The Airmen's Stories - P/O J L Frost

Jack Lynch Frost was born on 15th March 1908 in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex.

(Please see below for a full account of his early life).

He joined the RAFVR in February 1939 as an Airman u/t WOp/AG. Called up on 1st September 1939, he completed his gunnery training and was serving with 600 Squadron at Northolt by June 1940.

Above: Frost as Sgt. AG.

Above: 600 Squadron Air Gunners.

At left, with hand on shoulder: Sgt. HS Imray, In front of dartboard: Sgt. FWW Green, In foreground, laughing: Sgt. JL Frost.

Others currently unknown.

Commissioned on 19th August 1940, Frost made the transition to Beaufighters from Blenheims when 600 Squadron started receiving them in September 1940.

Above: P/O JL Frost.

The Merlin-equipped Mk2s were unpopular. Frost recalls W/Cdr. G Stainforth AFC, the squadron CO, assembling the aircrew and taking up a Beaufighter for a dazzling display of aerobatics and after landing saying "See, there's nothing wrong with it".

He had been a member of the Schneider Trophy Team that had won the cup outright in 1931.

However his successor, W/Cdr. HM Pearson, recorded:

The Beaufighter Mk.2 was “...an unnatural and dangerous aeroplane... intended to counter a high-altitude threat which never materialised... The change of engines altered the centre of gravity and and made the aircraft unstable at low speeds. No matter how the aircraft is trimmed, it will never fly straight and level hands off.” He concluded, “The Beaufighter is a great aeroplane; the Merlin is a great engine. Together they are a great disaster.”

By the end of 1941, the squadron reported they were “...fortunate to receive Beaufighters with trusted radial engines.”

Above: the original 600 Squadron badge.

On 23rd January 1942 Frost was dismissed from the RAF by sentence of a General Court Martial, supposedly after a disagreement in the Officer's Mess.

However his family recorded that he continued to serve in some capacity, citing flying in Hurricane, Wellington and Halifax aircraft and serving at Catterick, Ouston, Manston and Topcliffe.

The only specific reference is to 298 Squadron. However as this was a Special Duties Halifax squadron, the records rarely name personnel.

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In February 1959, Frost married Dora LM Mueller (1921-2010), a German national. She had been conscripted into the German Red Cross and towards the end of the war was stationed in Hungary. As the Russian forces approached she was able to obtain false papers and reach the American lines.

Now a displaced person (DP), it took her more than a year to return to her home town, Celle, in Germany to find that two of her brothers had died on the Russian front.

Her sister Louise's first husband, Hans Platz, was a Luftwafe pilot, later killed in action. She remarried, to Walter Korte, who served in North Africa in one of Rommel's Panzer divisions. He was captured by the British and spent the remaining war years as a PoW. He said the British treated him well.

Frost died on 20th December 2005 in Lincolnshire and lies in St. John’s church in Washingborough there.

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Jack Lynch Frost is survived by his daughter Evelyn (Edwards, a qualified pilot), now resident in San Antonio, Texas, USA.

In April 2025 she and her husband Graeme (retired Aerospace Engineer and also a pilot) and daughter Emma visited the monument for the first time (below).

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Evelyn has kindly composed an account of her father's extraordinary life before enlisting in the RAF:

All images courtesy of the family of P/O JL Frost.

Dad said that his mother was a Salvation Army girl. She used to play the squeeze box with the SA band and became a suffragette. My dad said that as a suffragette she had gone to London with her friends, where they had chained themselves outside 10 Downing Street for women to get the vote. She was unmarried and in her late 20s when she became enamoured with the engineer of the Southend pier steam train, Jack Lynch.

Jack was a Scotsman from Glasgow. He operated the pier steam train that took passengers a mile out to sea and back. His father was an occasional presence in his early childhood but was absent from about the age of 5. We have a photo showing him with his father at aged 3 or 4, but most certainly not older than 5. That was probably the last time he saw him.

Dad’s grandmother was Harriett Frost (nee Webb). Her family came from a long line of Webbs from the Isle of Grain. She was originally married to John Henry Frost, together they had 13 children. Not all survived infanthood. However, the 1911 census lists her as Housekeeper, with James Buntor as Head of household, together with 4 of Harriett’s children ages 31 to 12 and Dad (Jack) aged 3. Not sure what happened to John, but as my father remembers Harriett was living with James as long as he could remember and while he was not his biological grandfather, for all purposes, they embraced each other.

I asked Dad if he had any memories of the First World War. He said when he was 6 years old (1914) he was living with his mother at his grandparents' house in Southend-on-Sea. He was coming home from church (note: his mother had him going to church 2 or sometimes 3 times a day, he was probably sneaking off early to go home). As he rounded the corner, he saw a head in the gutter and lots of blood washing down it. His grandparents’ house was gone.

German airmen (probably in an F60 Goliath) had gone up the Thames to drop bombs on London. With the dense fog they had lost their way. Their resolve was to throw the bombs over the side where they were and go home, which they did. No one in Dad’s family were killed or injured but neighbouring properties were damaged in the blast. The family received reparations from the British government, and this enabled them to leave Southend and purchase a pub, The Hare & Hounds, in Braintree, Essex (below).

Dad (Jack) lived a happy idyllic life at the pub. He remembered his grandmother whacking him as he flew down the corridor when he had been up to no good, and his grandfather bringing him food after he had misbehaved or missed supper. He said he would often sneak out of his bedroom window, shimmy down the sloped roof and go scrumping in the nearby farmers’ fields for apples. This was obviously a source of worry for his grandmother, who decided that he needed more spiritual guidance. As the local priest would stop in at the Hare & Hounds to enjoy a tipple, Harriett spoke to him and made arrangements for Jack to attend the local Catholic school (even though he wasn’t Catholic). He spent 3 years learning about the Holy Trinity (below).

When Jack was ten, his beloved grandfather (James) died. His grandmother was unable to continue running the pub alone, so Jack was sent to live with his mother who had since married and had a daughter, Joyce. Jack did not hit it off with the new stepfather. He recounted on several occasions that he was a “very naughty boy”. So much so that at age 14 his mother arranged for him to be shipped off to Canada to live and work on a farm. As a result of WW1 many children that had been orphaned were sent overseas to be adopted or live and work in countries like Canada. Through her connections with the Salvation Army, Elizabeth signed Jack up. At the age of 15 he left England with a pack of sandwiches to begin the 10+ day journey to Neepawa, Manitoba, Canada. It was June 1923.

At one time we had Dad’s original ticket…but unfortunately have been unable to find it.

I do remember that it said the sailing was from Liverpool and that it was the fastest crossing (10 days). It sailed across the Atlantic and down the St. Lawrence Seaway to Montreal, where he boarded a train that took several days to get to Neepawa, Manitoba. Dad said that the sandwiches did not last long. If it wasn’t for the Russian and Polish families travelling with him, he would not have made it very far. He said they had potbelly stoves that they set up on the deck of the ship and would offer him soup and food to keep him going. They also had them on the train. Jack said that when the train arrived at Neepawa, it basically stopped in the middle of a sea of wheat. There was a small concrete platform and wheat as far as the eye could see. The conductor put his suitcase on the platform and pointing, said “you walk a mile in that direction”. The train departed and he started walking.

Dad came upon Neepawa and after making enquiries eventually made it to the Drayson farm, his destination (below in winter).

Mrs. Drayson greeted him and put him to work immediately in the cellar, cleaning the potatoes up that had been overwintered and were beginning to sprout. Jack was not too thrilled, but his fortunes changed. Percy Drayson and his wife decided that he was too young to sleep in the bunk house with the other men, so they gave him a room in the house. At the time they did not have any children, so this worked out fine for Jack. They also thought he should attend the local school and finish 10th grade, which he did. He worked on the farm for 2 years from June 1923 to June 1925. The farm was about 700 acres and was mostly arable. He was totally amazed by the modern farm equipment they had at that time, compared to what he had seen in England. They had a steam thresher machine (a precursor to the combine harvester) that would separate grain from its husk and straw.

The first summer Jack was just a field hand, bundling grains into the thresher and he couldn’t help but notice that other crew members seemed not to be working as hard as he was. In his second summer he decided to try being a grain handler, bagging it and hauling it away. He worked just as hard. He noticed that the engine crew didn’t seem to be working as hard as everyone else – he thought that’s what I need to do. By his third summer he was getting up at 3am to heat water for the steam engine and get the horses ready to pull wagons, so he ended up working just as hard.

Dad had many stories of his time in Canada. He remembered that from time to time they would have severe dust storms. One time he recounted that the dust storm lasted 3 whole days. He said that they would take turns going from the house to the barn to tend to the horses and other animals. This was done by tying a rope around the person so that they would not get lost during the storm and lose their way to and from the house. He said it was awful, there was dust everywhere in the house and the noise of the wind and dust outside was unpleasant. Another time he recounted that during the winter when the local pond froze over the townsfolk would have their local police man (who was a large lad), go out onto the pond with a rope tied around him. If he didn’t fall through, they knew the ice was thick enough for everyone to skate on. Dad’s family in England did not have a telephone. On the farm in Canada, they had a party line, which at the time was hi-tech !

Once, during his stay with the Drayson’s, he experienced severe stomach pains. Percy got on the telephone, which was a party line. All the ladies in the neighbourhood were on the same line – he said, ladies get off the line I need to make a call. They were probably all still listening but were instantly quiet. Percy contacted the doctor, and Dad was driven to the local hospital where he had his appendix removed (the bill below).

Mrs. Drayson had a brother that was a doctor in Winnipeg. They went to visit him occasionally. Jack said the first time he joined them on their visit they were ushered into the dining room and sat around the table. Mrs. Drayson’s brother turned a fruit bowl upside down on the table and put something under it that was connected to a large wooden cabinet. He then turned a large dial on the cabinet. The machine crackled and Jack heard someone say “This is Mexico City”. It was the first time that he had listened to a radio. They were broadcasting a boxing match featuring Jack Dempsey. Jack was impressed, he thought “This is the future”.

After working for the Drayson’s, Percy thought he needed to have more experience and encouraged him to move on. He took a job working for Lionel Morris in Sandy Lake working as a grain operator. He also worked in Franklin, Manitoba for Martha Dunsmore. During the season he would play baseball with her brother Nelson. They would hire themselves out to farm teams for $25.00 per game, which was a lot of money in 1926. Nelson was a left-handed pitcher and Jack was a catcher. Jack also spent a winter in a Canadian logging camp in Quebec province. His job was to run an 8-horse team that would pull a water wagon that would spill water over the trail which would freeze and allow the logs to slide down easily. He said he was there for 3 miserable months. He said they lived in a bunk house and probably all had fleas, but the money was good. They had very little in the way of fresh food and they dreamed of eating eggs. There was a Chinese restaurant in Neepawa and when they returned, they went there and each one said I will have an 8-egg omelette, I will have a 10-egg omelette, I will have a 12-egg omelette and so on. Needless to say, after 3 or 4 eggs they had had their fill.

Life was good until it wasn’t. Percy Drayson had a brother, Elfred, who was a great ice hockey player but also worked for a bank in Neepawa. He knew a few days before it happened that the banks were going to fail but all employees were told not to divulge this to any family members. They were honest, loyal people and it cost them dearly. At the time, nearly all farms in Canada had their money in a total of three banks. When the crash came, they lost everything and could not afford to pay Jack anymore. He tried a few odd jobs including spray painting wooden hub caps at Studebaker in Detroit (walking across the border bridge every day for a few weeks) but it was not sustainable. As Jack had resided in Canada for more than 3 years, he was eligible to receive his Canadian passport, which arrived in early November 1927 (below).

A few weeks later he made the decision to return to England.

Back in England, Jack got a job at Canward Foundry in Chelmsford Essex.

It was a filler job. He wanted to see and do more. He left on good terms (above) and decided to join the Merchant Navy. He signed up and went to sea on the RFA Appleleaf as a deck boy. He lasted two years eventually leaving with a rank of Assistant Steward.

He visited every port in the world but was not eligible for shore leave. He saw the world through a port hole. However, while on board he noticed that the best job was that of radio operator. In those days when a ship purchased a radio, they also got the radio operator to run it. Jack thought, that is the future!

Back on dry land Jack took a job with Marconi at Chelmsford. He learned Morse Code but, concerned that they would send him out to sea on board ship, he asked for a shore-based position. He got what he asked for.

He spent 2 years living in a hut with no door, just a curtain, at a land-based station in the Gulf of Aden, where the Tigris meets the Euphrates. His job was to keep the transmitter/receiver operational. He said it was either incredibly hot in the summer or horribly cold in the winter. He then spent a couple of years living in slightly better conditions on the island of Tobago, doing the same job. By then he had married Elsie Jiggings and needed to be in a land-based job at home in England. He took a position with Ecko Radio at Rochford Airport (later renamed Southend Airport).

While there he was fascinated by the aircraft flying around. Jack thought “that is the future”. He signed up for flying lessons. His instructor Jimmy taught him to fly in an aircraft with a skid on the front, probably an Avro 504. He couldn’t afford hour-long lessons, so when Jimmy had 10-15 minutes of free time in between paying customers, he would call Jack up, and he would cycle around the airfield from his office to take a 10-minute flight lesson. He reached the standard for a private pilot’s license. Jimmy recommended that he might consider signing up with the RAF Volunteer Reserve, as that would be a good way to continue flying without having to pay for it, which he did.

Dad was old at 31 to have been drafted in initially in 1939. But having been a radio operator and a private pilot that was probably why. When hostilities broke out, he was put in as an Air Gunner/Wireless Operator. They would not accept his civilian license, so he had to take the RAF written test which he passed with a 99% passing grade. He enlisted, was promoted to Sergeant and then commissioned as a Pilot Officer in August 1940.

After the war he continued to work with Ecko Radio in Southend, where he and Elsie eventually divorced. For a change of pace, or perhaps in search of his real father (we are unsure), he took a job working at Coates & Co. in Glasgow, Scotland. Thereafter, he went back to the radio industry and relocated to Hertfordshire, working with Murphy Radio, where he met and married my mother Dora Mueller in February 1959. He worked again with Pye, who had merged with Ecko Radio, to eventually become British Electronic Industries.

Dad thoroughly enjoyed seeing the first moon landing. He also took great delight in flying with my husband Graeme, myself and our daughter, Emma, in our M20C Mooney when he visited us in the States. Dad lived a long life and made it to 97 years of age.

He passed away in the City of Lincoln on 20th December 2005. He is buried at St. John’s church in Washingborough, Lincolnshire.