An Airman’s Letter to his Mother

“An Airman’s Letter to his Mother”, written by Flying Officer Vivian William Noall Rosewarne to his mother was published in The Times on June 18, 1940.

The original letter from Flying Officer Rosewarne to his mother from RAF Marham, Norfolk written in April 1940.

Rosewarne, a pilot, died with the other crew members: Roy Baynes, James C. Adams, John Dolan, John Knight, and Dennis D.G. Spencer, in Belgium on May 31, 1940 during the retreat to Dunkirk. The crew from RAF 38 Squadron took off from RAF Marham in their Wellington bomber (Aircraft R 3162) at 22.35, and crashed in a field outside Veurne, about 25 kilometres south of Ostend.

Group Captain Claude Hilton Keith’s statement in The Times June 18, 1940. This preceded the printed letter.

The letter was found by Group Captain Claude Hilton Keith, Station Commander at RAF Marham, amongst Rosewarne’s possessions after the plane and its crew went missing. As can be seen by the statement preceding the letter in The Times, the letter had been left open in order for it to be checked by a censor before it was sent to the mother. When sending it to Rosewarne’s mother the Group Captain asked whether he might publish it anonymously. The mother agreed and the letter was duly published in The Times.

An Airman to his Mother, The Times, June 18, 1940.

Accompanying the letter was a leading article titled “Per Ardua ad Astra” written by Harold Child.

The leading article titled “Per Ardua ad Astra”, The Times June 18, 1940.

According to letters from Rosewarne’s mother written in 1946 and 1947 after her visits to the site of his death, the farmer, in whose field the bomber came down, told that the plane circled the town twice before choosing the field to make a forced landing. Unfortunately the plane hit a tree and overturned, killing the crew. If the crew had bailed out, the plane might have landed on Veurne killing civilians.

Mrs Rosewarne was given part of the of the propellers on which the Germans had written the statement “This flyer and crew died like heroes.”

Flying Officer Rosewarnes grave at Veurne Communal Cemetery Extension.

Rosewarne’s death notice in The Times, December 23, 1940.

A notice of Rosewarne’s death was placed in The Times on December 23, 1940.

The letter caused quite a reaction. The Times printed it in pamphlet form almost immediately and sold over 470,000 copies within five months. The paper received over 10,000 letters requesting copies and it was reprinted at least three times. It was translated into a number of languages including Arabic.

Front cover of the Canadian edition of “An Airman’s Letter”.

On July 18 The Times reached agreement with Putnam & Co. Limited for the letter to be published in book form with drawings by Thomas Derrick. The book was published in August. American and Canadian editions were published over the ensuing months and the book was sold across the world. It was also reproduced in card form for hanging in schools and public places by Simpkin Marshall Limited during the autumn of 1940.

The letter was also reproduced in other media. The BBC broadcast the letter on two occasions during 1940, in full on July 8 and extracts during its Childrens Hour programme on September 3.

Most significantly, in 1941 it was turned into a short five minute film for showing in cinemas as part of the programme prior to the main feature. It was written and directed by Michael Powell, the director of films such as The Thief of Baghdad, 49th Parallel and The Battle of the River Plate, and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The letter was read by John Gielgud. The film was shown widely in America as propaganda for the British war effort at a time when the U.S.A. was still a neutral country.

Finally, Frank Salisbury, the distinguished portrait painter, was commissioned to paint a posthumous portrait of Rosewarne in June 1940. The original painting is now in the possession of the RAF Museum at Hendon.

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