Francklin was on 3 Air Course, 20 ERFTS, Gravesend.
He was the pilot of the Walrus
amphibian aircraft in the cruiser Effingham, flagship of Admiral the Earl
of Cork and Orrery, the Commander-in-Chief,
in the Norwegian campaign
in the spring of 1940. When the Allies withdrew from Norway in June, Francklin
had a very lucky escape.
He was ordered to land his
Walrus on the carrier Glorious on 7 June, but was diverted to Ark Royal
instead.
Glorious was sunk by Scharnhorst
and Gneisenau, with great loss of life, the next day.
He went to Dartmouth in 1926.
In 1935, he served as a sub-lieutenant in the Royal Yacht Victoria and
Albert. He took part in King George V's Silver Jubilee Fleet Review
at Spithead.
In 1938 volunteering to
train as a Fleet Air Arm pilot, serving in the cruiser Glasgow at Scapa
Flow until starting his flying course, getting his wings in 1939.
From December 1940 to 1942,
he flew from the cruisers Shropshire and Dorsetshire, escorting convoys
in the Indian Ocean, the Atlantic and off the North Cape of Norway.
From 1942-43, commanded
764 squadron, based at HMS Daedalus I, at Lawrenny Ferry, Pembrokeshire,
as Chief Flying Instructor of the advanced Naval Seaplane School.
In August 1943, Francklin
joined the Airfields and Carrier Requirements Department of the Admiralty.
He ended the war flying Fairey Barracuda
torpedo-bombers from HMS
Gannet, the air station at Eglinton.
He died October 1999.
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