Sergeant FRANKS, BASIL FORD Service Number 1293662 Died 13/11/1943 Aged 21 279 Sqdn. Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve Son of John Richard and Bessie Louisa Franks, of Egham, Surrey. Casualty
Using the squadron code 'OS', 279 Sqdn flew ASR Hudsons (Mks III, V and VI); they seem to have had detachments at various bases as far apart as RAF Wick and RAF Harrowbeer, as well as RAF Thornaby. The squadron used lifeboats dropped from aircraft, rather than operating the more standard ASR seaplanes like the Walrus. Tom Doherty's Dinghy Drop: 279 Squadron 1941-1946 notes the loss of Hudson B/279 on a navigation exercise; the pilot, American M/Sgt Courson, and four crew members (including another American) were lost. Searches continued until the 15th November to no avail. One of the RAF crew members seems to have been 1425106 Sgt C.H. "Dick" Chapman (Wop/AG) from Rushden. Their base seems to have been Thornaby; it was Walruses of 280 Sqdn, also based there, which carried out the search for B/279. Basil Franks's mother was a widow as his father, John, had died in 1938. Basil was born in the last quarter of 1922 and his birth registered in Windsor; his RAF number belongs to a batch issued in May 1940 in Uxbridge, Gloucester and Penarth. As his parents lived in Surrey, there's a reasonable chance that he enlisted at Uxbridge, I guess. Cheers, Pat
John had been a lock keeper. 1939 REGISTER TRANSCRIPTION 89 Park Avenue, Egham U.D., Surrey FIRST LAST DOB OCCUPATION Bessie L Franks 09 Aug 1878 Housewife Unpaid
