Roosevelt Franklin



Franklin Roosevelt Superb Letter Re: WWII Bombing in England

President Roosevelt sends his sympathies to a member of the British Ministry whose home was destroyed by incoming German bombs.

Single page typed letter signed, 7" x 8.75" on bi-fold mint green White House, Washington stationary. Dated "November 27, 1944", and signed by President Roosevelt as "Franklin Roosevelt" with a large strong signature. Binder hole upper left corner with light paper clip stain.

Roosevelt writes to Dame Rachel Crowdy of the British Ministry of Information:

"…Mrs. Roosevelt and I were grieved to hear of the tragic results of the flying bomb which destroyed your flat. Material things mean little, but I am glad that I can replace at least one small part of the loss.

Mrs. Roosevelt joins me in sending you our warm regards and best wishes.

Very sincerely yours,

Franklin D. Roosevelt"

The V-1 flying bomb, the German "Vengeance Weapon 1", also known to the Allies as the buzz bomb, or doodlebug was an early cruise missile. The V-1 was the first of the so-called "Vengeance weapons" series deployed for the terror bombing of London. It was developed in 1939 by the Germans at the beginning of the Second World War, and during initial development was known by the codename "Cherry Stone". Because of limited range, thousands of V-1 missiles launched into England were fired from launch facilities along the French and Dutch coasts. The Wehrmacht first launched the V-1 to target London on 13 June 1944, one week after (and prompted by) the successful Allied landings in Europe. At peak, more than one hundred V-1s a day were fired at south-east England, 9,521 in total, decreasing in number as sites were overrun until October 1944, when the last V-1 site in range of Britain was overrun by Allied forces. After this, the Germans directed V-1s at the port of Antwerp and at other targets in Belgium, launching 2,448 V-1s. The attacks stopped only a month before the war in Europe ended, when the last launch site in the Low Countries was overrun on 29 March 1945.

As part of Operation Crossbow the British operated an arrangement of air defenses, including anti-aircraft guns and fighter aircraft, to intercept the bombs before they reached their targets, while the launch sites and underground V-1 storage depots became targets for Allied strategic bombing.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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