Adrian Franklyn
| Adrian Winfrid Franklyn | |
|---|---|
| Born |
1 April 1899 Twickenham, Middlesex, England |
| Died | June 1986 (aged 86–87) Whitford, Devon, England |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service/branch | British Army Royal Air Force |
| Years of service | 1917–1948 |
| Rank | Group Captain |
| Unit | No. 3 Squadron RFC/RAF |
| Battles/wars | World War I World War II |
| Awards | Military Cross |
Group Captain Adrian Winfrid Franklyn (1 April 1899 – June 1986) was a British World War I flying ace credited with seven aerial victories. He remained in the Royal Air Force post-war, and served throughout World War II before retiring in 1948.
Franklyn was born in the Heathfield area of Twickenham, Middlesex, the son of Burdett Caslon Franklyn, a butcher's clerk from Melbourne, Australia, and his wife Violet, who was born in Brighton, Sussex. His father died when Franklyn was 15, and his elder brother, Vere, died at the age of four.
Franklyn entered the Royal Flying Corps as a cadet, and was commissioned as a probationary temporary second lieutenant on 12 August 1917, being confirmed in his rank on 12 November.
In early 1918 he was posted to No. 3 Squadron RFC, gaining his first victory on 22 March, flying a Sopwith Camel, by destroying an Albatros D.V southeast of Havrincourt. By the time of his second victory on 11 April, over Ervillers, which he shared with Captain Douglas John Bell, Lieutenant C. E. Mayer and Lieutenant Lloyd Andrews Hamilton, the Army's Royal Flying Corps had merged with the Navy's Royal Naval Air Service to form the Royal Air Force, so it was with No. 3 Squadron RAF that Franklyn was credited with this and all his subsequent wins. His third victory came the next day, on 12 April, driving an Albatros D.V down out of control over Pozières.
On 20 April 1918, Franklyn became the last British pilot to engage the "Red Baron" Manfred von Richthofen in aerial combat. Von Richthofen's squadron of more than 18 aircraft spotted six Sopwith Camels below them and dove to attack. However six more Camels, including Franklyn, then arrived and broke up the German attack, with Franklyn forcing von Richthofen down to the cover of the German ground forces. The following day, von Richthofen was killed by ground fire, having avoided contact with Canadian ace Arthur Roy Brown, but strayed over the Allied lines. It was 9 June before Franklyn scored again, when he and Lieutenant Will Hubbard destroyed an Albatros C.
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