Norman Franks

Norman Leslie Robert Franks (1940 – 21 May 2023) was an English militaria writer who specialised in aviation topics. He focused on the pilots and squadrons of World Wars I and II.

Biography

Franks published his first book in 1976. He was an Organisation and Methods Officer with the Nationwide Building Society in London before he retired. He lived in Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, with his wife Heather. They had two sons, Rob and Mike, and five grandchildren.

He was a consultant for the Channel 4 television series ''Dogfight: The Mystery of the Red Baron''. His 1995 book on the Red Baron was published and reissued by three publishers. He was also one of the founding members of the Cross and Cockade society for World War I aviation historians, which was formed in 1970, and a member of Over the Front, the league of World War I aviation historians.

In total, he authored over 120 books covering military aviation.

Published works

*Franks, Norman. ''Double Mission: Fighter Pilot and SOE Agent, Manfred Czernin'' (1976, William Kimber, London)
*Franks, Norman. ''Fighter Leader: The Story of Wing Commander Ian Gleed, DSO, DFC'' (1978, William Kimber, London)
*Franks, Norman. ''The Greatest Air Battle: Dieppe, 19 August 1942'' (1979, William Kimber, London)
*Franks, Norman. ''Wings of Freedom:Twelve Battle of Britain Pilots'' (1980, William Kimber, London)
*Franks, Norman. ''Sky Tiger: The Story of Sailor Malan'' (1980, William Kimber, London)
*Franks, Norman. ''The Battle of the Airfields: 1 January 1945'' (1982 & 2002, Grub Street, London) & peration Bodenplatte
*Franks, Norman. ''The Air Battle of Dunkirk'' (1983, William Kimber, London)
*Franks, Norman and Sheddan, C. J. ''Tempest Pilot'' (1983 & 2003, Grub Street, London)
*Franks, Norman. ''Typhoon Attack'' (1984, William Kimber, London)
*Franks, Norman. ''Aircraft versus Aircraft: The illustrated story of fighter pilot combat since 1914'' (1986). Grub Street (). American ed. was issued by Macmillan () 192 pages.
* Franks, Norman; ''Forever strong: The story of 75 Squadron RNZAF, 1916-1990'' (1991) Random Century
* Franks, Norman; Bailey, Frank. ''Over the Front: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the United States and French Air Services, 1914-1918'' (1992). Casemate Pub ()
* Franks, Norman; Giblin, Hal; and McCrery, Nigel. ''Under the Guns of the Red Baron - The Complete Record of Von Richthofen's Victories and Victims Fully Illustrated'' (1995 & 2007, Grub Street, London) (1998 & 1999, Barnes & Noble, USA) () (2000, Caxton, London). 224 pages.
* Franks, Norman; Guest, Russell; Bailey, Frank. ''Bloody April… Black September'' (1995). Grub Street (). 314 pages he two deadliest months for Allied airmen in WW I, April 1917 & September 1918
* Franks, Norman. ''Who Downed the Aces in WWI?'' (1996). Grub Street ().
* Franks, Norman; Guest, Russell; and Alegi, Gregory. ''Above the War Fronts: The British Two-Seater Bomber Pilot and Observer Aces, the British Two-Seater Fighter Observer Aces, and the Belgian, Italian, Austro-Hungarian and Russian Fighter Aces 1914-1918'' (1997). Grub Street (). 218 pages.
* Franks, Norman. ''The Greatest Air Battle: Dieppe, 19th August 1942'' (1997). Grub Street ()
* Franks, Norman; Bennett, Alan. ''The Red Baron's Last Flight: a Mystery Investigated'' (1997). Grub Street. Reissued as a paperback in 2006 ()
* Franks, Norman; Bailey, Frank. ''The Storks: The Story of the Les Cigognes, France's Elite Fighter Group of WWI'' (1998). Grub Street (). 160 pages.
* Franks, Norman; Bailey, Frank; Duiven, Rick. ''Casualties of the German Air Service 1914-20: As Complete a List as Possible Arranged Alphabetically and Chronologically'' (1999). Grub Street (). 362 pages.
* Franks, Norman; Holmes, Tony. ''Albatros Aces of World War I (Osprey Aircraft of the Aces No 32)'' (2000). Motorbooks International (). 96 pages.
* Franks, Norman. ''Nieuport Aces of World War I (Osprey Aircraft of the Aces No 33)'' (2000). Motorbooks International (). 96 pages.
* Franks, Norman; Wyngarden, Greg Van; Holmes, Tony. ''Fokker Dr I Aces of World War I (Osprey Aircraft of the Aces No 40)'' (2001). Osprey Aviation (). 96 pages.
* Franks, Norman. ''Buck McNair : Canadian Spitfire ace : the story of Group Captain R.W. McNair DSO, DFC & 2 bars, Ld'H, CdG, RCAF'' (2001, 2005). Grub Street ()
* Franks, Norman; Giblin, Hal. ''Under the Guns of the Kaiser's Aces: Bohme, Muller, Von Tutschek, Wolff : The Complete Record of Their Victories and Victims'' (2003). Grub Street (). 192 pages.
* Franks, Norman. ''Sopwith Camel Aces of World War 1 (Aircraft of the Aces, 52)'' (2003). Osprey Publishing (UK) (). 96 pages.
* Franks, Norman; Holmes, Tony. ''Sopwith Triplanes Aces of World War 1 (Aircraft of the Aces, 62)'' (2004). Osprey Publishing (UK) (). 96 pages.
* Franks, Norman. ''Jasta Boelcke: The History of Jasta 2, 1916-1918'' (2004). Grub Street (). 224 pages.
* Franks, Norman. ''Ton-up Lancs: a Photographic Record of the Thirty-five RAF Lancasters that Each Completed One Hundred Sorties'' (2005).Grub Street ()
* Franks, Norman. ''Sopwith Pup Aces of World War 1''. (2005). Osprey Publishing ()
* Franks, Norman. ''British and American Aces of World War I: the Pictorial Record''. (2005) Schiffer Military History ()
* Franks, Norman. ''Frank 'Chota' Carey : the story of Group Captain Frank Carey CBE DFC AFC DFM''. (2006) Grub Street ()

External links

Interview
Channel 4 History

Biography
at Grub Street Press

Author Profile at Osprey

Obituary at Osprey

Titles (to 2008) at ''Stone & Stone''
retrieved 22 May 2013

{{DEFAULTSORT:Franks, Norman
1940 births
2023 deaths
Air force historians
British male non-fiction writers
British military writers
Historians of World War I
British historians of World War II
People from Bexhill-on-Sea
20th-century British historians
20th-century British male writers
21st-century British historians
21st-century British male writers
British aviation historians