OAKLEY, Albert Edward
| Service Number: | 36132 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Flying Officer |
| Last Unit: | Not yet discovered |
| Born: | Stourport, Worcestershire, England, 15 April 1915 |
| Home Town: | Caulfield North, Glen Eira, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Caulfield Grammar School, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Shipping Clerk |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Munsterbilzen, Belgium, Germany, 12 May 1940, aged 25 years |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, International Bomber Command Centre Memorial |
World War 2 Service
| 1 Jan 1937: | Embarked Royal Air Force , Pilot Officer, Bert Oakley graduated from Point Cook with pilot wings 15 Dec 1937 he sailed from Australia 4/1/38 to England as he'd been chosen to join Royal Air Force [four year short term commission] as a pilot in the 15(XV) Squadron | |
|---|---|---|
| 3 Sep 1939: | Involvement Flying Officer, 36132 |
Help us honour Albert Edward Oakley's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Deb Robinson
Albert Edward OAKLEY completed his pilot training at No. 1 Flight Training School, Point Cook early 1937.
Graduating on 16 December 1937 with 37 other cadets, Bert was presented with his wings by Lord Gowrie. Group Captain Hippolyte De La Rue signed Bert's training paperwork on 13 December 1937.
Bert was one of seven cadets selected for short service commissions in the RAF. They sailed from Australia to England on 4 Jan 1938.
Bert was attached to No. 15 (XV) Squadron (motto Aim Sure) RAF service number 36132.
On a day mission 12 May 1940, aircraft Blenheim P6911 took off from Alconbury to attack Maastricht. The aircraft was shot down during an attack on the bridge over the Maase (Mause) River and Albert Canal.
Bert is buried in the Munsterbilzen Communal Cemetery, Belguim grave 3.
'HELD IN PROUD AND LOVING MEMORY BY HIS PARENTS AND TWO R.A.A.F. BROTHERS'
His RAAF brothers being
Flying Officer Philip Leslie Oakley
Flying Officer Reginald Charles Oakley
Bert's father also served in WW1
Albert Edward Oakley's (NAA) dossier holds numerous communications detailing the efforts of the town folk of Munsterbilzen who sought to locate Bert's Australian relatives, to advise them of the service being planned to mark the 50th anniversary of his death. They planned to commemorate the day Bert Oakley & his crew crashed in flames into a paddock near Munsterblizen. In addition the crew of a second ill fated aircraft - another Blenheim piloted by Sgt Hall, one of Bert's colleagues - which came down on the same day near the village of Gellick were to be commemorated. The NAA dossier holds the postive outcome of the search for Bert's family.
Lest We Forget
Biography contributed by David Barlow
Son of Albert and Maria Agathe Oakley of Sydney, NSW
Flying Officer (Pilot) Oakley 36132 RAF was killed in the loss of RAF 15SQN Blenheim P6911 over Munsterbilzen, Belgium - also killed were Leading Aircraftman D V Woods & Sergeant D J Avent