Norman Stanley Frost (Service No. 6971086) was killed in action on 14 October 1944 aged 25. He was a Sergeant in the 2nd Battalion of the Lincolnshire Regiment. He was initially buried at the farm of the Vogelsangs family and subsequently re-interred on 15 July 1946 in grave I. C. 13 at the Overloon Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in Overloon. His inscription reads: “His life was gentle, but nature might stand and say to all: ‘This was a man’ M.D.F.”

Military career

It isn’t known when Norman enlisted though a military record suggests this may have been in 1941.
 
It seems that he was wounded sometime around 8th July 1944 following D-Day on 6th June 1944. However, at that point he was in the 4th Battalion of the Lincolnshire Regiment. This was when the Battalion was involved in Operation Charnwood. This was part of the Battle for Caen which was an important objective for the Allies during the opening stages of Operation Overlord. By evening on 8 July the allies had cleared the villages in their path and reached the outskirts of Caen. However, the operation was costly for both the Allies and the enemy and Caen was only fully captured a week later. This latter offensive included Operation Goodwood in which the Battalion also took part.
 
He will then have moved through Belgium and the Netherlands in August and September.
 
Following the failure to take the bridge at Arnhem in Operation Market Garden in late September, the Allied Forces were left in a very precarious narrow salient through the Netherlands. It was the aim of Operation Aintree to widen this salient by heading south from Nijmegen to take Overloon and then Venray before finally eliminating a German bridgehead on the River Maas near Venlo.
 
On 9 October 1944 the Battalion found itself in Haps, just south of Nijmegen and North of Overloon. They were ordered to move south to St Anthonis on 11 October, but this was postponed to the following day due to bad weather. The move was completed on 12 October and they then moved slightly further west the next day, though with one man killed and 3 wounded.
 
On the 14 October, the day on which Norman died, the plan was for B Company to be guided through a wood held by the Royal Ulster Rifles to its front edge from where they would carry out a recce to check if a stream was passable and if the north eastern corner of a wood to the south was held by the enemy. However, the guides were late and the move through the wood was slower than expected, so the recce did not take place. At 7.30am the Company began to advance south out of the wood. However, before the Company had advanced 100 yds the enemy opened fire from a track about another 100 yds ahead. The advance continued but came under such heavy fire with so many casualties that the Company Commander issued an order to retreat back to the Royal Ulster Rifles’ position. By this point one Lieutenant and 34 other ranks had been killed or wounded. Following a recce by the Company Commanders, it was decided to launch an attack at 1530 hours with D and A companies in the lead. The enemy had been seen moving in the area of the stream in front of the wood. It was thought that the enemy holding the Battalion objective were probably a Company strong. Immediately the attacking force came into the open they were subjected to intense artillery and mortar fire, but they pressed steadily on to reach their objective. During this action the Battalion suffered very heavy casualties including four officers killed and another four wounded.
 
A total of 27 men of the 2nd Battalion of the Lincolnshire Regiment who died that day are buried alongside each other at Overloon, including Sergeant Norman Stanley Frost.

Family background

Norman Stanley Frost was the son of Harry and Florence Edith Frost who the CWGC record as living at Normanhurst 73 Westerham Road, Keston, Kent.
 
Harry Frost married Florence Edith White in 1915 in Bedford, Bedfordshire.
 
Harry served in the Royal Navy Air Service in WW1 from 2/6/1916. He was initially an Aircraftsman II, then promoted to Aircraftsman I on 1/9/1919, then Leading Aircraftsman on 15/12/1916 and finally transferred to the RAF as a Corporal on 1/4/1918. He was discharged on 19/3/1919. He seems to have served for some of the time on the Scilly Isles.
 
Harry and Florence had just two children: Norman Stanley Frost on 27/7/1919 and Freda D Frost on 18/7/1922, both in the Lewisham District, though Norman was more specifically described as being born in Brockley.
 
In June 1921, Harry, Florence and Norman were living at 116, Manwood Road, Crofton Road, Lewisham. Harry was a Civil Service Clerk for the Ministry of Labour at the Employment Exchange in Deptford. On 9/7/1930, the West Kent Argus and Borough of Lewisham news reported that Norman Stanley Frost of Stillness Road, Brockley had been awarded a Junior County Scholarship by London County Council. It is also known that he was in the 13th Lewisham South Scout Group.
 
By September 1939 Norman and Florence were living at 246 Conisborough Crescent, Catford, Lewisham. Harry was now working for the Income Tax Office and was also working as an Air Raid Warden. Both Norman and Freda were present. Norman was working as a Clerk for the Electricity company. He was also an Army War Office Officer Cadet Reserve. Freda was working as a Civil Servant in His Majesty’s Work Office.
 
Sadly, Norman Stanley Frost was killed in action on 14/10/1944 near Overloon.
 
His sister, Freda D. Frost, married Fredrick T. Perry in 1947 in Lewisham. They seem to have had two children Kathleen H Perry in 1949 in Lambeth and Christine R. Perry in1952 in Bromley.
 
Norman’s mother, Florence E. Frost, died in 1965 in Croydon.
 
Both she and Norman are commemorated on a gravestone in Plaistowe Cemetery, Bromley.
 
His father, Harry Frost, died in 1975 in Bromley, Kent.
 
His sister, Freda D. Perry, died in 1988 in Canterbury.

From FindMyPast website: Civil and Parish Birth, Marriage and Death Records; England Census and 1939 Register Records; Electoral Rolls; Military Records
Lincolnshire Regiment War Diaries via Traces of War Website
https://prod-cms.scouts.org.uk/media/21339/sww-roll-of-hon-06-january-2020.pdf
Wikipedia – information on the Lincolnshire Regiment, Operation Charnwood

Research Overloon War Chronicles Foundation