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marriage certificate and cover letter

human history
  • Other Name

    NZ42675, F/S Andrew Fletcher, 75 (NZ) Squadron, RNZAF (associated name)

  • Description

    marriage certificate of F/S Andrew Crawford Fletcher, 75 (NZ) Squadron and Dorothy Maud Clifford 27/5/1944, with cover letter from RNZAF

  • Place
    England
  • Accession Number
    2018.22.10
  • Accession Date
    17 May 2018
  • Department

    History

    War History

    [library]

marriage certificate and cover letter

Images and documents

Images

  • marriage certificate and cover letter
  • marriage certificate and cover letter
  • marriage certificate cover letter
  • marriage certificate cover letter
  • marriage certificate
  • marriage certificate
  • marriage certificate
  • marriage certificate and cover letter

Artefact

  • Credit Line
    Collection of Auckland Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira, 2018.22.10
    Gift of Mrs Margaret Hale-Owens
  • Place
    England
  • Associated Notes

    Andrew Fletcher was born on 16th May 1920 in Devonport, Auckland. He moved to Cambridge with his family and attended school there, but he returned to Auckland to work in farming in East Tamaki after his family moved back to Devonport. Fletcher enlisted at the RNZAF Station at Ohakea in 1942 and trained as a wireless operator/Air gunner in Levin. He left New Zealand on 1 April 1943 to train in Canada, and arrived in England on 17th November 1943, where he was posted to No.

    75 (NZ) Squadron RAF in 1944 for operational flying on Avro Lancaster bombers.

    Andrew Fletcher married Dorothy Maud Clifford in England on 27th May 1944. Dorothy was a supervisor in telecommunications at Bletchley Park during World War 11.

    Andrew Fletcher undertook 10 sorties with the No. 75 (NZ) Squadron. He was killed during a raid on an oil plant at Homberg in the Ruhr region of Germany on 20th July 1944. The Lancaster crashed near the Veghel-Uden Road and all the crew were killed except for the Flight Engineer who was taken prisoner. It was one of the worst disasters for the 75 (NZ) Squadron, with the loss of seven lancasters and their crews. Fletcher and the rest of the crew were buried at Uden War Cemetery.

    Andrew and Dorothy Fletcher had been married for just 55 days when Andrew died.

    After the war, Dorothy was repatriated as a New Zealand war widow and sailed to New Zealand in 1946. She returned to the UK in 1949.

  • Media

    paper (fiber product)

  • Measurement Reading

    203mm

    128mm

    164mm

    350mm

  • Classification

    Certificate, Marriage

    Record, Marriage

    Record, Vital

    Government Records

    Documentary Artifacts

    08 Communication Artifacts

  • Last Update
    19 Dec 2023
The development of the Auckland War Memorial Museum online collection is an ongoing process; updates, new images and records are added weekly. In some cases, records have yet to be confirmed by Museum staff, and there could be mistakes or omissions in the information provided.

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