1. Harold Edmund Franklyn was born in Cork, County Cork, Ireland, on 28 November 1885, the son of William Franklyn, a British Army officer who later became a lieutenant general.
14 Facts About Harold Franklyn
1. 2.
Harold Franklyn was educated in England at Rugby School and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, where he was commissioned as a second lieutenant into his father's regiment, the Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own on 16 August 1905.
3.
On 21 August 1939, Harold Franklyn was made Colonel of the Green Howards.
4.
Senior Allied commanders believed a counterattack necessary, to be made southwards from Arras, and Harold Franklyn was assigned to command "Frankforce".
5.
However, French support did not materialise on time and Harold Franklyn was forced on the defensive and ordered to hold the high ground on Vimy Ridge.
6.
Harold Franklyn's stand was hailed by Lieutenant General Sir Alan Brooke, commanding the II Corps, under whose command the 5th Division was serving under, as having saved the BEF from destruction.
7.
Brooke wrote in his diary that "Harold Franklyn had put up a very fine show and the 5th Division had fought admirably".
8.
Lieutenant General Sir Henry Pownall, chief of staff to General Lord Gort, commander of the BEF, believed Harold Franklyn to be the outstanding British divisional commander of the campaign.
9.
Harold Franklyn was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath on 11 July 1940.
10.
In May 1941, Harold Franklyn was appointed as C-in-C of Northern Ireland and left VIII Corps.
11.
Additional troops were placed under his command, and Harold Franklyn established a superior formation, entitled British Troops in Northern Ireland.
12.
Harold Franklyn was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath on 1 January 1943, and remained in his post as C-in-C Northern Ireland until 23 July 1943 when he was promoted to the rank of full general and became Commander-in-Chief, Home Forces.
13.
Harold Franklyn relinquished the colonelcy of his old regiment, the Green Howards on 21 October 1949.
14.
Harold Franklyn retired to Newbury, Berkshire, where he died on 31 March 1963, four years after the death of his wife, at the age of 77, from a heart attack.