1Lt John H. Frost, II

Lt. John "Jack" Frost II, Flying Fortress pilot killed in action in Nov. 1942.

As stated in this newspaper article, Jack was the son of Joe Frost, Jr., then president of Frost Bank, and the nephew of John Frost, recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross in World War I.

Joe was the uncle of Tom C. Frost, current Chairman Emeritus of Frost Bank, and Jack's cousin.

A special thank you to Tom C. Frost and his family for sharing this and other materials with us, they are a treasured part of San Antonio's aviation history.

1Lt John H. Frost

Having actually gone "Missing" on the above date, he was not officially declared by the military as being dead until December 15, 1945.

John served as a First Lieutenant & Pilot on B-17E #41-2536, 65th Bomber Squadron, 43rd Bomber Group, Heavy, U.S. Army Air Force during World War II.

He resided in Bexar County, Texas prior to the war.

B-17E #41-2536 took off, with a crew of 10 & 5 other B-17's, from Torrens Creek Airfield, Queensland, Australia on a search for Japanese shipping off the southern coast of New Britain Island.

After locating 2 Japanese Destroyers they attacked. They were hit by anti-aircraft fire which set B-17E #41-2536 on fire. Multiple parachutes were seen leaving the B-17 however the entire crew was lost.

John was declared "Missing In Action" on this mission during the war.

He was awarded the "Silver Star", "Distinguished Flying Cross", Air Medal, and the Purple Heart.

Service # O-401157

Airmen who perished on B-17E #41-2536:

Colburn, Frank M ~ 1st Lt, Bombardier, TX Fairfax, Allan G ~ PO, Navigator, RAAF Feind, Roger H ~ Pvt, WI Frost, John, II ~ 1st Lt, Pilot, TX Griffin, Carl A ~ Pvt, OR Guenther, Robert A ~ 1st Lt, Co-Pilot, MO Osborn, Arnold G ~ Pfc, MO Paulson, Paul H ~ Pvt, MN Shaughnessy, Gerald P ~ Corp, MA Thomas, David J ~ Pvt, OK

( Bio & Crew Report by: Russ Pickett )

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• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Jun 1 2020, 15:17:27 UTC
• Reference: Ancestry Genealogy - SmartCopy: Mar 18 2024, 17:37:58 UTC schwartz
• Reference: Ancestry Genealogy - SmartCopy: May 30 2020, 19:42:24 UTC Loberg