John "Jack" Francis Stewardson was born on the 7th of April 1922 at Wameberal, New South Wales. He enlisted on the 13th of May 1940.
Jack volunteered for RAF infiltration in March 1941 from CFS Camden. He was a Fitter II and returned to Australia in January 1943 to be posted to the Darwin area in 457 Squadron RAAF. After a couple of months he applied for transfer to aircrew and became a pilot.
He was discharged from No. 1 Personnel Depot on the 28th of February 1945 and took up plumbing and draining. Later he went to Papua New Guinea where he owned and operated a sawmill. He returned to Sydney later and was a regular at Anzac Day and squadron reunions.
Jack exemplifies the Australian spirit by his attitude and dedication to the war effort. The Empire Training Scheme set up at a cost of over 400 million pounds trained over 30,000 pilots, air and ground crew. These men were eagerly sought by all squadrons initially in Europe, then at home, to protect our North.
