Lieutenant-General Sir William Edmund Franklyn KCB

William Edmund Franklyn was born in May 1856, the eldest son of the Rev Thomas Edmund Franklyn of Cheshunt. He was educated at Rugby. He was commissioned into the 19th Regiment in 1874, captain in 1881, and later attended Staff College. He commanded the 2nd Battalion from July 1896 to Sep 1898 during which time they fought in the Tirah Campaign. They captured the Sampaghna Pass and the Arhanga Pass as well as operating in the Bazar Valley.
He was Assistant Adjutant General for the Scottish District in 1898 and Assistant Military Secretary at Army HQ in 1899. By 1902 he was in command of 10th Infantry Brigade, and was a divisional commander in 1906. In that year he was promoted to major-general, and appointed Colonel of the 19th Regiment, on 2 October. In 1911 he was Military Secretary to the Secretary of State for War. He was made KCB in 1912 and had been appointed Governor of Malta but never took up the post. He was in command of the Third Army, Central Force when war was declared in August 1914. He was at military HQ in the house of Lady Wernher at Luton Hoo on the evening of 27th Oct when he suddenly died, at the age of 58. The coroner agreed with the medical officers that he had died of natural causes. He was buried at Paddington Cemetery after a funeral service at Christ Church, Mayfair. The photo of him, taken shortly before his death shows him in staff dress uniform with the insignia for Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath. The medal with two clasps was for the Tirah Campaign in 1897.
His son General Sir Harold Edmund Franklyn KCB DSO MC became Colonel of the Green Howards during World War Two.

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