WW2 Pathfinder Force DFM group to Flt/Sgt J.K Spedding, RAFVR, 35 Squadron

A Second World War Pathfinder Force DFM medal group to Flight Engineer Flt/Sgt James Keith Spedding RAFVR, 35 Squadron, who flew 47 operational sorties from 15th March 1944 until being shot down over Germany and taken prisoner on 21st February 1945.
Distinguished Flying Medal [1685597 F/SGT J.K SPEDDING R.A.F], 1939-45 Star, Air Crew Europe Star with France and Germany Clasp, 1939-45 War medal, mounted as worn, and Defence Medal, unmounted.

Accompanying the medals is a yellow metal Caterpillar Club badge, engraved with Spedding’s name on the reverse, featuring enamel eyes and an original certificate. Also included are two Pathfinder badges, a piece of shrapnel from a chest wound sustained under enemy fire, and three ties, including Pathfinder Force.

The group is further complemented by an archive of documentation in one album, including:

• A portrait of Spedding and fellow crew members, alongside two other wartime photographs.

• A Buckingham Palace slip and an official letter accompanying the award of the DFM.

• A Pathfinder Force Badge certificate named to Spedding, dated 21st February 1945.

• A registration form for recovered Allied Prisoners of War, recording his internment at Stalag Luft III(A) and Stalag VII-A.

• A poignant letter to Mrs. Spedding reporting her husband missing in action, noting: "Your Husband’s record of service in the Squadron was particularly good and he had proved himself to be absolutely fearless on operations. With his crew, he had taken part in a large number of operations with particularly fine results. It will not be easy to replace him."

• Two Feldpostkarte with daily entries detailing his capture and experiences from 21st February to 10th April 1945. These include first-hand accounts such as: "21st - shot down 23.15 hours, damaged ankle. 22nd - Captured at 00.45. Slept on 3 chairs. Bernie on Lorry. Drove through Duisburg. Taken Dusseldorf (Military camp) at 17:00 hours. 24th - Arrived Sweat-box at 09:00 hours. Night in Sweatbox. 25th - Sweat-box. Interrogated - Gestapo. Surprised. 3rd March - Shot up by P51. 4 Killed, 5 Wounded, hurt ankle again." etc

• Post-war paperwork and photographs of reunions, related newspaper clippings.

Footnote:

Flt Sgt James Keith Spedding 1685592 DFM

Flight Engineer

Enlisted 18 March 1942

To C Flight 35 Squadron Graveley in February 1944 as part of Plt Off (later Fg Off then Flt Lt) J J Osmond’s crew, later moved to B Flight. Spedding was on the strength of 466 Squadron before being posted to 35 Squadron.

Operations carried out with 35 Squadron:

1^st 15/16 March 1944 Stuttgart, supporter

2^nd 18/19 March 1944 Frankfurt, supporter

3^rd 24/25 March 1944 Berlin, supporter. Aircraft damaged by heavy flak, bombs jettisoned from 15,000 ft in Kiel area.

4^th 26/27 March 1944 Essen, supporter

5^th 11/12 April 1944 Aachen, supporter

6^th 27/28 April 1944 Friedrichshafen, supporter

7^th ¾ May 1944 Montdidier, main force

8^th 21/22 May 1944 Duisburg, supporter

9^th 28/29 May 1944 Mardick, bomber

10^th 7/8 June 1944, Foret de Cerisy

11^th 9/10 June 1944 Rennes, illuminator

12^th 11/12 June 1944 Paris, illuminator

13^th 12/13 June 1944 Arras, illuminator

14^th 22/23 June 1944 Laon, illuminator

15^th 23/24 June 1944 Coubrounne, bomber

16^th 27/28 June 1944 Oisemont/Neuville, bomber

17^th 2 July 1944 Oisemont/Neuville, bomber

18^th 4/5 July 1944 Viileneuve-St. Georges, illuminator

19^th 23/24 July 1944 Kiel, blind marker illuminator

20^th 24/25 July 1944 Stuttgart, secondary blind marker

21^st 28/29 July 1944 Stuttgart, secondary blind marker

22^nd 31 July/1 August 1944 Foret de Nieppe, illuminator. Crew consisted of:

Fg Off John James Osmond (Pilot), Fg Off William George Douglas (2nd Pilot), Sgt James Keith Spedding (Flight Engineer), Plt Off Reginald William Elton Bennett (Navigator), Fg Off Robert Mackay Hilliard (Air Bomber), Flt Sgt Matthew Cochrane (Wireless Operator), Flt Sgt Geoffrey Arnold Perry (Air Gunner), Plt Off Jack Cecil Black (Air Gunner)

The squadron’s Operations Record Book records Osmond’s debrief report mentioning “Numerous heavy flak holes”

23^rd 4 August 1944 Trossy, bomber

24^th 7/8 August 1944 Totalize, bomber

25^th 9/10 August 1944 Foret de Nieppe, illuminator

26^th 12/13 August 1944 Russelheim, blind marker illuminator

27^th 14 August 1944 Falaise, backer up

28^th 16/17 August 1944 Stettin, blind marker illuminator

29^th 25/26 August 1944 Brest, illuminator

30^th 26/27 August 1944 Kiel, blind marker

31^st 29/30 August 1944 Stettin, blind marker

Spedding did not fly on any ops for the next two months, although Osmond’s crew continued with another Flight Engineer.

32^nd 28 October 1944 Cologne, backer up. Flying with Wg Cdr C W Bromley’s crew.

33^rd 2/3 November Dusseldorf, backer up. Flying with Wg Cdr D A Cracknell/s crew.

34^th 20/21 November Koblenz, blind marker

35^th 27/28 November 1944 Freiburg, blind illuminator. Flying with Wg Cdr C W Bromley’s crew.

36^th 29 November 1944 Dortmund, supporter. Flying with Flt Lt K E Johnson’s crew.

37^th 22/23 December 1944 Koblenz, supporter

38^th 24/25 December 1944 Nippes marshalling yards (Cologne), supporter

39^th 28/29 December 1944 Bonn, supporter

40^th 2/3 January 1945 Ludwigshafen, visual centrer

41^st 14/15 January 1945 Merseburg/Leuna, blind illuminator

42^nd 16/17 January 1945 Zeitz, blind illuminator

43^rd 28/19 January 1945 Stuttgart, supporter

44^th 1/2 February 1945 Mainz, supporter

45^th 7/8 February 1945 Goch, blind illuminator

46^th 14/15 February 1945 Chemnitz, blind marker

47^th On 21 February 1945, 362 Lancasters and 11 Mosquitoes of 1, 6 and 8 Groups were dispatched on an operation to attack Duisburg. Seven Lancasters were lost, with three crashing behind enemy lines.

Spedding was flying in 35 Sqn Lancaster III ME335 TL-O operation on Duisburg as blind marker of the target with the following crew:

Acting Flt Lt John James Osmond RAAF (Pilot), now on his 71^st op.

Flt Sgt James Keith Spedding (Flight Engineer)

Fg Off W Wolk RAAF (Navigator)

Sgt B J B Carr (Air Bomber)

W/O A E Aston (Wireless Operator)

Fg Off Bert William Golden DFC (Air Gunner)

W/O G A Perry DFM RAAF (Air Gunner)

The aircraft took off from Graveley at 20:26 hours, and the Operations Record Book states, “This aircraft is missing, noting heard from it after take-off”. It was almost certainly one of six Lancasters shot down near the target by Hptm Johannes Hager of 6./NJG1 between 23:09 and 23:22. He was flying a Schräge Musik equipped Bf110 and, as a result of that night, was awarded the Ritterkreuz (Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross) having reached 39 confirmed victories (plus six unconfirmed).

Fg Off Golden died and is buried in the Reichswald Forest war cemetery. The rest of the crew were taken prisoner.

James Speddings’ Register Form For Recovered Prisoners Of War states that the first POW camp he was sent to was Stalag Luft III (at Sagan). However, Luft III was evacuated by the Germans on 27 January 1945, almost four weeks before they were shot down. The actual camp he went to must have been Stalag IIIA at Luckenwalde. With the Red Army closing in, the Germans evacuated that camp during April, and James was moved, with several days of forced marching, to Stalag VIIA at Moosburg in Bavaria.

On 28 April, the German commandant handed over the camp's administration to the Senior Allied officer, and most of the German guards left. The next day, the camp was relieved by Combat Team A, US 14th Armoured Division, and by VE-day 8 May, several thousand former POWs a day were being shuttled to airfields at Rheims and Brussels for the journeys home. Carr and Spedding were returned to the UK on 11 May 1945.

Comments on his handwritten Feldpostkarte:

Feb 22 “Bernie” assumed to be Sgt B J B Carr

Feb 26 “Archie” assumed to be W/O A E Aston

Mar 15 “Bill “ assumed to be Fg Off W Wolk

Mar 16 “Geoff” and “Bluey” assumed to be W/O G A Perry and Flt Lt John Osmond

Apr 4 - April 12 moving from Luckenwalde to Moosburg.

Carr and Spedding were returned to the UK on 11 May 1945, and Spedding’s DFM was gazetted on 24 July 1945 (page 3833).

With thanks to Dr. Steve Bond for the research on this lot.