]
P.421593/44/S.14.Cas.C.6.
29 JAN 1949
Dear Mr. Doughty.
It is not without hesitation that I refer again, after so long an interval, to the loss in action of your son, Sergeant J.C. Doughty, but I feel sure you will wish to know the result of investigations undertaken by the Royal Air Force Missing Research and Enquiry Service in Germany.
These investigations show that after a combat with fighter, the aircraft crashed 300 yards north of Rehborn Railway Station, at about 0100 hours on the 13th August, 1944, and that the whole of the crew were buried in a communal grave in the cemetery at Rehborn. Unfortunately on exhumation, it was not possible to identify any of the crew individually.
Where adequate arrangements cannot be made for the permanent upkeep of graves, it is the practice of the Army Graves Service to transfer them to Service cemeteries where facilities are available for their proper care in perpetuity by the Imperial War Graves Commission. It is in accordance with this policy that the remains of your son and his seven crew companions have now been moved to the British Military Cemetery at Rheinberg, where they rest in a multiple group of graves numbered 7 – 11, Riow E, Plot 8.
The cemetery is situated in the district of Moers, 11 miles north west of Duisburg.
We have, therefore, arranged for these graves to be registered with the Imperial War Graves Commission and marked
/with
F.A. Doughty,
49, Tavistock Gardens,
Ilford,
Essex.
[page break]
with temporary crosses showing service particulars of all eight airmen. When the time comes the crosses will be replaced by permanent headstones.
I am sorry that, owing to the formidable task of our search teams it has not been possible to let you have this information earlier, but I do hope this somewhat belated news will afford you a measure of comfort in your sad loss.
Yours sincerely,
[signature]
Collection
Citation
S Rowley, “Letter to Jimmy Doughty' s father from the air ministry,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed April 27, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/38928.
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