Branch of Service

Air Force

Conflict

World War II (1939-1945)

Date of Enlistment

22/05/1941

Place of Enlistment

Melbourne, Victoria

Gender

Male

Date of Birth

18/07/1914

Place of Birth

East Melbourne, Victoria

Address (at enlistment)

Dominion Circuit, Forrest ACT

Occupation

Public servant

Next of Kin

Eldest son of Australix Alpinae Stirling and Christina Sarah Stirling, of Dominion Circuit, Forrest, Canberra ACT; brother of Flora (Mrs A. K. Cameron), Margaret (Mrs George Kaye, 'Spring Bank', Acton), Ian (served in AIF), Christina.

Burial Place

Woden Cemetery, Canberra ACT: Presbyterian Section, Row C, grave 111.

Service Number

408711

Final Rank

Leading Aircraftman

Final Unit

3 Service Flying Training School Amberley (Qld) RAAF

Died 15 February 1942 aged 27 years, result of aircraft accident, at Amberley Aerodrome, Queensland.

St Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Forrest, Canberra. Screen in Warriors' Chapel.

Stirling was the son of the Chief Examiner of Patents and arrived in Canberra in 1934. He played Australian Rules football for Manuka and was employed as an Assistant Examiner of Patents at the Patents Office after completing his Bachelor of Agricultural Science at Melbourne University. After joining the RAAF in May 1941, Stirling underwent training at Narromine and Amberley.

Stirling died when the Avro Anson airplane he was piloting crashed about half a mile north of the Amberley aerodrome on 15 February 1942. He was on a training flight at about 4pm when, according to an accident report, the engine appeared to fail after take-off and the plane stalled as Stirling attempted to return to the aerodrome. He died on impact. Stirling was buried in Woden Cemetery.

Australia. Department of Veterans' Affairs. World War 2 nominal roll. <http://www.ww2roll.gov.au/>
Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Debt of Honour Register. <http://www.cwgc.org/cwgcinternet/search/>
AWM Roll of Honour and Roll of Honour Circulars http://www.awm.gov.au/database/roh.asp
AWM Collections Record : P07187.001
Presbyterian Church of Australia. Church of St Andrew, Canberra. Form and order for the dedication of the memorial window and memorials in the Warriors' Chapel, Sunday, 14th November, 1948. Canberra, 1948
The Echo [quarterly newsletter of the Presbyterian Canberra Parish of St Andrew]: no. 1, October 1942 (p.4); Jan 1944 supplement
Barbara Petersen. Acts of faith: the story of the Church of St Andrews, Canberra. Gundaroo, Brolga Press, 2001 (p.60)
Ross F. Rowe, 'The Building and Furnishing of the Presbyterian Church of St. Andrew's', 1992
Don Mountain ed. Monumental inscriptions: Australian Capital Territory, including Jervis Bay. Canberra, Heraldry & Genealogy Society of Canberra, 2001 (p.184)
The Canberra Times - 18 January 1942, 16 February 1942, 20 February 1942, 26 April 1946, 15 November 1948
Stand-to: Journal of the Australian Capital Territory Branch, RSSAILA. vol.1, Dec 1950 (p.28)