William Richard Driver was the son of James Skelton Driver Junior (1891-1940) and Xylda Irwin Driver née Lowe (1898-1994). There is some confusion as to his date and place of birth. The American Air Museum in Britain website states he was born in Tunica, Mississippi, USA, whereas most ancestry.co.uk records give Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee, USA, as the location. Similarly the Find a Grave website gives his date of birth as 2 April 1919 (which we have used) but other records show it to have been 31 December 1918.
The 1920 United States Federal Census show him aged 1 year living in Tunica, Mississippi, but the census returns in 1930 and 1940 state that he was residing in Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee.
He joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, service number 64869, and was a Pilot Office attached to No.71 Eagle Squadron when, according to the Royal Air Force Commands website, he was killed, aged 22 years, on 5 August 1941, flying a Hawker Hurricane MkII aeroplane, serial number Z3266. Based at RAF North Weald, his aircraft apparently dived into the ground about one mile north of Middle Waltham, Essex. His body was buried in Plot 20, Row B, Grave 18, next to that of Pilot Officer Kenneth Samson Taylor, at the Brookwood Military Cemetery, Dawney Hill, Woking, GU24 0JD.
He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and is also commemorated on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s website.
Credit for this entry to: Andrew Behan.
