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Name : Derek Blundell Stebbing Son of Bernard Frederic Stebbing and Irene Alice May Stebbing (née Blundell) of Lake, Isle of Wight. Born 12 November 1922 Lake, Isle of Wight. In 1922 the family were at Ashey View, Brownlow Road, Lake. Between 1925 and 1929 they were at 22 Camden Villas, Avenue Road, Sandown. Derek Stebbing married in 1947, Joan Callow (registered in Wallasey, Dec qtr 1947). |
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Service Details : Flight Lieutenant 58249 Derek Blundell Stebbing, 91 Rifle Sqn. Royal Air Force Regiment |
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Casualty Details : Died in Malaya 6 June 1952 aged 29. Buried at : Sun Gei Besi Cemetery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. |
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Commemorated on these Memorials :
Derek Stebbing is not commemorated on any Isle of Wight Memorials. It is hoped that his name can be added to Sandown War Memorial. His name appears on the Armed Forces Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum. His name is recorded in the Book of Remembrance (Book X) at the RAF Church of St Clement Danes, in London. |
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Biography (from Jan Stebbing) :
Derek Stebbing was born in Lake on November 12, 1922 and spent his boyhood in Sandown. The family moved to London when he was about 9 years old. He joined the RAF as a boy recruit in February 1939 and in 1941-42 was deployed in North Africa, later serving in Italy, and also, towards the end of the war, in Iraq. From 1946 to late 1947 he was involved in Recruitment and Training in West Kirby, Wirral, and from there moved as a newly married man to RAF Upavon in Wiltshire to serve with 63 Squadron, which he did from early 1948 to August 1949. He had become a Flying Officer in 1946 (mentioned in the London Gazette). In 1949 he was deployed as a member of RAF Regiment 91 Rifle Squadron to RAF Changi in Singapore. There is an explanation of what the RAF Regiment were doing in Malaya in the article recently published by RAF St Mawgan (entitled 'Gunners Help'). In 1950 he was made a Flight Lieutenant, responsible for leading patrol missions into the jungle from Kuala Lumpur. This he did successfully for 3 years before losing his life on June 6, 1952. Derek Stebbing's daughter Jan was presented with the Elizabeth Cross in 2011. |
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Further Information :
http://www.rafregiment.freeservers.com/2003.htm This web page (created by Harry Fox, a former colleague of Derek Stebbing) includes photos of Derek Stebbing, and of his headstone at Sun Gei Besi Cemetery. |
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Acknowledgments :
Jan Stebbing, daughter of Derek Stebbing. |
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Page status :
Page last updated : 15 November 2011 (added to website) |
Memorials & Monuments
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