Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Warrant Officer Jack Lawrence Franks (Service No:24155) enlisted in the RAAF as an ACI on 30 May 1940 - he had served in the Militia (Sergeant; Service No:413127) with 51st Battalion since 1929. Promoted through the ranks to Warrant Officer (Disciplinary), WO Franks served in Morotai, Borneo with No 1 Servicing and Repair Unit and No 84 Operational Base Unit (OBU) from 3 September 1943 to 29 January 1946. WO Franks continued to serve with the Interim Air Force and was attached to 3 Stores Depot at Discharge on 18 February 1948.

Born in 1905 in Lawrence NSW, Jack was the fourth of seven children of Thomas Samuel Boddington Franks (b1874 on Woodward Island, Maclean, NSW) and first wife Eva Jane Wallwork (b1878 at Bushgrove nr Grafton, NSW). Thomas (a Labourer) and Eva married in 1900 in Maclean, NSW where they settled and raised their family and Thomas worked as a Labourer and Farmer.

Jack worked as a Farmer at Tableland, Cooroy and in 1936 in Cairns, QLD he married first wife Charlotte Beryl Charles (b1905 in Cairns, QLD). The couple settled at Babinda nr Cairns where Jack was a Farmer when he enlisted in the RAAF in 1940. In 1947 in Brisbane, Jack Divorced Charlotte and remarried to Doris Irene Hillier (b1904 at Christmas Creek, Lamington, QLD). Jack and Doris settled at Sandgate in Brisbane, QLD where Jack, according to the electoral rolls, continued serving witht he RAAF. Jack died in 1989 and Doris in 2000.