Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A fine Great War Sopwith Camel Ace’s M.C. group of three awarded to Group Captain A. W. Franklyn, Royal Air Force, late Royal Flying Corps, who fought in the “Red Baron’s” last successful combat

Military Cross, G.V.R., the reverse privately engraved, ‘Captain A. W. Franklyn, R.F.C., 24 March 1918’; British War and Victory Medals (Capt., R.A.F.); Defence and War Medals contact marks and polished, otherwise generally very fine (5)
£3500-4000

M.C. London Gazette 22 June 1918. The recommendation states:

‘2nd Lieutenant Franklyn has almost every day during the past three weeks, when on low bombing patrols, done consistently good work in attacking enemy Infantry, Batteries and Transport, with his bombs and machine-guns, on 21 March 1918 silencing an active Battery at Pronville. He has on numerous occasions successfully attacked enemy Infantry on the ground, and by his direct hits and accurate machine-gun fire inflicted heavy casualties amongst them. On 22 March 1918, 2nd Lieutenant Franklyn shot down an E.A. which crashed south-east of Havrincourt.’

Captain Adrian Winfred Franklyn was born at Twickenham, Middlesex in April 1899 and commenced pilot training at Northolt aerodrome in August 1917. He made his first solo flight early in the following month and was then posted to No. 94 Squadron for a conversion course on Avro and Sopwith Camel aircraft, a period of flying that was not without the odd mishap. On 6 October, while in a spin from 5000 feet, his engine cut out. Franklyn made a forced landing in a ploughed field ('Tipped on nose, broke skid ...').

Posted to No. 3 Squadron in France in January 1918, Franklyn flew his first patrol, which lasted just over an hour, in Sopwith Camel 6710 on 23 February. Thereafter, for several months, as his Flying Log Book confirms, he was constantly engaged on Combat Offensive Patrols (COPs), low-bombing missions and balloon attacks.

Franklyn's entry for 20 April reads, ‘C.O.P. Fight with R's Circus. Lost Major,’ a brief summary for an engagement of far greater significance than at first might be apparent. On that date, two flights of six machines set out, each from No. 3 Squadron, but owing to heavy cloud they became separated. It was 'C' Flight which Richthofen and his Flying Circus spotted, led by Captain D. Bell, but including as a flight member the Commanding Officer, Major R. Raymond-Barker. In the ensuing dogfight Richthofen himself shot down in flames the Camel of Raymond-Barker and, minutes later, that of 2nd Lieutenant D. G. Lewis, his 79th and 80th accredited victories, and it was only the timely arrival of Franklyn and the other Flight that persuaded the “Red Circus” to call it a day. Significantly, these were the last victories of Germany's, and the World's, most famous Ace, for on the very next day Baron Manfred von Richthofen met his death.

By the time he was posted back to the U.K. for instructional duties in November 1918, Franklyn had been officially credited with 6 kills, three enemy scouts, each of a different type, and three two-seaters. His personal victories comprised an Albatross DV on 22 March, south-east of Havrincourt (as per his M.C. citation), a Fokker Dr. 1 on 4 September, and a Fokker DVII on the following day. In his combat report for the latter victory, Franklyn stated:

‘Whilst leading my Flight on C.O.P. I saw 8 Fokker bi-planes diving down on us from the East. There was a general fight, after which the enemy aircraft turned East. 6 Fokker Tn-planes then came down on us and seeing two on the tail of a Camel I opened fire from about 50 yards range, and the E.A. turned into a spin and then pulled out upside down, and started to switch back on its back. I was unable to follow him down owing to other enemy aircraft being above.’

Added to the end of his report is the comment, ‘1 Tri-plane was seen to crash near this point by Lieutenant Hubbard.’ On the following day, Franklyn claimed his third solo victory, afterwards reporting:

‘Whilst leading my Flight on a C.O.P. I saw a fight going on between Fokker biplanes and Camels of another Squadron. We climbed above the fight and I picked out one E.A. and dived to within 50 yards of him. After firing 300 rounds at the E.A. he burst into flames, and large clouds of black smoke poured out of the fuselage. The machine began falling into a steep side-slip. I was unable to follow him owing to another E.A. attacking me.’

Franklyn's last engagement would appear to be an inconclusive strike on an enemy balloon in early October. He did, however, have the satisfaction of seeing its observer take to his parachute.

He remained in the Royal Air Force after the War, but it would seem his future appointments were largely of a non-flying nature. The Air Force List records his promotion to Squadron Leader in August 1935, when he became second-in-command of H.Q. Unit, H.M.S. Furious, but for armament duties, and by the outbreak of hostilities he was serving at No. 25 Group, Eastchurch. Franklyn held several other U.K. appointments during the course of the War and was advanced to Group Captain in December 1943. He finally retired in August 1948 and died at Whitford, Devon in June 1986.

Sold with the recipient’s original Flying Log Book (Army Book 425), covering the period August 1917 to September 1919; together with some useful and informative research material, including several copy photographs; and the last Flying Log Book of a lifelong friend, Group Captain Charles Busk, this covering assorted postings in the period June 1934 to July 1945, but with a section of unused pages removed for other purposes and defaced in places.