William Alexander Robertson (known to everyone as Alastair) was born at number 2 Roseacre Street, Portsy in Aberdeenshire, on the 5th of May 1920 - to parents William (Snr.) and Hannah Robertson. 

His father was a draper and clothier - he'd married William's mother Hannah in 1913 in Portsoy (Hannah's maiden name had been Farquharson).  

William married his sweetheart, Anna Findlay, of number 1 Albert Terrace in Cullen, on the 17th of April 1943 in Aberdeen. At the time, William was a physical training instructor at Jordanhill in Glasgow and Anna was a teacher. 

Whilst serving with the Royal Air Force, William was a Flight Sergeant (Air Gunner), his service number being 1365148.

William flew in an Avro Lancaster III No. JA 869, marked WS-H, in 9 (IX) Squadron. 5 Group. His squadron's motto was : “Throughout the night we fly.”

On William's last flight his plane’s take-off station was RAF Bardney in Lincolnshire. He took-off on the 7th of October 1943 at 20:46 hours - objective: “Duty - Bombing - Stuttgart.”  This was a night raid with “63% moon.”

William's plane crashed at 00:15 hours, one-and-three-quarter miles east of Boblingen - a town in Baden-Wuttemburg, Germany, some thirteen miles south-west of Stuttgart, with all seven crewmembers killed. 

His fellow crewmembers were Sergeants Adams, Collins, Founder and Stonehouse - Flight Sergeant Dennis and Pilot Officer Mair.

The Flight Record AIR/27-127-20 records:

“Aircraft missing. No signals received.”

The Flight Record AIR/27-127-19 records:

“Aircraft failed to return ”

Other crews reported:

“10/10ths cloud conditions over target” which resulted in “bombing not being up to the usual concentration... ...Several large explosions were observed in the target area, after leaving the glow of fires reflected in the clouds.” 

Initially William was buried at Boeblingen Civil Cemetery. He was subsequently reinterred at Durnbach Military Cemetery, thirty miles south of Munich.

Press reports say that he was survived by his wife and an infant daughter.

He is remembered in the Book of Remembrance in St. Clement Danes Church, London (the RAF Church) and commemorated on Portsoy War Memorial.

He is also remembered on the family gravestone in Portsoy Cemetery and on the Bomber Command Memorial in Lincoln. 

Also at the IX Squadron R.A.F. Memorial on the Village Green in Bardney, Lincolnshire. This is a stone, propeller and plaque memorial bearing the text:

"In memory of the killed or missing of IX Sqd. 1939 - 1945"

William's uncle (his mother's brother) John Farquharson, died in service in World War I serving with the Canadians, and he too is commemorated on Portsoy War Memorial (https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2757989/j-farquharson)

John Farquharson’s nephew, Alexander Chalmers, also died in service in World War I, serving in the Gordon Highlanders and is commemorated on Portsoy War memorial (https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2947377/alexander-chalmers)