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24th August he proceeded by sea to Lagos, Gold Coast Colony and thence by air to Khartoum Sudan, arriving in Cairo, Egypt on the 22nd September. A day later he proceeded to No. 22 Personnel Transit Centre, Almaza, also in Egypt and on the 14th October was posted to No. 227, Luqa, Malta, travelling there by air on the 12th October. With this squadron as the pilot of Beaufighter aircraft he participated in fifteen operational flights including fighter sweeps along the Sicilian Coast, Tunisia - Pan area and Tunisia, fighter escort to bombers attacking the targets of Tunisia, North Africa Linosa in Italy, shipping strikes and a long range fighter escort to an incoming Malta convoy.

Sgt. Franklin was the pilot of a Beaufighter aircraft which took off on the 18th December, 1942 on a convoy patrol and was shot down in the sea by an enemy fighter and the crew including Sgt. Franklin were classified as missing. Nothine further was heard of Sgt. Franklin and he was in consequence reclassified as missing believed killed in action and in due course his death was officially presumed to have occurred on the 18th December, 1942.

Find a Grave links with photos of Sgt. Franklin:
1. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/15269192/ford-john-franklin
2. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/221709963/ford-john-franklin

5/2/5352 AS2
258 hours as pilot.

Mrs. W.E. Franklin (M), (right aligned)
C/- Post Office, (right aligned)
Bay View, (right aligned)
NAPIER. (right aligned & underlined)