343

K.G. FRANKLIN.
2. (centre aligned)
trade of air bomber on the 30th April, 1942.

On the 9th May, 1942 F/O Franklin was posted to No. 460 Squadron, Breighton, Yorkshire, from where, as wireless operator air gunner and air bomber of Wellington aircraft, he took part in a tour, completing 25 operational flights, the targets including Cologne, Essen, Emden, Bremen, Duisburg, Hamburg, Mainz, Dusseldorf, Osnabruck, Kassel, Saarbrucken, and Wilhelmshaven, in Germany; and St. Nazaire, in France; as well as minelaying at La Rochelle, France.

On the 1st February 1943 he proceeded to No. 1656 Conversion Unit, Lindholme, Yorkshire where he was employed on instructional duties. From the 18th May until the 8th June, he was attached to Manby, Lincolnshire, and posted from Lindholme to No. 1662 Conversion Unit, Blyton (redacted Northumberland) Lincolnshire, on the 15th December 1943.

On the 1st February 1944 F/O Franklin was posted to No. 156 Squadron, Warboys, Huntingdonshire from where he again took part as navigator on Lancaster aircraft, in several operations, the targets including Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Berlin, Nuremburg, Cologne, and Karlsruhe, in Germany; Rouen and Laon, in France. On the 27th April 1944 he was navigator on a Lancaster aircraft which took off from Warboys on air operations over Friedrichshafen, Germany, and failed to return to its base. All the members of the crew including F/O Frankling were reported missing. Later information received through the International Red Cross Committee stated that F/O Franklin had lost his life, and in consequence he was reclassified missing, believed killed, and subsequently his death was officially presumed. Further information received through the I.R.C.C. advised that he was buried in the Langenhart Cemetery, Germany.