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LT  John W. DEWEY

UNIT: 351st BOMB Sqdn POSITION: NAV 

Lt. John W. Dewey (photo courtesy of Carissa Dewey Butler).

Lt Dewey, Nav on Handorf Crew Crusher cap and newspaper article about mission he was lost on. March 6, 1944 BERLIN Courtesy of  Clarissa Dewey Butler

SERIAL #: O-809376 STATUS: KIA
MACR: 03023 CR: 03023

Comments1: 6 MAR 44 BERLIN

COMMENTS & NOTES

MEMO 1:

CREW

1st Lt Edward Handorf        P    KIA   6/3/44 Berlin
2nd Lt Frederick G.Spence   CP   KIA     " 
2nd Lt John W.Dewey          N     KIA     "
 2nd Lt Norman L.Rasmussen  B    KIA     " 
T/Sgt Henry C.Verdeur       R      KIA     " 
T/Sgt Charles H.Ford       E     KIA     "
S/Sgt Allen D.Horton        BT    KIA     " 
S/Sgt John L.Willsey         RW    POW     "
S/Sgt John J.Gverovich     LW    KIA     " 
S/Sgt Fair C.Lawrence   TG    POW     " (fractured thigh)

35tst Sqdn. Crew,as above,is taken from the MACR. 

Timeline for Lt Handorf Crew/Lt John W. Dewey.

12/6/1943- Wilmington Delaware
12/8/1943- left for England
12/8-9/1943- Newfoundland (letter home on Dec 10,1943 from Newfoundland)
12/15/1943- arrived in England ? Had to give up plane upon arrival and would be transferred to Combat Crew Replacement Depot at Stone or Bovingdon. 
12/20/1943- V-Mail sent to parents
1/15/1944- Letter home says they are "still getting schooling, English are way ahead of us in flight control and navigation"
1/16/1944 ?-assigned to 100th Bomb Group, 351st Bomb Squadron
1/29/1944  "have flown 7 times in the last 6 days- mostly practice mission or non-operational have seen a bit of combat though” ( Lt Dewey and Lt Rasmussen flew at least one mission with a veteran crew before flying missions with full Handorf Crew). 
1/31/1944 payday, mentions missions and Crew is Operational. 
Feb 2nd - Handorf got his 1st LT, our ship was monitoring the flight support channel i'd give our position and the pilot would relay it to the fighters you can bet we had 47's around us like a swarm of bees." 
Feb 6th - up at 4 last 6 days, this war is hell rich (i typed this letter our for matt it was good) 
Feb 9th just got inform 48 hr pass
Feb 10th we rather expected an air raid but had no luck
Feb 17th - got their plane named it Kinda Ruff with a corn cob painted on it
Feb 26th - this is the letter with half of it missing.
Feb 29th - got another 2 day pass
March 4th- mentions nothing  
March 6th- Berlin, shot down, KIA 

Rick is his older brother. Virginia is his half sister

On 8/1/44 Lt.Spence,Lt.Rasmussen and Sgts Horton,Willsey,and Gverovich joined the 100th Also in Jan.1944, Lt.Handorf,Lt.Dewey & Sgts 
Verdeur & Ford were assigned to the 351st. On 6/3/44,this crew was flying as Deputy Group 
lead and assumed the lead position when the leader was shot down. The formation was enroute 
home when a ME 109 came in at 1 o'clock low and sprayed front of A/C with 20mm. Wing tanks 
began to burn and Willsey Says he "pulled the emergency bomb bay door release,snapped on my 
chute,and tapped the pilot on the shoulder. He and the co pilot were getting ready to bail 
out. I stepped through the open bomb bay doors and,while still in the prop wash,the air 
craft blew up blowing the TG clear. I delayed opening my chute until going through the last 
layer of clouds about 10,000 feet. The TG & I landed about 60 yards apart. Lawrence had his 
leg broken and told me to try to escape and leave him alone. About 3 hours later I was 
captured by some German civi1ians with shot guns."

Willsey states that this was his ninth mission.

MEMO 2:

Text of a letter sent by Lt. Dewey to relatives in the U.S. (courtesy Carissa Dewey Butler)

England, February 6th 1944

"Today I was close enough to a FW-190 to spit in the pilot's eye. Never even laid a hand on my gun at the time I was standing there with my oxygen mask in one hand and blowing my nose with the other. At the same watching a B-17 in a spin and finally go poof. Then this guy came right at us head on. He never touched us but my laundry will be a lot heavier this week. Incidentally, I saw a few of the boys get out of the B-17, beyond me how they did it.
This war is hell Rich. Haven't too many missions in but have had a lot more experience than some of the boys who have finished their tour of 25. Don't mention it to the folks but someone had better start sweating me out. I've seen burning ships who couldn't make it on the takeoff because of the tremendous overload. We take off right over them. Then we come back and land behind ships who for various reasons are unable to make a safe landing. Won't get into the gruesome details of flight.
Not looking for glory and I'm too dumb to be scared but I'd like to have you know that we are definitely playing in the big league against an awfully shrewd enemy." Johnnie

KIA / MIA / EVA / INT INFORMATION:

TARGET: Berlin DATE: 1944-03-06  
AIRCRAFT: "Kind-A-Ruff" (42-38011) CAUSE: ME-109 & Explosion  

BURIAL INFORMATION

PLOT: ROW:  
GRAVE: CEMETERY:  

PHOTOS:

Original officer’s cap belonging to Lt. John Dewey (photo courtesy of Carissa Dewey)

Stateside training photo of John W. Dewey (photo courtesy of Carissa Dewey Butler)

Navigator wings that belonged to John W. Dewey (photo courtesy of Carissa Dewey Butler)

John Dewey, Fair Lawrence, and Frederick Spence (photo courtesy of Carissa Dewey Butler). 

Letter courtesy of Carissa Dewey Butler

Letter courtesy of Carissa Dewey Butler

Lt John W. Dewey grave.  Courtesy of Carissa Dewey Butler

My Dad and I have been using this quarantine time to go through all of the letters and documents we have of John Dewey's (his uncle and my great uncle) It has been a truly humbling experience for me. 1944 wasn't that long ago yet his sacrifice wasn't that known to me. So I'm grateful I had this time to get to know him and learn about the courageous men of the 100th BG. I'm thankful for all of those who served. And I'm so happy I have the honor to keep my great uncle and the crew of Kinda Ruff's story alive. Thank you! Clarissa Dewey Butler

MIA letter from Govt to Parents of John Dewey. Courtesy of  Clarissa Dewey Butler

Letter home in Feb 1944 . Courtesy of  Clarissa Dewey Butler

Aviator scarf of John W. Dewey, photo courtesy of Neice Carissa Butler

German KU report Courtesy of  Clarissa Dewey Butler

On Jun 15, 2015, at 7:23 AM,   wrote:

Jardinghausen is a small village and there´s only one plane-crash in world war II. “Luftgaumeldung” of 06.03.1944 says a B-17 crashed in Jardinghausen. The witness knows a four-mot Airplane and several dead men lying around the crashplace.
Matthias Zeisler



Lt Handorf Crew Photo ID . Courtesy of  Clarissa Dewey Butler


 238011 EP-P "KIND’A RUFF” 351st (100th Photo Archives) Matthias Zeisler
 "Kind’a Ruff" was shot down by  Oblt. Hans-Heinrich König of 3./JG 11. According to a letter from Lt John Dewey to his parents, the nose art was to be KIND’A RUFF with a giant CORN COB underneath. Info courtesy of Clarissa Dewey Butler.

 

SERVED IN:

Crew 1

ID: 1282