Pilot Officer Frank George Zavakos was born on 25 August 1917 in Dayton, Ohio, USA, the eldest of the three children of George K. Zavakos (1889-1947) and Constantina Zavakos née Frankias (1897-1977). His siblings were: Harry George Zavakos (1920-1977) and Mary Zavakos (1923-2008).
Our picture source and the Greeks in Foreign Cockpits website give much information about this man.
On 11 October 1940 he enlisted as a cadet in the USAAF at Fort Hayes, Columbus, Ohio, but the following year he joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, service number 108645, in Ontario, Canada. As a Pilot Officer he was assigned to No.71 Squadron - one of the three Eagle Squadrons.
He died, aged 24 years, on 2 June 1942 when the Supermarine Spitfire Mk Vb aircraft he was flying, on an Air Sea Rescue sortie, suffered engine failure over the English Channel. As he has no known grave he is commemorated on Panel 72 of the Air Forces Memorial at Runnymede, Surrey, at the Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum, Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio, USA, and on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's website.
Credit for this entry to: Andrew Behan.
