CRAWLEY'S first resident to be killed in the war died after the severe wounds he sustained became infected.Lance Corporal Francis Franks died just two months into the war, during the first battle he fought in.Born in 1890, Francis Franks was the son of William and Elizabeth.The 1901 census shows he was brought up, along with his five siblings, in a cottage near Mill Lane on Ifield Green.Mr Franks initially followed in his father's footsteps and worked as a gardener before enlisting with the...
