[Andy Saunders]

Alan - I think that would be a good idea.

Meanwhile, I have had a speedy response from the MOD!

The organisations consulted are:

Battle of Britain Fighter Association
Bomber Command Association
Coastal Command and Maritime Air Association
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Royal British Legion
War Widows Association
Royal Air Force Association.

The body of the terms of reference is a bit wordy, but here it is:

SECOND WORLD WAR ROYAL AIR FORCE CASUALTY PACKS (1939-1945): TRANSFER TO THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES

I am writing to you to seek your views and those of other stakeholders on whether the RAF Casualty Packs from the Second World War should be transferred “open” (available for the public to view) to The National Archives. Army casualty packs for the period have been available at The National Archives since 2007 and Royal Navy packs will be available by autumn this year.

There is no administrative reason for the MOD to retain these records and, under the terms of the Public Records Act 1958, The National Archives has agreed to take those records related to RAF battle losses for permanent preservation. These records amount to approximately 20,500 in total. Those records not related to battle losses – approximately 35,500 - will be kept by the MOD for further review in advance of any disposal decision.

The records were produced following an incident involving the loss of an aircraft or personnel, and include: report of initial loss, correspondence to the next kin, any further information received on the incident and any subsequent correspondence with the next of kin. After the war, the Missing Research Enquiry Service (MRES) was established to locate and identify all RAF missing personnel, and it is estimated that in approximately one third of the 20,500 cases selected for transfer, the records contain further information from MRES, including, where applicable, an exhumation report.

Army and Naval Casualty Records differ from the RAF records in respect of the amount, completeness and detailed nature of the information contained. After the war, copies of the RAF records were transferred to the Canadian and Australian Governments and parts of these are available to the public through the National Archives of those countries. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission also holds some copies of the RAF records.

In deciding when to transfer the records, the MOD and The National Archives must assess their remaining sensitivities. The MOD judges these to be:

· contemporaneous correspondence between the next of kin and the Department where it contains details of an individuals financial and marital circumstances, release of which some survivors and next of kin may see as a breach of confidence; and
· details of circumstances of loss, injury and remains that some people may find distressing

The volume of records make it impractical to undertake file-by-file sensitivity review and extraction of sensitive data prior to transfer to TNA and mitigation of sensitivity risks needs to be achieved by other means. MOD intends to take the following steps to achieve this:

a. making it clear on files transferred to The National Archives that the record may contain material that some readers may find distressing.

b. Removing most material dated after 1948 from the record to ensure any personal data made available reasonably falls into the historical exemption provision under the Data Protection Act.

c. Working with The National Archives to remove from public view any records identified by members of the public (and accepted by MOD and TNA) as being sensitive.

MOD judges that with these mitigations in place only the issue of potential breach of confidence arising from the release of next of kin correspondence remains. MOD would therefore welcome your views on whether it should accept this remaining risk and make these records publicly available in 2013 or, if not, which of the following two dates would be most appropriate to open the records to the public:

· in 2020, when most of the survivors and immediate next of kin will be deceased;
· in 2028, when we can be reasonably certain that survivors and immediate next of kin will be deceased.

I would like to thank you in advance for assisting the MOD in this way and I will be happy to answer any queries you might have. You can reply to this consultation by e-mailing CIO-CorporateMemory@mod.uk or writing to MOD RAF Casualty Packs Public Consultation, PP34 20 Store, First Floor Bldg 2/003, Gloucester Road, HM Naval Base, Portsmouth, PO1 3NH. I would be grateful for your response by [twelve weeks from issue]. If the MOD has not heard from you by this date it will assume you judge no sensitivities remain.