Dick Franks

{{Infobox spy

|honorific_prefix = Sir

|honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KCMG}}

| name = Dick Franks

| image =

| caption =

| allegiance = United Kingdom

| service = Secret Intelligence Service (SIS/MI6)

| serviceyears =

| rank = Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service

| operation =

| awards = KCMG

| birth_name = Arthur Temple Franks

| birth_date =13 July 1920

| birth_place = Hampstead, London, England

| death_date =12 October 2008 (aged 88)

| death_place = Aldeburgh, Suffolk, England

| nationality = British

| spouse = Rachel Ward

| children = One son, two daughters

| occupation =Intelligence officer

| alma_mater = Queen's College, Oxford

}}

Sir Arthur Temple "Dick" Franks {{post-nominals|size=100%|KCMG}} (13 July 1920 – 12 October 2008) was Head of the British Secret Intelligence Service from 1979 to 1982.

Career

Educated at Rugby School and Queen's College, Oxford, Franks was commissioned into the Royal Corps of Signals in 1940.{{Cite news|date=20 October 2008|title=Sir Dick Franks obituary|page=51|work=The Times|issue=69459|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article4973918.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100524022832/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article4973918.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 May 2010}} He became an Intelligence officer in the Western Desert and then joined the Special Operations Executive.{{Cite web|date=20 October 2008|title=Sir Dick Franks|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/3227310/Sir-Dick-Franks.html|url-status=live|access-date=2021-08-05|website=The Daily Telegraph|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081023075645/http://www.telegraph.co.uk:80/news/obituaries/3227310/Sir-Dick-Franks.html |archive-date=23 October 2008 }}{{Cite web|last=Burns|first=Jimmy|date=24 October 2008|title=Trusted mastermind of UK cold war spycraft|url=https://www.ft.com/content/c1b4aa52-a1fc-11dd-a32f-000077b07658?nclick_check=1#comments-anchor|url-status=live|access-date=2021-08-05|website=Financial Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210805135105/https://www.ft.com/content/c1b4aa52-a1fc-11dd-a32f-000077b07658?nclick_check=1 |archive-date=5 August 2021 }}

He started his career by "earning a reputation for daring military exploits against Nazi Germany before pursuing a fruitful career on Her Majesty’s secret service."

After the War he briefly worked for the Daily Mirror before joining the Secret Intelligence Service in 1946. He became involved in Operation Boot, a plan to overthrow Mohammad Mosaddegh, the nationalistic Iranian Prime Minister in 1953. He was posted to Bonn in 1962 and was promoted to Deputy Chief in 1977. He was appointed Chief of the Service in 1978, in place of Brian Stewart, the Director of Support Services.[http://www.scotsman.com/news/obituaries/obituary-brian-stewart-cmg-mi6-director-1-3882474 Obituary: Brian Stewart] The Scotsman, 10 September 2015

As Chief, Franks was forced to contend with budget cuts, which he accepted for fear that SIS would otherwise be merged with the Security Service.{{cite book |last1=Thomas |first1=Gordon |title=Inside British Intelligence: 100 Years of MI5 and MI6 |pages=321–322 |chapter=Out of the Shadows}} One of the consequences of these cuts was the virtual closure of the MI6 station in Tehran – and the sole remaining officer was forbidden from operating out of the British Embassy by Ambassador Anthony Parsons – forcing him to instead rent a flat and depend on briefs delivered by SAVAK.

Personal

He lived at Aldeburgh in Suffolk.[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/sir-dick-franks-wartime-soe-officer-who-became-chief-of-the-secret-intelligence-service-in-the-cold-war-978472.html Obituary: Sir Dick Franks] The Independent, 30 October 2008 Franks was a member of the Travellers Club and still made regular visits into the last years of his life, often reminiscing with old colleagues from the intelligence world.

He was nicknamed "Dick" and "Dickie".

Sir Colin McColl, former head of MI6, said: “He [Franks] was extremely effective yet also sensitive, intelligent and a most delightful man.”

References

External links

[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/3227310/Sir-Dick-Franks.html Daily Telegraph obituary]
[http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c1b4aa52-a1fc-11dd-a32f-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1 Financial Times obituary]
Sir Dick Franks entry in Who's Who & Who Was Who

{{succession box |

before=Sir Maurice Oldfield|

title=Chief of the SIS |

years=1979–1982|

after=Sir Colin Figures|

}}

Category:1920 births

Category:2008 deaths

Category:Military personnel from the London Borough of Camden

Category:People from Hampstead

Category:Alumni of the Queen's College, Oxford

Category:Cold War spies