Back in February this year Andy Saunders posted on the Battle of Britain Historical Society forum a letter found on a pilot washed up on a beach in November 1940.

The letter commences

Dear Helen,…….

Andy asked if anyone had any idea of who it could be. It was suggested that perhaps it was Stuart Walch of 238 Squadron who had died in August 1940. On my reading of it, internal evidence indicates that the author was NOT Stuart Walch ……

cheers, alexfax

I found this both an interesting but perplexing and frustrating thread.

The opening post quotes the introduction of the letter, and poses the identity of the author, and then discounts the identity being Stuart Walch, and subsequent posts debate if the authors real name was Stuart, or if its an adopted family name, or if the letter has been correctly transcribed? but for those of us unfamiliar with the issue, there is the missing clue of “why” Stuart is at issue in the first place

– Is the name the signature at the bottom of the rest of the letter, or mentioned in the text?, is it possible to share the full transcription of the letter here?

I went to the Battle of Britain forum looking for Andy’s original post but couldnt find it there either.

Regards

Mark Pilkington