William George DREW

DREW, William George

Service Number: 24534
Enlisted: 27 January 1941
Last Rank: Sergeant
Last Unit: No. 3 Operational Training Unit Rathmines
Born: Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 22 November 1915
Home Town: Brisbane, Brisbane, Queensland
Schooling: Not yet discovered
Occupation: Not yet discovered
Died: Accidental, South West Pacific, Pacific Ocean, 4 February 1944, aged 28 years
Cemetery: No known grave - "Known Unto God"
Port Moresby Memorial, Port Moresby, Papua, Papua New Guinea Panel 9
Memorials: Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Byron Bay Memorial Gates, Port Moresby (Bomana) Memorial
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World War 2 Service

27 Jan 1941: Involvement Royal Australian Air Force, Sergeant, 24534, No. 3 Operational Training Unit Rathmines
27 Jan 1941: Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, 24534
27 Jan 1941: Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Sergeant, 24534

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Biography contributed by Chris Buckley

William was the eldest of three children of William Charles Drew (born 1891 in Mount Morgan, QLD) and Jeslyne Claretta Kiddell (born 1889 in Melbourne, Victoria). William (an Engineer) and Jeslyne (a Tailoress) married in Brisbane, QLD. 

William married May Frances Porter (born 1914 in Pittswworth on the Darling Downs in QLD) in 1938 in Brisbane. May was a Guest House Proprietor in New Farm, Brisbane. William and May were living in Byron Bay, NSW in 1939 when William enlisted in the RAAF. A Sergeant (Service No: 24534) with 3 Embarcation Depot Sandgate,  he was reported missing in the sea near New Caledonia in February 1944. He was on board a Catalina (IB279) on a ferry flight between Honolulu and Rathmines. Two of William's brothers-in-law served in WWII - Lex as a Flight Lieutenant (Service No: 23516) with the RAAF, and Norman as a Sapper (Service Nos: QX19248/Q14642) in the Army.

May lived in Brisbane until her death in 2003.

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