Right – having spoken further to the owner of the letter – the confusion is now a little clearer, as he confirms that the letter is from this Hurricane accident, but Pike was was not the pilot as originally thought.

A C 2 Pike was one of two men sent to guard the Hurricane, and during this standing guard the other guy is said to of climbed into the cockpit and somehow accidentally shot Pike with the aircrafts guns, possibly in the legs. The letter was subsequently sent maybe up to two months after the incident.

Hopefully now that makes more sense.

Rob