John Duncan was born on October 9, 1915, the son of William Duncan and Sarah (nee Holmes) Duncan, of Toronto, Ontario. Before the war, John was employed as a traveller for the Imperial Tobacco Company. He married Olive Elizabeth (nee Braiden) Duncan, and the couple would have a daughter together. The young family resided at 191 ½ North Mitton Street, Sarnia. About one year before his death, while John was overseas, his wife Olive left Sarnia, to live with her parents at 94 Sorauren Avenue, in Toronto.
John enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force, becoming a member of RCAF #22 Operational Training Unit, attaining the rank of Warrant Officer Class I-Pilot. On May 8, 1945, the war in Europe ended, however war with Japan would not end until mid-August of 1945. On May 28, 1945, John Duncan was a member of a crew aboard Wellington aircraft HE871 that failed to return from a cross-country exercise over St. George’s Channel. The plane and its whole crew were never found. Perishing with Warrant Officer I-Pilot John Duncan were Sgt. J.R. Morin, F/O A.H. Handley, FS.s F.T. Gidilevich and W.E. Algar. John Duncan would later be officially listed as, Previously reported missing after air operations, now for official purposes, presumed dead. Death was the result of an accident, during a cross country training flight, overseas. John left behind his wife and daughter. Twenty-nine year old John Duncan has no known grave. John Duncan’s name is inscribed on the Runnymede War Memorial, Surrey, United Kingdom, Panel 281.
SOURCES: A, B, C, D, E, F, L, M, N, 2C, 2D