How Rosewarne’s values reached out to a wider world

Nearly every Brentwood School pupil and teacher - past and present - has heard of Vivian Rosewarne, the OB bomber pilot killed in the Second World War. His portrait hangs outside the School chapel with a copy of the remarkable letter he wrote to his mother - a letter which was heavily publicised after his death and cited as a brilliant encapsulation of the values for which Britain and the Allies were fighting.

However, few will appreciate just how the letter came to such prominence and to attain a revered position in the annals of Brentwood School. Headmaster Michael Bond explained how this came about at the Old Brentwoods Society’s 125th anniversary and first ever Brentwood School Association dinner on November 21st. The RAF Club in Piccadilly was an appropriate venue for doing so.

As a History teacher, he was pleased to mark the occasion with “a story of heroism that illustrates the long history of RAF service at Brentwood.”

On 30th May 1940, 17 Wellington bombers took off from RAF Marham to provide support to British forces as they withdrew from Dunkirk. One was shot down and crashed in a field outside Veurne, south of Ostend, Belgium, killing all crew members. The co-pilot was Vivian Rosewarne, the only child of Vivian and Lilian Rosewarne. He was born in 1916 and spent his formative years at Brentwood School.

In the days that followed, Rosewarne’s station commander, Group Captain Claude H. Keith, found a letter among his personal possessions, left open so that it could be passed by the censor.

Keith was very moved by the contents. ‘This letter was perhaps the most amazing Ihave ever read; simple and direct in its wording, but splendid and uplifting in itsoutlook.’ He passed it to Vivian's mother and asked if she would allow him to request it be published anonymously. Lilian Rosewarne agreed.

Group Captain Keith sent the letter to the Times, explaining that he thought its contents might bring comfort to other parents who had lost children in the war, and to remind everyone of the sacrifices being made by so many in service of their country.

It was published in the Times in June 1940, just a couple of months before Winston Churchill’s most famous speech about the heroism shown by RAF pilots during the Battle of Britain. ‘Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few.’ “It’s quite spine-tingling to know that one of the individuals about whom he was speaking walked the same corridors as our pupils and colleagues do every day at Brentwood.

“Vivian Rosewarne’s letter speaks of duty, service, and a willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice in the face of the existential threat posed by Nazism and totalitarianism,” continued Mr Bond, “a sacrifice that was part of a struggle that we should never forget, not least because there are forces in today’s world that could take us back to those dark days.”

The response to the letter was extraordinary. The Times was inundated with requests for copies. It was published in a small book entitled An Airman's Letter to his Mother. By the end of 1940 over half a million copies had been sold. In the USA, the book was reprinted 12 times, playing a part in efforts to get America into the war and Americans to join up. (A couple of years ago, the Old Brentwood Speech Day guest of honour presented Mr Bond with a copy). The BBC broadcast the letter on radio twice and King George VI wrote to Mrs. Rosewarne.

In September 1941, a portrait of Vivian Rosewarne by Frank Salisbury was unveiled, with Mrs Rosewarne in attendance. The original painting is in the RAF Museum at Hendon and a copy hangs outside the school chapel. In the same year, the letter was turned into a short documentary-style film, distributed by MGM and shown in cinemas.

After the war, Mrs Rosewarne visited the crash site and spoke to the farmer who owned the field where the bomber had crashed. He told her that the plane circled twice before choosing the field to make a forced landing. If the crew had bailed out, the plane might have landed on the nearby village, killing civilians. Mrs Rosewarne was handed part of the propeller from the plane on which the Germans had written: 'This flyer and crew died like heroes'.

“Today, Vivian Rosewarne's letter continues to inspire and features in the RAF's publication Leadership. Read the letter and reflect on the courage he and thousands of other servicemen and women demonstrated during one of our country’s darkest periods.

Mr. Bond concluded: “We are blessed to be part of a community here at Brentwood that has a long and distinguished history and one of the challenges we all have is to be worthy successors of those who have gone before us.”

Here is the letter.

Royal Air Force, Marham, April 1940

Dearest Mother,

Though I feel no premonition at all, events are moving rapidly and I have instructed that this letter be forwarded to you should I fail to return from one of the raids that we shall shortly be called upon to undertake. You must hope on for a month, but at the end of that time you must accept the fact that I have handed my task over to the extremely capable hands of my comrades of the Royal Air Force, as so many splendid fellows have already done.

First, it will comfort you to know that my role in this war has been of the greatest importance. Our patrols far out over the North Sea have helped to keep the trade routes clear for our convoys and supply ships, and on one occasion our information was instrumental in saving the lives of the men in a crippled lighthouse relief ship. Though it will be difficult for you, you will disappoint me if you do not at least try to accept the facts dispassionately, for I shall have done my duty to the utmost of my ability. No man can do more, and no one calling himself a man could do less.

I have always admired your amazing courage in the face of continual setbacks; in the way you have given me as good an education and background as anyone in the country: and always kept up appearances without ever losing faith in the future. My death would not mean that your struggle has been in vain. Far from it. It means that your sacrifice is as great as mine. Those who serve England must expect nothing from her; we debase ourselves if we regard our country as merely a place in which to eat and sleep.

History resounds with illustrious names who have given all; yet their sacrifice has resulted in the British Empire where there is a measure of peace, justice and freedom for all, and where a higher standard of civilization has evolved, and is still evolving, than anywhere else. But this is not only concerning our own land. Today we are faced with the greatest organized challenge to Christianity and civilization that the world has ever seen, and I count myself lucky and honoured to be the right age and fully trained to throw my full weight into the scale. For this I have to thank you. Yet there is more work for you to do. The home front will still have to stand united for years after the war is won. For all that can be said against it, I still maintain that this war is a very good thing: every individual is having the chance to give and dare all for his principle like the martyrs of old. However long the time may be, one thing can never be altered – I shall have lived and died an Englishman. Nothing else matters one jot nor can anything ever change it.

You must not grieve for me, for if you really believe in religion and all that it entails that would be hypocrisy. I have no fear of death; only a queer elation… I would have it no other way. The universe is so vast and so ageless that the life of one man can only be justified by the measure of his sacrifice. We are sent to this world to acquire a personality and a character to take with us that can never be taken from us. Those who just eat and sleep, prosper and procreate, are no better than animals if all their lives they are at peace.

I firmly believe that evil things are sent into the world to try us; they are sent deliberately by our Creator to test our mettle because He knows what is good for us. The Bible is full of cases where the easy way out has been discarded for moral principles.

I count myself fortunate in that I have seen the whole country and known men of every calling. But with the final test of war I consider my character fully developed. Thus at my early age my earthly mission is already fulfilled and I am prepared to die with just one regret: that could not devote myself to making your declining years more happy by being with you; but you will live in peace and freedom and I shall have directly contributed to that, so here again my life will not have been in vain.

Your loving son,
Vivian