Frank
was born in Burnley, Lancashire on 15th June 1923.
During the crisis of
1940 when invasion was expected at any time, he joined the Local Defence
Volunteers at seventeen years of age.
In 1942 he became a
soldier in the full-time Army, serving in the Artillery, but also
volunteering to become a parachutist. He was accepted in April 1944 and
became a member of the 9th Parachute Battalion in 6th Airborne Division.
He served with the
9th battalion in the Ardennes and then on the Rhine crossing and the
subsequent advance through Germany until the final surrender.
Still with the 9th,
Frank then served in Palestine from September 1945 to December 1946 when he
was released.
