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Cranston Fine Arts Aviation Art and Artists World War Two Veteran Signatures United States F Frolking, James

First Lieutenant James E Frolking

With the 436th Fighter Squadron he flew his first combat mission in a P-38 on D-Day, patrolling the English Channel and on ground attack missions in support of the advancing Allied armies in Normandy. After converting to P-51 Mustangs he primarily flew escort missions to B-24 and B-17 bombers and completed 52 combat missions. On 7th October 1944, on the way back to England from Czechoslovakia, his Mustang was hit by enemy flak, forcing him to bale out over the Dutch coast. He landed uninjured on a sandbar within sight of land. After a night in his tiny and leaking escape-pack dinghy he finally made it to shore and eventually made contact with the Dutch Resistance. For three weeks he was hidden by a Dutch family while German troops searched the area, and successfully managed to avoid capture, returning to spend the rest of the war as an instructor.