Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

Malcolm Stephen Osler, (19 March 1919 – 22 September 1971) was a South African

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...

of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, credited with 12 aerial victories.

Military career

Osler joined the South African Permanent Force in 1938 after attending a TATS pupil pilot training scheme. He joined

1 Squadron SAAF 1 Squadron SAAF was an air force squadron of the South African Air Force and was formed at Air Force Station Swartkop in February 1920, equipped with De Havilland DH.9's part of the Imperial Gift donation to South Africa by Britain. On 31 August 1 ...

in June 1941 and assumed command of the squadron 6 months later. He returned to South Africa and commanded

6 Squadron SAAF 6 Squadron was a South African Air Force unit first formed just before World War II. It was disbanded and re-created a number of times, until finally disbanded in October 1990. The squadron was formed in Cape Town in April 1939 and was equipped ...

before attending a Military College Staff course. He served briefly as an instructor before joining 145 Squadron. On 29 April 1944 he was promoted to

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

and awarded a

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

to his Distinguished Flying Cross. He then took command of

No. 601 Squadron RAF Number 601 (County of London) Squadron is a squadron of the RAF Reserves, based in London. The squadron took part in the Battle of Britain, during which the first Americans to fly in World War II were members of the squadron. Reactivated in 2017 ...

before serving with 1 MORU and 5 SAAF Wing before being demobilised. Osler died suddenly on 22 September 1971.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Osler, Malcolm 1919 births 1971 deaths South African World War II flying aces South African recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) People from Benoni