Known to his air force colleagues as 'Chunky' because of his solid frame and diminutive size, Sft 2in Ken Stewart was born in Dunedin, New Zealand, on October 7,1915. On leaving school he studied law and became a solicitor. In May 1941, aged 25, Ken enlisted in the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) and underwent basic flying training on North American Harvards and Airspeed Oxfords under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan at 1 Service Flying Training School (SFTS) at Wigram, near Christchurch. He had a lucky escape on September 21, when his Airspeed Oxford hit the slipstream of the aircraft landing ahead of him and side-slipped into the ground. Ken escaped serious injury and shortly after sailed for England. In January 1942, he joined 6 SFTS at Little Rissington, Gloucestershire, where over the following six months he completed his advanced training on Avro Ansons. An instructor's course followed, after which he was posted to 29 Elementary FTS at Clyffe Pypard in Wiltshire. After a year instructing on Tiger Moths, Ken was ordered to further instructional posts on Oxfords at 3 (Pilots) Advanced Flying Unit (AFU) at nearby South Cerney and, from November 1943, with 11 (P) AFU at Shawbury, Shropshire. Finally, in May 1944, and by then very experienced on twin-engined types, he arrived at 54 Operational Training Unit (OTU) at Charterhall, Berwickshire in the Scottish borders to train as a night-fighter pilot, mainly flying the Beaufighter Mk.Ⅵ and Mosquito.
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