James Victor Gardiner was born in Luncarty, Redgorton Parish, on 11th November 1918 the only son of James Gardiner, a Fireman, and his wife Christina Miller. James and Christina were married in Redgorton on 27th November 1914. James was educated at Perth Academy and was studying in London when World War Two broke out.

He served for a year with the South Wales Borderers before transferring to the RAF and obtained his pilots certificate in December of 1941.

James was training on 9 March 1942 with RAF 15 OTU (Operational Training Unit) RAF Hampstead Norris, south of Oxford when he was killed in an aircraft accident. Vickers Wellington Mk IA DV576 was on a night training flight which failed to gain sufficient height on take-off with 15% degrees of flap. It hit trees, after failing to avoid a slight hill one mile from the end of the runway.

The crew killed were: Sergeant Dennis Albert Flemming RAFVR 1212046, Pilot, age 20, buried in London Road, Cemetery, Coventry. Sergeant James Victor Gardiner RAFVR 656465, Pilot, age 23, buried in Kirkhill Cemetery, Luncarty, Perthshire. Sergeant Harold Medley RAFVR 1113468, Wireless Operator, age 28, buried in Burnley Cemetery, Lancashire. Injured: Sergeant P K Briggs, Sergeant J A Saunders, Sergeant C Hirst.

Perthshire Advertiser, 14th March 1942

LUNCARTY PILOT KILLED

"Sergt. Pilot James Victor Gardiner, only son of Mr and Mrs John Gardiner, Crescent, Luncarty, has been reported killed on service, Sergt. Pilot Gardiner, who was 23 years of age, is an ex-pupil of Perth Academy and was studying in London when war broke out. He served for over a year in the South Wales Borderers before transferring to the R.A.F., in which he got his pilot’s certificate about four months ago."

Victor Gardiner is also commemorated on the Luncarty War Memorial and the Redgorton Parish War Memorial.

In 2022 military historian Mark Duffy of Blairgowrie contacted the "Perth Academy Remembers" project team about a report he had found concerning the death of James (Victor) Gardiner. The report mentioned that Victor had been educated at Perth Academy, but the school had no knowledge of this as his name was missing from the school war memorial.

A brass plaque has now been added beside the memorial to add the names of Victor and two other former pupils to the school's Second World War Roll of Honour.