Sydney Lionel Stern, the son of the Jacob and Sarah Stern was 18 years old when he volunteered for Foreign Service on the outbreak of war and joined the Lanarkshire Yeomanry on 26 August 1914. The following year he applied for a commission and on 1 July 1915 was gazetted as a 2nd Lieutenant in The Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment). Two years later Sydney transferred into the Royal Flying Corps on 5 June, 1917 as an electrical engineer with the rank of Airman 3rd Class. He was granted a temporary commission as a 2nd Lieutenant on 29 September and was posted to 35 Training Squadron in January 1918 at Port Meadow Airfield Oxford in order to complete his pilot training.

On 21 February 1918 Sidney was flying as a passenger in a Be2c, no A8637, piloted by 2nd Lieutenant A. B. Anstey which crashed in to the ground and burst into flames killing both men. The Court of Inquiry was of the opinion that the accident was caused by an error of judgement on the part of the pilot as the right wing of the aeroplane had collapsed on being pulled out of a steep dive.

Lieutenant Sidney Lionel Stern was buried at Glasgow’s Garnethill Jewish cemetery with military honours; his remains were carried on a gun carriage covered with a Union Jack.


Research by Dr Ronnie Fraser