Operation: Rhubarb, Holland

Date: 7th December 1942 (Monday)

Unit: 268 (Fighter) Squadron, Army Cooperation

Type: Mustang I

Serial: AP212

Code: V

Base: RAF Snailwell, Cambridgeshire

Location: South of Bergen, Noord-Holland

Pilot: Plt Off. Richard Anthony ‘Tony’ Bethell 120413 RAFVR Age 20. PoW No. 858 *

* Stalag Luft 3, Sagan-Silesia, Germany, now Żagań in Poland

On the 26th November 1942 whilst on an offensive patrol over Holland he shot down and claimed an Me-109F destroyed west of Zwolle. After combat with the Me-109F he shot down and claimed a Ju-52 destroyed which was crossing the Dutch coast near Oldebroek moving east.

REASON FOR LOSS:

On the 7th December 1942 four (4) Mustangs took-off at 09:15 hrs from their forwarding operating base at RAF Coltishall in Norfolk at to carry out offensive patrol over Holland and NW Germany. After crossing the Dutch coast near Petten the flight encountered concentrated light, medium and heavy Flak.

Three aircraft were hit and Plt Off. Bethell Mustang was shot down. The other three (3) Mustangs carried on to Germany and attacked two (2) barges on the Dortmund-Ems canal.

The aircraft crashed near the Groeneweg to Bergerweg roads about 1 km (¾ ml) south of the outskirts of Bergen, Noord-Holland. Plt Off. Bethell was captured by Wehrmacht soldiers near Alkmaar, which is about 3 km (1¾ mls) to the SE of the approximate crash site that day.

After the statutory visit and interrogation at Dulag Luft, Oberursel he was transferred to Stalag Luft 3 at Sagan-Silesia arriving there on the 20th December. He was promoted to Flt Lt. with effect the 7th February 1944 which was promulgated in the London gazette on the 25th February 1944.

Flt Lt. Bethell was involved in the digging of the tunnels and disposal of the spoil which earned for himself an early position in the line of two-hundred (200) hoping to escape from the north compound of Stalag Luft 3.

On the night of the 24th/25th March 1944, seventy-six (76) officers escaped from the north compound of Stalag Luft 3 which, at that time, held between 1000 and 1500 RAF PoWs. The escape was made by the means of a tunnel. At about 05:00 hrs on the 25th March the 77th PoW was spotted by guards as he emerged from the tunnel.

Flt Lt. Bethell was the forty-sixth (46) man in the tunnel and helped to pull twenty (20) other officers through and then followed the sixty-fifth (65th) out of the tunnel. After leaving the exit of the tunnel he assembled his party of eight (8) and walked west through the woods for about 2 km (1¼ mls) and then split up into small groups. He and Flt Lt. Longwalked north for about another 2 km (1¼ mls) and then hid until the evening of the 25th March. (Ref 1, pp 195-196)

They then walked north along the Frankfurt-on-Oder railway line for about thirty (30) km and arrived at Benau at about 06:00 hrs on the 26th March. They hid in barn on the outskirts of the town until evening and then went to the railway marshalling yard to try and jump onto a goods train, however, no slow trains passed through the yard that night. They then went back to the barn at about 04:00 hrs on the 28th March. (Ref 1, pp 195-196)

At 11:00 hrs that day they left the barn and walked around the town. At 14:00 hrs they were arrested by members of the Volkssturm (German Home Guard) on the northern outskirts of the town. They were taken to the civil prison in Benau where they were held until late in the afternoon when they were taken to the Kriminalpolizei (Kripo or Criminal Police) HQ in Sorau. Here they were searched and then taken to the civil prison at Sagan where they were interrogated. (Ref 1, pp 195-196)

On the evening of the 29th March they were transferred to the civil prison at Görlitz where they were once again interrogated. On the 6th April he was taken back to Stalag Luft 3 where he spent two (2) weeks in the “cooler”, whilst Flt Lt. Long remained at Görlitz. (Ref 1, pp 195-196)

Flt Lt. James Leslie Robert ‘Cookie’ Long was one of the fifty (50) officers who were murdered. What is known from the trial transcript was that he was a lone officer who was killed by persons unknown some time on or about the 12th April 1944 and cremated in Breslau. Noone was formally charged with the murder of Flt Lt. Long. His urn was returned to Stalag Luft 3.

An overview of the German response to the escape and the subsequent British prosecution of those responsible for the murder of fifty (50) of the escapees is summarised in the report entitled “The Fifty - The Great Escape”.

On the night of the 27th January 1945, with Soviet troops only 26 km (16 mls) away, orders were received to evacuate the PoWs to Spremberg which is to the West in Germany. The PoW’s were informed of the evacuation, which was on foot, at about 22:00 hrs the same night and were given 30 mins to pack and prepare everything for the March. The weather conditions were very difficult, with freezing temperatures, and it was snowing accompanied by strong winds. There was 15 cm (6 in) of snow and 2000 PoWs were assigned to clear the road ahead of the main groups.

After a 55 km (34 mls) march, the PoWs arrived in Bad Muskau where they rested for 30 hours. The PoWs were then marched the remaining 26 km (16 mls) to Spremberg where they were housed in empty garages, storerooms and in military barracks. There they were provided with warm soup and bread.

During next days, PoWs were divided up according to Compounds, and they were led to railway sidings and loaded into tightly packed carriages. On the 2nd February he was amongst the group that was sent to the Marlag und Milag Nord PoW at Westertimke.

Marlag is an acronym for Marinelager (naval prisoner of war camp), Milag is short for Marine-Internierten-Lager(naval internment camp), and Nord is German for ‘north’.

On the 2nd April 1945 the Commandant announced that he had received orders to leave the camp with most of his guards, leaving only a small detachment behind to hand over the camp to Allied forces, who were already in Bremen.

However, that afternoon a detachment of over a hundred (100) SS-Feldgendarmerie entered the camp, mustered over 3,000 men and marched them out, heading east. Flt Lt. Bethell was not amongst those prisoners that hid in the surrounding countryside or in the barracks to escape the muster nor was he listed amongst those that escaped from the camp. Therefore it is assumed that he was amongst those that were marched off to the east.

Over the next few days the column was attacked from the air several times. Finally the Senior British Naval Officer (SBNO), who was later killed in a strafing attack by RAF aircraft, offered the Germans the PoW’s parole, in return for being allowed to rest during the day and march at night. The Germans agreed.

On the 9th April 1945 the guards at Marlag-Milag moved out and were replaced by older men, presumably local Volkssturm. Meanwhile, the column slowly headed east, finally crossing the River Elbe, north of Hamburg, on the 18th April.

On the 27th April the camps were liberated by elements of the British Guards Armoured Division. The next day, the 28th April, the column finally arrived at Lübeck on the Baltic coast. They were liberated by the British 11th Armoured Division on the 1st May 1945. Flt Lt. Bethell was interviewed on the 3rd May 1945.

On the 7th December 1949 he was appointed to a Permanent Commission as a Flt Lt. in the RAF which was promulgated in the London Gazette on the 17th January 1950

Richard Anthony Bethell was born on the 9th April 1922 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. He was a student prior to enlisting in the RAFVR in January 1941. Richard passed away on the 17th February 2004.

Above: Obituary for Richard Anthony ‘Tony’ Bethell (Courtesy of The Gazette, dated 21st February 2004)

Burial details:

None: Survived the war

Researched by Ralph Snape for Aircrew Remembered and dedicated to the pilot and his family (Feb 2025).

Reference:

1. Stalag Luft III - An official history of the “Great Escape’ PoW Camp - Published by Frontline Books - ISBN: 978-1-47388-305-5.

Other sources listed below:

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning we will remember them. - Laurence Binyon
All site material (except as noted elsewhere) is owned or managed by Aircrew Remembered and should not be used without prior permission.
© Aircrew Remembered 2012 - 2025 Last Modified: 06 February 2025, 20:33