Person    | Male  Born 24/7/1920  Died 8/4/1944

Frank Boyles

Countries: Burma, USA

War dead, WW2 i

Commemorated on a memorial as having died in WW2.

Captain Frank Raymond Boyles was born on 24 July 1920 in Syriam, Burma (now Thanlyin, Myanmar), the younger son and second of the three children of James Richard Boyles (1886-1970) and Marie Caroline Boyles née Wiegand (1884-1974). His father was a clergyman and a missionary.

According to the United States Federal Census in 1940 he was residing in Denver, Colorado, USA, but our Picture Source states he was living in Mount Vernon, Westchester County, New York, USA and travelled to Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA to undertake training as a service pilot. He enlisted in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in Canada and came to England where he served as a Pilot Officer in No.121 Squadron based at RAF Kirton in Lindsey, Lincolnshire.

On 16 September 1942 he transferred to the 335th Fighter Squadron attached to the 4th Fighter Group in the Eighth Air Force of the USAAF and was based at RAF Debden, Essex. On 26 October 1942 he was promoted to the rank of First Lieutenant. 

He married Norah J. McGrath (b.1922), the marriage being registered in the 2nd quarter of 1943 in the Saffron Walden registration district. On 1 September 1943 he was further promoted to the rank of Captain and on 16 October 1943 he was transferred to the 65th Fighter Wing.

He was killed in action, aged 23 years, on 8 April 1944. He was last seen at the start of a big dogfight in the area of Celle, Germany, and was shot down whilst flying the North American Aviation P-51C Mustang aeroplane, serial number 43-7098. He was buried in the Ardennes American Cemetery and Memorial, Rte du Condroz 164, 4121 Neupré, Belgium and is also commemorated on The Anglo-American Memorial, at the Anglo-American Playing Fields, accessed from the car park in Catons Lane, Saffron Walden, CB10 2DU. He was awarded the Air Medal with 3 oak leaf clusters and the Purple Heart.

Credit for this entry to: Andrew Behan.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Frank Boyles

Commemorated ati

Eagle Squadrons

{On the front of the pillar, facing north, into the square, below a carved im...

Read More

Other Subjects

Tsunami in the Indian Ocean

Tsunami in the Indian Ocean

More than 230,000 people died, 153 being British.

Event, Tragedy, Africa, Burma, India, Indian Sub-continent, Indonesia, Southeast Asia

1 memorial
James Leasor

James Leasor

Writer. Born in Erith, Kent. During WW2 he served in Burma where he spent eighteen hours adrift in the Indian Ocean after his ship was torpedoed. After the war he joined the Daily Express and becam...

Person, Literature, Burma

1 memorial
Field Marshal Viscount William Slim

Field Marshal Viscount William Slim

Field Marshal. Born near Bristol, brought up in Birmingham. Fought and wounded in WW1. 14th Army Burma, 1943 - 1945, recaptured Burma from the Japanese in WW2. 1953 - 1960 Governor General of Austr...

Person, Armed Forces, Australia, Burma

1 memorial
Saki

Saki

Hector Hugh Munro was born on 18 December 1870 in Akyab, Burma (now called Sittwe, Myanmar). He adopted the pen name of Saki in 1900. He travelled widely and was in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914 when t...

Person, Literature, Burma, Serbia

1 memorial
Private Frederick Martin

Private Frederick Martin

Frederick Martin was born circa 1916. He was serving as a Private in the Army Catering Corps, service number 911620 and was attached to the Royal Artillery when he died, aged 29 years, on 3 Septemb...

Person, Armed Forces, Burma

War dead, WW2
1 memorial