Lance-Corporal
Inkster, John Colin
Unit
31st Canadian Infantry Battalion (Alberta)
Branch
Infantry
Service Component
Canadian Expeditionary Force
Service Number
79221
birth
1893/08/12
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
death
1916/09/15
Somme, France
grave
Ovillers Military Cemetery, France
Gender
Male
John Colin Inkster was born in Edmonton, Alberta, on 12 August 1893. He was the eighth of James and Mary Inkster’s 10 children.
Inkster was a surveyor before he enlisted in the 31st Canadian Infantry Battalion (Alberta) in his hometown on 16 November 1914. After initial training in Canada, he sailed to England on 29 May 1915 aboard SS Northland as part of the 31st Battalion’s 1st Reinforcement Draft. He arrived in Plymouth on 4 June 1915 and joined the battalion in the field on 27 October 1915.On 16 June 1916, Inkster was promoted to the rank of lance corporal. He was killed in action on the Somme, during the Battle of Courcelette, on 15 September 1916.
John Colin Inkster is buried in Ovillers Military Cemetery, in France.
