William Alexander Oastler                       Updated: 06 MAR 2022

Airman: a019009.htm Surname: Oastler Init: W A Rank: F/Sgt Service: RAF Sqdn: 106

P_link: p045.htm Plane: HAM AE301 Operation: Minelaying Crash_site: Limfjorden near Hals

Crash_d: d270841 Buried_d: b300841 C_link: c019.htm At_Next: Frederikshavn, gr. 7

HAM AE301 på en mineudlægningsopgave blev 03:30 den 27 august 1941 ramt af flak og styrtede
ned her på ca. 2,5 m vanddybde sydvest for batteriet "Flakzug Hals" i den lille skov på Nordmannshage. Næsepartiet var totalt knust, men det lykkedes tyskerne at bjærge F/Sgt N.T. Powell med svære kvæstelser. Han kom på feltlazarettet i Aalborg, og senere blev han overført til
Tyske krigsfangelejre.

I de næste dage bjærgede tyskerne ligene af F/O M.J.C. Harwood og F/Sgt W.A. Oastler, der blev
begravet i Frederikshavn den 30. august, mens F/Sgt N. Lusher blev begravet samme sted den 8. september efter at være fundet ved Hals Barre, omkring her. (Kilde: FT 89-69-19 og Kenneth Kristensen, Kystmuseet Bangsbo)

Flight Sergeant (Wireless Operator / Air Gunner) William Alexander Oastler, 25 år, var søn af
Thomas Chalmers Oastler og Janet Gibson Fettes Oastler, Dundee, United Kingdom.
Hæder: Mentioned in Despatches. (Kilde: CWGC) 4 flyvere. 

During a minelaying operation HAM AE301 was hit by flak at 03:30 on 27 August 1941 and crashed here into the Limfjorden at a depth of about 2.5 m southwest of the battery "Flakzug Hals" in the little
wood at Nordmannshage. The nose of the plane was totally crushed, but the Germans managed to
rescue F/Sgt N.T. Powell, who was badly injured. He was taken to the German field hospital in Aalborg. Later he was
taken to German POW-Camps.

In the following days the Germans rescued the bodies of F/O M.J.C. Harwood and F/Sgt W.A. Oastler,
who were buried in Frederikshavn on 30 August, while F/Sgt N. Lusher was buried in the same place
on 8 September after he was found at Hals Barre, about here.
(Source: FT-89-69-19 and Kenneth Kristensen, Kystmuseet Bangsbo)

Flight Sergeant (Wireless Operator / Air Gunner) William Alexander Oastler, 25, was the son of
Thomas Chalmers Oastler, and of Janet Gibson Fettes Oastler, of Dundee, United Kingdom.
He is remembered on The Walls of Names at the International Bomber Command Centre, Phase 1, P 80.
Awards: Mentioned in Despatches. (Source: CWGC) "I know that my redeemer liveth"

Hampden I AE301 ZN-  took off from RAF Coningsby at 22:00 on 26 AUG 1941.
(Source: Aircrew Remembered has this.) See RAF Coningsby at RAF-Lincolnshire-info and RAF Coningsby 2018.
See No. 106 Squadron RAF - Wikipedia. See No. 106 Squadron (RAF) during the Second World War. See Google Map RAF-Coningsby. 4 airmen.