Once War had begun Frank immediately joined the Royal Artillery, helping the Royal Naval Air Service plan a crucial bombing raid on Friedrichshafen. The raid was very successful and he joined the R.N.A.S. on a more permanent basis. Testament to his intelligence, he quickly rose through the ranks and qualified as a pilot, rising to the position of Flight-Commander in 1916, and Wing-Commander not long after that.

 

Throughout most of his time with the R.N.A.S Frank was on the Admiralty Board of Invention and Research ,and also helped to found the Royal Naval Experimental Station at Stratford. Using his thorough knowledge of pyrotechnics from the family fireworks company, he became a brilliant and incredibly respected inventor for the government. Amongst the innovations he was behind were Dover Flares, used in anti-submarine defence on the raid he would eventually be killed in, the Brock Colour Filter, and, most importantly, the “Brock Bullet”, which was designed to bring down Zeppelins by causing them to catch fire upon impact, where previously the British had been completely ineffective at taking down Zeppelins. 

 

In 1918 he was awarded an O.B.E. in honour of his contributions to the wider War effort. Later that year he was a key player in a major raid on Zeebrugge, which took place on St. George’s Day, 23rd April. Not only had he been the creator of the smokescreen which was used to disguise the arrival of British forces, the dover flares, but he valiantly commanded troops on the day of the actual raid. During the raid, he went ashore as part of a small party, and was last seen leading a charge on the breakwater of Zeebrugge Harbour. His final fate is unclear, and he has no known grave, although some accounts say that he may have been the British officer who was reported killed during a swordfight with German sailor Hermann Kunne. His role in creating the smokescreen for the raid led to a personal commendation in Parliament from the First Lord of the Admiralty, Eric Geddes. Frank was survived by his widow, Gladys, and their two children, and will forever be remembered as a hero of WWI.  As he has no known grave, he is commemorated at the Zeebrugge Memorial in Belgium.

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