Son of Ernest A. Franklin and Gertrude Mae (Hunt) Franklin, of 315 Murray St., Wallaceburg; brother of Ivan, Donald, Arthur (RCA), Clarence, Flossie, Howard, James, Agnes, William (RCA), Charles (RCA) and Doris. Daniel D. A. Gordon Public School and Wallaceburg High School. Prior to the war Daniel was employed at Dominion Glass Company.

14 September, 1939 ‘Danny’ Franklin along with “Glass House “ pals Reg Sherwood and Joe Foster and Patrick Murphy, made the trip to Windsor to enlist with the Essex Scottish Regiment.Training was done at Windsor, Chatham and Ipperwash before leaving for overseas. Dan arrived in England 2 August, 1940 for additional training in England and the Isle of Wight.

While training for a planned raid on the coast of France (Dieppe Raid) during a hand grenade demonstration a fellow soldier panicked, dropping a live grenade. Daniels was attempting to toss it to safety over a nearby tarpaulin, the grenade exploded fatally wounding Cpl. Franklin. His actions ultimately saving the lives of fellow soldiers. 

Date of Death: 03/07/1942, reported 7 July, 1942 on the army’s 115^thCasualty List.

Of the “Glass House” boys that enlisted in 1939 besides Danny Frankin, Joe Foster was KIA at Dieppe and Pat Murphy was a POW after the raid. JRH.

A letter from Captain Jack T. Anderson, son of Mr and Mrs. Jack Anderson, Victoria Ave., Chatham, to his mother. The letter dated 28 July and received in Chatham on 28 August contained the following extract:

“Heroism… do you recall th death of a Wallaceburg boy Corporal D. Franklin which would have been in the papers about July 10 – 15? I was less than 10 yards from him when he was killed.

If you see anyone from the ‘Burg and they ask about him it might be a comfort for his people to know that he was killed in a way that got at least one Victoria Cross in the last war. He went after a grenade which he would go off in less than four seconds. That took guts!

I was first there and took charge of getting him to the infirmary wher he died shortly afterwards. The spot I was in was not a dangerous one so don’t think I was hanging around to watch the thing go off.” CDN 1/09/42.

 

In a letter written by James Lauder to his father George W. Lauder provides further details concerning Cpl. Franklin’s actions on the day of his death:

“Another one of the boys was killed while we were training. This time it was Corporal Franklin. A hand-grenade with a faulty fuse blew up. He saw it was about to go off and as there were several others around, he grabbed it and tried to chuck it away. It went off in his hand. He died from the injuries, but a lot of us figure he saved others from getting hurt, too.” CDN 11/09/42

It was reported in the CDN 28/10/42 that a picture of Segt. Boyce along with Pte. Daniel Ernest Franklin were unveiled at the Wallaceburg high School to commemorate his sacrifice.

Dr. Charles Lawrence, chairman of the Board of Education paid the following tribute to the two fallen students:

“Nothing matters now but victory – Danny Franklin and Norman Boyce knew that, and they paid the fullest price in the sacrifice of their lives. They, who once walked these halls, did not die in vain. Their memory will live forever in our hearts and we have held this ceremony this afternoon to keep their memory forever green.” He declared.

Also in attendance were Mrs. Ernest Franklin, mother of Pte Dan Franklin and George L. Boyce father and Don Boyce the brother of Norman Boyce.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Sources

CDN (19-08-1943), CDN (01-09-1942), No Return Ticket - Wallaceburg War Casualties - Alan Mann 2002, Index of Overseas Deaths, Steinhoff Memorial Cenotaph – Wallaceburg, WS (16-09-1942)

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