- Died
- 17 May 1943
- Fate
- Killed in action
Biography
Pilot Officer Warner ‘Bill’ Ottley was born in Battersea, London, on 4 March 1922 and joined the RAF in 1941, training in Canada. One of the last pilots to join No. 617 Squadron, he flew Lancaster AJ-C ‘C for Charlie’ in the mobile reserve on the Dams Raid. Diverted in the early hours of 17 May 1943 towards the Lister Dam, his aircraft was shot down by flak before it could attack; only the rear gunner survived, badly burned, to be taken prisoner. Ottley was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, backdated to the night of the raid, and is buried in the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery.
Burial / commemoration
- Cemetery
- Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Germany
Operations on this date. 2 raids in this archive were flown on the night of 17 May 1943: Operation Chastise · Operation Chastise - The 'dambusters' Raid. (Cross-reference by date — not in itself confirmation this airman flew it.)
Timeline
-
16 May 1943
Flew Operation Chastise
Pilot, ED910 AJ-C — Crashed outbound - 17 May 1943 Died
Crew & operations
Flew as Pilot with No. 617 Squadron (Dambusters).
- Operation Chastise (16 May 1943) — aircraft ED910 AJ-C (Avro Lancaster) — Crashed outbound
Crew: Thomas Barr Johnston (Bomb aimer) · Ronald Marsden (Flight engineer) · Harry John Strange (Front gunner) · Jack Kenneth Barrett (Navigator) · F Tees (Rear gunner) · Jack Guterman (Wireless operator)