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Life before the War
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John E Drilling was born and raised in Illinois.
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He was living the good life before the war. He had a good job with the Illinois Commercial Telephone Company, was a member of the Masons, married the love of his life, and celebrated the birth of his son in the spring of 1942.
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Into the Army
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John Drilling reported for active duty with the Army Air Force on January 31, 1943.
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He started out training to be a pilot in San Antonio, Texas.
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John made it through Primary training in Cuero, Texas, flying a PT-19A, but was eliminated during Basic Flight Training in Waco, Texas.
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He was reassigned to Bombardier school and graduated with the Class of 44-1.
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He was Honorably Discharged as a Cadet on January 14, 1944, and commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army the next day.
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Next he was moved to Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona, for Bombardier training in a B-24 and was assigned to the Foster Crew (R-20).
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He kissed his pregnant wife and son goodbye and flew off to England with the Foster Crew in a brand new B-24 on May 24, 1944.
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Training Record
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| Apr – Jun 43: Pilot Pre-Flight Ground School, San Antonio, Texas. |
| Jun – Aug 43: Primary Flight School, Cuero, Texas. |
| Aug 43: Started Basic Flight School, Waco, Texas. |
| Aug 21 43: Basic Flight School training terminated. |
| Oct 43 – Nov 43 Laredo Gunnery School, Laredo, Texas. |
| Nov 43 – Jan 44: Advance Bombardier School, Midland Texas. |
| Feb 28 44 – Apr 01 44: B24 Training - First Phase, Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona. |
| Apr 01 44 – May 17 44: B24 Training - Second and Third Phase, Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona. |
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Service with the 492nd and 446th Bomb Groups
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Drilling and the rest of the Foster Crew were assigned to the 492nd Bomb Group, 857th Bomb Squadron located near North Pickenham, England in June 1944.
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He was credited for 11 combat missions with the Foster Crew during July and August 1944. They flew most of their missions in the B24-H, S/N 42-94986, named the "Pregnant Angel."
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Drilling was re-assigned to the Simon Crew (R-03) and they were transferred to the 446th BG, 706th BS on August 10, 1944.
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He was credited for 2 more combat missions with the Simon Crew. They didn’t come back from their second mission.
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Prisoner Of War
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John Drilling was shot down near Rostock, Germany on August 25, 1944. Reference MACR 8473.
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He was interrogated at Dulag Luft; then interned at Stalag Luft III for 5 months, and then sent to Stalag 7A for 3 months.
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He was liberated on April 29, 1945.
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After the war
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John Drilling returned to his wife, son, and new baby daughter.
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He went back to work with the telephone company, and sired 3 more awesome kids.
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Drilling never talked about his WWII experience.
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He folded his wings on June 1, 1967.
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