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[+Dej]

 

 

 

No. 56 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps

France, 29th July 1917

 

Dear Reverend and Mrs. Rhys,

 

It is with deep sadness that I put pen to paper to report upon the death of your son, Lt. Llewellyn Rhys DFC, and the circumstances in which he died.

 

I hope it may be of some small solace to you to know that Llewellyn was very popular and much-loved, both by his fellow officers and the men in his charge. I personally am proud to have known so courageous, compassionate and conscientious a young man.

 

I regret to say that Llewellyn died not in combat, but in a tragic accident that also cost the life of his good friend Capt. Oliver Tepes.

 

En route to the defence of one of our vital artillery-spotting balloons a member of Llewellyn's flight experienced trouble with his machine and failed to make a turn correctly. His machine banked toward Lt. Rhys' forcing Llewellyn to take evasive action, this coincided with Capt. Tepes making a slight descent to correct his own course and the two machines collided, both falling to the ground from approx. 6000ft. I am assured by Lt. Hoskins, who witnessed the event, that both pilots would have died instantly and would not have suffered.

 

In total, Lieutenant Rhys accounted for seven enemy machines (six confirmed). He served his King and his Country exceedingly well and has made the ultimate sacrifice.

 

I am sorry to say that it has not yet proven possible to recover your son's remains, but his personal effects will follow.

 

The squadron will miss both pilots greatly. We offer our most sincere condolences.

 

I have spoken today with the CO of No. 12 Squadron and Llewellyn's brother Geraint is given two weeks leave with immediate effect. I hope you may all find comfort in each other when he arrives home.

 

Yours in Sympathy,

 

 

 

RG Blomfield

 

(sgd) R. G. Blomfield, Major, Commanding Officer, No. 56 Squadron

 

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So ends the chapter on Llewellyn Rhys and is a salutory reminder NOT to try and squeeze in a campaign mission at midnight on a Sunday when you've been working on a presentation for 5 hours, just because you're going to be away and aren't going to get to fly for the rest of the week!

Edited July 22, 2009 by Dej

[Ras]

May he rest in peace, we know he is resting in honor. His life was too short...as was the great story writing.

[Guest British_eh]

Brilliant prose olde chap!

 

I stay tuned for more.

 

Regards,

 

British_eh