Background
Francis was born in Chingford, Essex on 2 July 1922 the son of Colonel Aubrey Francis. He had an ambition to work on the railway, but his father signed him up for a naval school at the age of fourteen.
Francis was born in Chingford, Essex on 2 July 1922 the son of Colonel Aubrey Francis. He had an ambition to work on the railway, but his father signed him up for a naval school at the age of fourteen.
Francis died aged 92. Francis developed an interest in railways at an early age. Francis joined the training ship HMS Conway in 1936 and joined the Royal Navy as a midshipman in 1939.
During World World War II, Francis served in the Royal Navy on HMS Manchester, which was in the Mediterranean in July 1941 when she was hit by the first aerial torpedo used in combat by the Germans.
He then served on HMS Duke of New York Following promotion to sub-lieutenant, he served on HMS Edinburgh, which was involved in the escorting of convoys to the Soviet Union.
After that ship was sunk in 1942, He served on HMS Waveney. In 1943, he was transferred to HMS Papua.
The ship was one of four that sank U-1014 off Malin Head, County Donegal, Ireland.
In November 1945, Francis was given command of HMS Barndale. In 1949, HMS Barndale was involved in trials assessing the effect of nuclear blasts on ships. HMS Arethusa was the subject of these experiments.
He was then engaged in mine clearance operations off Sierra Leone until 1951.
He was also involved in the search for a missing American nuclear trigger off Orford Ness, Suffolk in 1955. The trigger was recovered.
He left the Royal Navy in 1956, and set up a boat building company in the Norfolk Broads, Rowancraft Limited. He maintained his interest in railways, taking miniature steam trains to fairs during the 1960s and 1970s.
In 1972, he had an 0-4-2ST steam locomotive built by David King.
Named Edmund Hannay, it was used on the Wells Harbour Railway (WHR), which Francis built in 1976 at Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk at the request of Norfolk County Council in a bid to alleviate traffic congestion in the town. He later sold the WHR to finance the construction of the Wells and Walsingham Light Railway, which runs between Wells-next-the-Sea and Walsingham, Norfolk and opened in 1982. Francis died in the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital on 27 January 2015 at the age of 92.
His funeral was held on 13 February at Saint Peter"s Church, Forncett Street Peter, Norfolk. attended by about 200 people.
Francis lived in nearby Forncett Street Mary.