[Mark E Horan]

Bruce;

In all of my research material, which I will note gets much thinner after "Pedestal", I have no record of:

1. 890 Squadron embarking on HMS Battler prior to early December 1942 for passage to the UK from Norfolk, Va. (Wnote, she made her passage in December, not November).

2. 890 Squadron having a fatal crash in late 1942.

3. Any FAA pilot named Basil Bartlett dying prior to 1947, the period officially covered in the WWII casualty records.

4. Although this is of less significance, there is no record of an officer named Basil Bartlett in any part of the the RN/FAA prior to Spring 1941, although it is possible that a junior S-Lt.(A) could have joined a front-line unit by late 1942 even if they did join later he would have needed to apear in school pretty dang soon.

Mark E. Horan