Frank Bustard

Who was Frank Bustard?

Colonel Frank Bustard OBE was a British shipping pioneer who established the commercial use of ro-ro ships using converted tank landing craft.

Bustard was born in Liverpool in 1886 the youngest of four sons of John and Alice Bustard. He became an apprentice with the White Star Line and was soon passenger traffic manager. In 1934 when the White Star Line merged with Cunard he left the company and started his own company. He had intended to run a service offering £10 fares from Liverpool to New York but the idea was abandoned at the start of the Second World War when Bustard re-joined the Army. Bustard had served with the Kings's Own in the First World War mainly as an embarkation officer and was mentioned in dispatches four times and was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. Between 1939 and 1945 Bustard worked as part of Movement Control including the D-Day landing, he was mentioned in dispatches twice. He was stationed at Bank Hall, Bretherton, Lancashire which was used during the Second World War for the north west coast shipping movement control.