Alexander Stuart Sturrock MBE (1915 - 1997)

Born 14 May 1915 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Ancestors

Husband of Nancy Felice (Johnson) Sturrock — married 2 Nov 1945 in Brighton, Victoria, Australia

Died 11 Jul 1997 at age 82 in Noosa Heads, Queensland, Australia

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Biography

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Winning his first sailing championship at age 12, Jock Sturrock won over 400 championship races and represented Australia in four Olympic games making him one of the most successful Australian yachtsmen ever.

Australian Sailing Hall of Fame, 2018

Sporting Legacy

Jock Sturrock was born into a sailing family in Melbourne and won the first of over four hundred national and state yachting championships when he was twelve years old. A highly versatile yachtsman, Sturrock competed in a wide variety of classes; he sailed for Australia at four successive Olympic Games and competed in eleven Sydney to Hobart Yacht Races.^[1]

Olympic Games

Sturrock represented Australia in four Olympic Games, 1948 London, 1952 Helsinki, 1956 Melbourne - where he won bronze, and 1960 Rome where he carried the Australian flag at the opening ceremony.

He was the first Australian sailor to represent Australia at the Olympic Games when he and Len Felton finished seventh in the Star Class in 1948. He took part in the next three Olympics, achieving third in the 5.5m class at the 1956 Melbourne Games with Doug Buxton and Dev Mytton on Buraddoo.

America's Cup

Sturrock, who won his first sailing championship at the age of 12, achieved fame when he skippered Gretel in the 1962 America's Cup. Although defeated four to one by Weatherly, Gretel's victory in the second race was the first by a challenger since 1934. He also skippered the next America's Cup Challenge, Dame Pattie in 1967.

Australian Championship Races

Sturrock was a very versatile yachtsman who won well over four hundred championship races. He won his first Australian championship in Perth, 1932, in the 12-foot Cadet dinghy Monsoon. At 18 he helped start the international Star Class in Australia. The first three Star Class yachts were built in the Sturrock family timber yard in Melbourne and Sturrock won the first eight national championships from 1935 until 1947. He was the Australian Dragon Class champion in 1953/54, 1954/55, and 1955/56, the Australian 5.5m champion in 1956 and 1959, and 6m champion in 1946, 1947, and 1949.

Australian of the Year

He also won the Melbourne to Sydney 600 mile handicap in 1962 on Julie. Sturrock won the Lindy Trophy for sport in 1962 and that same year was named the Australian of the Year and Australian Yachtsman of the Year.

Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE)

Sturrock was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1975 for his services to yachting.

Sport Australia Hall of Fame/Legend of Australian Sport

Jock Sturrock was Inducted into The Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1985 as an Athlete Member for his contribution to the sport of sailing and was Elevated to "Legend of Australian Sport" in 1994.^[2]

Barranjoey Medal

In June 2018 Jock was postumously recognised by The Australian Sailing Team's Alumni Program as the first sailor to represent Australia in an Olympic class boat at an Olympic Games or World Championships and achieve a top 10 performance, by the awarding of the No.1 Barranjoey Medal.^[3]

Australian Sailing Hall of Fame

In October 2018 he was inducted into the Australian Sailing Hall of Fame.^[4]

Birth

Alexander Stuart "Jock" Sturrock was born in Melbourne, Victoria in 1915 to Alexander Sturrock and Dorothy Munt. ^[5]

Military Service

Jock served in the 2/46th Infantry Battalion of the Australian Army from 1940 to 1945, rising in rank from Private to Captain within his first two years. ^{[6] [7]}

In 1942 he was seconded as a Liaison Officer to HQ 3rd Division 2AIF, trained for long-range specialist reconnaissance, intelligence gathering and sabotage behind enemy lines, and was appointed Adjutant to LHQ Tactical School (Jungle Warfare) on Rainy Mountain near Kuranda in Queensland.

During 1943 and 1944 he saw active service in Papua New Guinea on three separate occasions, serving as an Intelligence Officer with both HQ New Guinea Force and HQ 3rd Division 2AIF during the war against the Japanese 51st Division at the Battle of Wau and the Salamaua–Lae campaign. His duty was the gathering of intelligence from outlying spotter posts behind enemy lines, and carrying orders and intelligence back and forth along the Black Cat Track and the Buisaval Track between front-line troops and HQ. It also included a 5 week period in July 1943 when he was promoted in the field to Major and traversed the Bitoi River Track alone to act as Senior Liaison Officer with the United States Army's 41st Division 162nd Regiment at Nassau Bay.

As the direct result of his army service Jock was hospitalised on five occasions: once for a broken ankle during training in Queensland, and in PNG twice for Dengue Fever, once for a concussion received when a US reconnaissance plane he was in crashed in the jungle between Nassau Bay and Wau, and finally for a broken leg received when a suspension bridge over the Bitoi River collapsed during a night-time crossing. This last event lead to him being invalided out of active service and returned to Melbourne, and affected his mobility for the rest of his life.

Marriage

Jock Sturrock married Nancy May (formally Johnson) in Brighton, Victoria in 1945. ^[5]

Death

Jock passed away in 1997 in Noosa Heads, Queensland ^[7]

Tributes

Tributes to Jock include streets named after him: 'Sturrock Place' in the Canberra suburb of Gordon, and 3 'Sturrock Courts' in the Melbourne suburbs of Berwick, Mill Park and Altona Meadows; and the 'Jock Sturrock Bridge' in Noosaville, Queensland. ^[7]

Sources

1. ↑ Australian of the Year Honour Roll, retrieved online 22 January 2019, [1]
2. ↑ Sports Australia Hall of Fame, retrieved online 22 January 2019 search link
3. ↑ Barranjoey Pin Recipient List, retrieved 22 January 2019 [2]
4. ↑ Australian Sailing Hall of Fame Inductee List, Jock Sturrock, retrieved 22 January 2019 [3]
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} The Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths, and Marriages; Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Victoria, Australia, (Birth Record 9874 year 1915,) (Marriage Record 13330 / 1945)
6. ↑ Australia, World War II Military Service Records, 1939-1945, Series description B883: Army, 2nd Al F, service number: VX108128
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2} Wikipedia article - Jock Sturrock, retrieved online 22 January 2019

• Jock Sturrock from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. first accessed online on the 21st of September, 2020 at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jock_Sturrock