Frank was born in Plymouth and after leaving school became a motor trade apprentice. He worked in the REME (Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) workshop and later served with them after being called up. After training as a vehicle mechanic in Chester, Frank went to various countrywide postings, finishing in an anti-tank unit in Berkshire on D-Day.

Frank describes landing on Sword Beach, one of the allied landing areas in Normandy in the initial phase Operation Neptune of Operation Overlord and the devastation he was met with. He helped to repair army vehicles with water damage, staying until the city of Caen was taken by the British army.

Frank then travelled to Belgium with the SP’s (Self Propelled Anti-Tank Guns) unit and then later another tank unit called The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. He made his way to Eindhoven in Holland with the unit and fired 17 pounder anti-tank guns at German tanks. The enemy shells exploded through the tank chassis radiators and Frank spent night after night repairing the damage.

Frank recalls the tough experiences of collapsing and being treated by a German prisoner of war doctor, the rough trip across seas and the carnage he witnessed. He also discusses how the army made him more mature, climb the ladder without an educational background and give him his later army civilian work which he stayed in for 42 years.