John (“Bill”) Drinkwater was born on June 13, 1923, the son of Edward William Drinkwater and Florence May (nee Martin) Drinkwater, of 223 Devine Street, Sarnia. Both of his parents, Edward and Florence were born in England. John had an older sister, Marjorie Lorraine, who was born June 21, 1921. John was born, raised and educated in Sarnia, and graduated from Sarnia Collegiate. During high school, he played on the junior rugby team, where he was the first string flying wing. At the time of his enlistment, John was employed by the King Milling Company as a truck driver. He enlisted with the Royal Canadian Air Force in March 1941. He graduated as an Air Gunner at Paulson, Manitoba in November 1941. John arrived in England on June 13, 1942, a member of the RCAF #44 Rhodesia Squadron “Fulmina Regis lusta” (The King’s thunderbolts are righteous), as Flight Sergeant-Air Gunner.

Three months after arriving overseas, on September 18, 1942, John Drinkwater was part of a crew aboard a Lancaster aircraft, when it crashed, due to enemy action, in the North Sea off Hunstanton, England. The aircraft had been engaged in mine-laying operations at the time. Flight sergeant-Air Gunner John Drinkwater and six members of the crew, not Canadians, were reported missing and believed killed on September 18th. One month later, in mid-October 1942, parents Edward and Florence in Sarnia would receive a notification from R.C.A.F. headquarters informing them that their son, John Drinkwater, had been promoted to Flight Sergeant.

Two weeks later, in November of 1942, Edward and Florence would receive a letter from the Casualty Officer in Ottawa informing them that, the body of their son John Drinkwater, reported missing since September 18th, had now been recovered. The letter also advised them that the body had been claimed by James Drinkwater, an uncle of the deceased flier, and had been conveyed to the hometown of his father, in Evesham, Worcestershire, England, where burial was made alongside his grandfather. John Drinkwater would later be officially listed as, Killed during air operations, overseas. In mid-November 1942, a memorial service for the late Flight-Sergeant John Drinkwater was held in St. John’s Anglican Church, Sarnia. Nineteen year-old John Drinkwater is buried, alongside his grandfather, in the Evesham Cemetery, Worcestershire, England, Grave 2104. On John Drinkwater’s headstone are inscribed the words, Eternal rest.

SOURCES: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, J, L, M, N, R, 2C, 2D