Tag Archives: Oettle

Albert John Oettle

Thursday, 9 January 1941

Stradishall

Oettle and Keast fly a five-hour operation in Whitley P5029 to Belgium. This ties in with Debruyne’s mention of Emmanuel Hobben, founder of the ‘Williams’ circuit, who is dropped this night with two radio sets, possibly a transmitter and receiver. P/O Baker, on loan from No. 2(AC) Squadron as a Lysander pilot to replace the injured Farley, accompanies this operation to familiarise himself with night navigation over Occupied Europe. He will be sat in the front turret for much of the time. The navigation methods are broadly the same for Whitley and Lysander operations, but the Lysander pilots have to do their own navigation from large-scale maps on their lap.

Oettle and Keast take off at 23.00, but as they return from their successfully-completed operation, at 03.45 their Whitley is diverted from Stradishall after one of 214 Squadron’s Wellingtons drops a bomb on the runway (possibly a ‘hang-up’) after a bombing operation. Oettle and Keast land at Honington at about 04.00.

Sources

Emmanuel Debruyne, ‘La Guerre Secrète des Espions Belges’, p. 165
Stradishall Operations officers’ log book.
S/Ldr F.J. Keast logbook

Thursday, 12 December 1940

RAF Stradishall

A bombing target is issued for Stradishall’s resident Wellington squadron, No. 214 Squadron, but this is changed during the day, and the squadron is warned for an early evening start. A further order is received from Group at 16.32 that no aircraft is to leave the aerodrome until further notice.

At 20.07 F/O Oettle tells the Ops room that a planned operation for 419 Flight has been cancelled.

Wednesday, 11 December 1940

RAF Stradishall

At 17.45, Stradishall reports to 3 Group that one aircraft is possibly going on operations tonight. At 23.40 Stradishall records Whitley T4264 (which Stradishall notes as a/c ‘X’) is airborne.

This is another attempt at the operations abandoned the night before, for it is recorded as ‘Luxembourg, Belgium’ and ‘Completed’. The flight time recorded in Keast’s logbook is 4 hours 25 minutes, which ties in with Stradishall’s reported landing time of 04.01.

No agent has been positively identified for this operation.

Tuesday, 10 December 1940

RAF Stradishall

At 10.12 one of 419 Flight’s Whitleys took off for Henlow, though the reason is not known.

An exchange between Stradishall and 3 Group shows that 419 Flight kept its cards close to the chest, so far as operations planning went: at 2045 No.3 Group phoned Stradishall to ask that information about 419 Flight’s proposed operations should be provided ‘at an earlier hour’. The Ops Officer replied that Stradishall didn’t know themselves until late. The Ops Officer was told to instruct the Officer Commanding 419 Flt that information about proposed operations must be passed on as soon as the Flight knew it.

Bomber Command raids on Germany operated to a very tight schedule. Within an overall bombing strategy the targets were chosen the morning of the operation. Orders were passed down to the stations and their squadrons, and by early afternoon the aircraft were being prepared and the crews briefed. 419 Flight was dependent on orders received from the Air Ministry, often delivered in person at Stradishall. As the Air Ministry was dependent on SIS and/or SOE providing the necessary information, which was rarely forthcoming until the afternoon, 419 Flight could provide only a provisional estimate until mid-afternoon, or even early evening, that they would be operating that night.

Oettle and Keast took off at 23.05 on an operation to ‘Luxembourg, Belgium’. The weather was poor, and they abandoned and returned, landing after four hours.

Wednesday, 20 November 1940

RAF Stradishall

Shortly after midnight (i.e. in the early morning of the 21st) Oettle and Keast take off in T4264 and complete an operation to ‘Brussels, Belgium’. The aircraft returns at 05.59 and Keast’s log reports the flight took 5 hours 40 minutes. According to several sources this operation coincides with the insertion of Emile Hingot, a wireless operator to assist Constant Martiny, dropped in October.