51 and 161 Squadron RAF.

• Memorial Text
• Flying Officer William Franklin DFC – RAFVR was a very experienced Navigator with Nos. 51 & 161 Squadrons RAF.
• This would have been his 43rd Mission.
• After taking off from RAF Tempsford in a Halifax Mk V Bomber DG244MA-Y, the plane and seven crew members were lost without trace in the North Sea or Skagerrak 60 KM SW of Oslo, Norway.
• The Mission was called “Vega 3” on behalf of SIS (Special Intelligence Service), with one SIS passenger and 6 containers to be dropped over Norway north of Larvik). Many of the SIS records remain secret even to this day.
• The crew would not have known the name nor the mission of their passenger. Mystery still surrounds this SIS operation and th efate of the crew.
• Remembering all those on board Halifax DG244MA-Y
• F/O Herbert Wynne
• Flt Sgt Raymond Rolfe
• P/O William Franklin
• Sgt James Insole
• P/O Thomas Challoner
• Sgt Eric Foster
• Sgt Thomas Colwell
• SIS Agent
• Bill is honoured in this Grove by his nephews John Bridger and Peter Milne 2025.

Page Updated 26th February 2026