Operation: Armed reconnaissance mission, Rheine and Dümmersee

Date: 29th December 1944 (Friday)

Unit No: 3 (Fighter) Squadron, 2nd Tactical Air Force

Type: Tempest V (Series 2)

Serial: JN803

Code: JF:D

Base: B.60 Grimbergen, The Netherlands

Location: Rheine airfield, Westphalia, Germany

Pilot: Fg Off. Kenneth Gordon Slade-Betts DFC 175509 RAFVR Age 21. Murdered (1)

V1 Diver victories - 19+1 shared.

3 Sqn. pilots in front of the operations hut at Oak Farm, Newchurch. (Credit: Newchurch Village Website)

Back Row: Fg Off. Kenneth Slade-Betts, Flt Lt. Ted Sparrow (B Flt Cdr), Flt Lt. Spike Umbers (A Flt Cdr), Fg Off. Clap Clapperton, Fg Off. Don Butcher; Front Row: Fg Off. Tom McCullogh, WO Frank Reid, Flt Sgt. Johnnie Foster, Rocky the Dog (Bob Barcklay's dog)

Identification of the pilots in the photograph:

Fg Off. Kenneth Slade-Betts DFC

Flt Lt. Edward Michael ‘Ted’ Sparrow DFC, AFC 124661 RAFVR - (18th Feb 1922 - 13th Apr 2016).

On the 29th November 1944 suffered an engine failure and forced landed 3 mls south of Nijmegen. 3 Sqn Tempest V EJ723. Safe.

DFC awarded whilst with 3 Sqn, London Gazette 9th February 1945;
AFC London Gazette on the 25th May 1952;
Retired from the RAF as a Wg Cdr. on the 18th February 1969

Sqn Ldr. Arthur Ernest ‘Spike’ Umbers DFC and Bar 404003.

Fg Off. Raymond Hedley ‘Clap’ Clapperton DFC 151700 RAFVR. V1 Diver victories - 24.

On the 29th September 1944 hit by flak and bailed out 2 mls SE of Kranenburg. 3 Sqn Tempest EJ504. PoW at unknown camp.

DFC awarded to Fg Off. Clapperton whilst with 3 Sqn. London gazette on the 31st October 1944. Citation Reads: "This officer has completed a large number of sorties, including several attacks on shipping. His successes. which include the destruction of 2x flying bombs, are a fine tribute to his skill and determination".

Flt Lt. Donald James Butcher 149597 RAFVR . Aerial victories; shared - 3, damaged - 1. (24th May 1921-30th July 2015).

Mentioned in Dispatches as a Fg Off., London Gazette 1st January 1945.

On the 1st February 1945 suffered an engine failure and forced landed near Winterswijk. 3 Sqn Tempest V NV681. PoW at unknown camp.

Fg Off. Thomas Ashton ‘Tom’ McCulloch 188697 RAFVR

On the 25th March 1945 hit by flak and forced landed near Bocholt. 3 Sqn Tempest V EJ757. PoW at unknown camp.

Promoted to Fg Off. effective 2nd June 1945, London Gazette 6th July 1945;
Promoted to Flt Lt. effective 2nd June 1948, London Gazette 6th July 1948;
Permanent commission to Flt Lt. effective 23rd November 1948, London Gazette 5th April 1949;
Promoted to Sqn Ldr. effective 1st October 1955, London Gazette 27th September 1955;
Retired from the RAF as a Sqn Ldr. effective 30th Aug 1971, London Gazette 6th September 1971.

WO. Francis McGuire 'Frank' Reid AFM 740703.

Flt Sgt. John 'Johnnie' Kenneth Foster 1399786 RAFVR . V1 Diver Victories - 4+2 shared; Aerial victories; damaged - 1.

Promoted to Plt Off. (186755), London Gazette on the 8th December 1944;
Promoted to Fg Off., London Gazette on the 18th May 1945.

Fg Off. Robert Edward 'Bob' Barckley 138650 DFC. V1 Diver Victories - 12+1 shared

DFC awarded to Fg Off. Barckley whilst with 3 Sqn. London Gazette 31st October 1944. Citation reads: "Flying Officer Barckley has completed very many sorties including successful attacks on enemy shipping and rail and road communications. In other sorties he has destroyed 12 flying bombs. He has invariably displayed a high degree of courage and his devotion to duty has been unfailing".

Images and stories for some of the above mentioned pilots are told on the page Pilots who flew from Newchurch posted on the Newchurch village website.

REASON FOR LOSS:

At 11:00 hrs on the 29th December 1944 JN803 took off with three other aircraft from 3 Sqn. on an armed reconnaissance mission over Rheine and the Dümmersee. Whilst flying north of Rheine at 8000 feet a gaggle of 20 plus aircraft were seen up sun about 1500 feet above. The unidentified aircraft jettisoned their long range tanks and broke down towards the four Tempests. They were subsequently identified as Bf109 and Fw190 fighters. The four Tempests broke into the enemy formation after which another group of German fighters came out of the sun. In the ensuing engagement two Tempests evaded the German fighters and returned to base.

Fg Off. Slade-Betts and Flt Lt. Edwards failed to return to base and neither were seen after the second engagement with the German fighters. It was originally believed that both aircraft were shot down north of Rheine by Bf109s of Jagdgeschwader (Fighter Sqn) 27 (JG 27). However, it is probable that it was the Fw190s from JG 54 that claimed the two Tempests. Fg Off. Slade-Betts’ Typhoon crashed at the Rheine airbase.

The second aircraft lost from 3 Sqn. was Tempest Mk V, EJ803, JF:V, flown by Flt Lt. Malcolm Finney ‘Eddie’ Edwards 133358. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery 14.A.13. He was initially buried in the Catholic Cemetery at Spelle, some 9 km north of Rheine.

(1) The fate of Fg Off. Slade-Betts was unknown until a Military Court was held at the Garrison Theater, Osnabrück, Germany from 7th March to the 1st May 1947. In total six German nationals were before the court on ten separate charges.

The ninth of the charges accused two German nationals of committing a war crime in that they, at or near the Rheine airfield in Germany on or about the 31st December 1944, in violation of the laws and usages of war, were concerned in the killing of Fg.Off. Slade-Betts DFC, Royal Air Force, PoW.

The two accused were August Hackethal who was a former Luftwaffe Feldwebel (Sgt) and clerk at the Kommandantur (Airfield headquarters), and Karl Henkelhausen a former Luftwaffe Maj. who was the second in command to Franz Schmitt, a former Luftwaffe Major (Maj.) and the Commanding Officer of the Rheine airfield. They were all stationed at the Rheine airfield located 4 km (2½ mls) NW of the town of Rheine in the province of Westphalia.

The court heard several witness statements that were contradictory and could not be reconciled against the medical evidence. The possibility exists that the Allied airman that the witnesses described was a hitherto unidentified victim or more probably they confused this airman with another already identified victim.

Firstly, testimony from a Franz Teppe, who was a former Unteroffizier (Cpl) in the Luftwaffe 234/4 Company of the Landesschützen (Security and guard force). He was one of several guard commanders with a squad of men from the Company that was stationed at the Rheine airfield and operated out of the airfield’s main guardroom. Teppe claimed that an Allied airman was handed over to the guardroom with his right arm in a splint on New Year’s Eve 1944/45.

The circumstances as to how, and by whom, this airman was removed from the guardroom were not established.

Another witness named Hans Clasen, a former Luftwaffe Kanonier (Gunner/Private), and a guard at the Rheine airfield, testified that on the 1st January 1945 he had relieved a guard in the Muniwald and was then told that an Allied airman was lying there shot dead. He testified that the airman had been shot in the back of the neck and thought that his right forearm had been bandaged.

Lastly, the testimony from a former Luftwaffe Stabsfeldwebel (M/Sgt) named Walter August Roehe recalled that on the 2nd January 1945 he was ordered to collect a body from the Muniwald. The body showed signs of being shot in the head and had no other injuries.

The evidence presented on this particular charge was so contradictory that the Prosecutor in his opening address indicated that it would hardly be possible to solve it.

The pathological evidence showed a discrepancy which was difficult to reconcile, in that the body identified as Fg.Off. Slade-Betts had his right arm fractured in a similar manner to that on the body seen by the witnesses and that it was in fact in a splint. However, the body examined by Maj. Mant, RAMC, showed signs of severe burns which in his opinion were the direct cause of death and there were no signs of gunshot wounds. Also he was not convinced that the burns were typical of those that would have been inflicted in an aircraft on fire.

This discrepancy together with the fact that there was no testimony that explained the lack of a parachute being found with the airman were never addressed by the court. As a result the court considered that the case against the accused was not proven and as a consequence they were found not guilty of the charge.

Burial details:

Above: Grave marker, (Credit: Mitch Buiting)

Fg Off. Kenneth Gordon Slade-Betts DFC. He was initially buried in the Roman Catholic Cemetery Königsesch and later reinterred at the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery 24.B.18. Born in 1923 in London. Son to Slade Lindzey and Alice Rose (née Tinsley) Slade-Betts from Bromley, Kent, England.

DFC awarded as Plt Off. whilst with 3 Sqn. London Gazette on the 19th September 1944. Citation reads: "Pilot Officer Slade-Betts has completed a large number of sorties many of them against enemy shipping, industrial targets and enemy airfields. He has at all times displayed the highest standard of courage and resolution in pressing home his attacks and has inflicted much loss on the enemy. Pilot Officer Slade-Betts has destroyed 20 flying bombs".

Researched by Ralph Snape and Traugott Vitz and dedicated to the relatives of this pilot. Thanks also to Traugott Vitz for his work on the VitzArchive database. Thanks also to the Newchurch Village web site for the use of the aircrew photograph

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 - 2024 Last Modified: 02 May 2023, 07:58