Lt. Frank Alfred Johnstone

Frank was a member of the United States Army Air Force 721st Bomb Squadron, 450th Bomb Group. He took part in the 25 February 1945 raid on Linz that was intended to bomb the railroad marshalling yards. Rail lines moved crucial military supplies and troops through Austria and were thus an important military target. Yet, the raid on Linz was part of a much larger attack known as Operation THUNDERCLAP, which was focused on bombing the symbolic targets of Berlin and the Nazi cultural center of Munich, Germany. On 25 February 1945, seven Allied air commands went into action across Germany. Almost 6,000 aircraft attacked cities across the Third Reich. Among these were the 28 bombers from 2d Lt Johnstone’s 450th Bombardment Group that took off from Manduria Air Base, Italy, to hit the marshalling yards at Linz, Austria.

On 25 February 1945, 2d Lt Johnstone served as the navigator aboard B-24J, #44-41 188, piloted by First Lieutenant (1st Lt) Jeremiah O'Sullivan. The aircraft took off at 8:00 a.m. and carried a crew of 12. Although the formation faced little enemy fighter resistance, as it neared the target area of Linz at approximately 1 :00 p.m., the formation encountered "intense, accurate flak,’' or anti-aircraft artillery fire. As the aircraft approached the target, 1st Lt O’Sullivan asked 2d Lt Gordon whether the bomb bays were open. Second Lieutenant Gordon replied in the affirmative, Roger.” Second Lieutenant Johnstone told Sgt Richard Gifford, the radio operator, to “get flak suit on’' as they approached the target. Just before they were able to release their ordnance on the Linz marshalling yards at about 1:14 p.m., the B-24 was struck by anti-aircraft ground fire.

According to Staff Sergeant (S Sgt) James F. Tharp, “Lieutenant O’Sullivan’s aircraft received a direct flak hit on the nose of the aircraft. The ship slid back, appeared to be out of control, to the left and almost hit another plane,” but the pilot managed to get the aircraft under control again and leave the formation. Another witness in a nearby plane, S Sgt Robert H. Higginbotham, reported that due to the anti-aircraft artillery burst, “the nose turret’s glass was completely shattered and the metal framework was partially intact. There was a hole in the Bombardier's and Navigator’s compartment starting from the base to the top of the plane, approximately five (5) feet by six (6) feet with the skin [of the aircraft] blown off. I saw one man lying on the floor.

Of the total crew of 12, nine airmen successfully bailed out of the aircraft and were taken prisoner. These nine airmen survived the war and were returned to U.S. military control. Here, they were able to give further details about the incident and the fate of the aircraft and missing crew members. According to those who survived the incident, 2d Lt Johnstone had been killed during the initial flak blast to the nose of the aircraft. As the navigator, 2d Lt Johnstone’s position was in the nose of the aircraft, and according to one of the surviving crewmembers, he was killed instantly by the anti-aircraft fire. One of the gunners, S Sgt John Christopherson, reported, ''the flak hit just about where 2d Lt Johnstone was standing.’ The bombardier, 2d Lt Seymour Gordon, and the armorer gunner, Sgt Kenneth O. Dean, who had likewise been in the nose compartment of the aircraft at the time of the flak hit, were also killed. Consequently, all three were still in the aircraft when it crashed near GroBraming (or Grossraming), a village southeast of Linz.

The bodies were recently recovered from a village’s graves that were identified with the tail number of the aircraft. After DNA analysis, they were identified.

He has been returned home to Beaumont to be laid to rest next to his parents in a grave that has been reserved for him since 1945 at Forest Lawn Memorial Park.

A full military graveside service will be conducted at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, located at 4955 Pine Street, Beaumont, Texas, 77703. The service is scheduled for February 26, 2026, at 11:00 am. The public is invited to attend.