Alastair had lost his mother when he was an infant, and moved to Blairgowrie when he was young.  When he joined up his grandmother bought a house in Perth, so that, when he was home on leave, he would not have a long wait for a train to Blairgowrie.  At the time of his death he had been in the navy for over two years.  He was due to be 18 the same week that his obituary was published in the Blairgowrie Advertiser on 7th June 1941.