LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant William Gordon FROST
Service No: 428286
Born: Albury NSW, 2 December 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 9 October 1942 (at Melbourne VIC)
Unit: No. 576 Squadron (RAF), RAF Fiskerton, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 576 Squadron Lancaster aircraft NF975), North West Europe, 21 February 1945, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Lindsay and Elsie Frost, of Narrandera, New South Wales, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Narrandera NSW
Remembered: Panel 284, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 122, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Commonwealth Bank of Australia Honour Rolls, Sydney NSW
Lancaster NF975 of 576 Squadron took off from Fiskerton at night on 20/21 February 1945 to attack Dortmund, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off, and it did not return to base. Following post war enquiries and investigations, it was recorded in 1950 that the missing crew had no known grave.
The crew members of NF975 were:
Flying Officer Richard Stanley Bastick (184678) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant William Victor Bibby (1579109) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Flight Sergeant Jack Coates (1622241) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator)
Flight Sergeant William Gordon Frost (428286) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
Sergeant Frederick George James Martin (1324045) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Henry Alfred Sargent (1474901) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Robert Leslie Swaffer (1898320) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/14/364
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line