This plaque (I don't know its location) lists all the Birmingham firemen who lost their lives between 1939 and 1945. I assume that this means that they are the men who died whilst on duty.
Bertram Stringer is not listed. In view of the press cutting it looks as though he may have died at home (but in that case, how is it that his wife and children were apparently spared?). In which case he was presumably off-duty.
The fact of his being off-duty - if he was - doesn't of course preclude the possibility that he DID serve as a fireman, or even as a factory fireman for his employer - but he may not have died as a direct result of that service.
Chris
(Grateful acknowledgment to Matt Felkin for this image)
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