Gorman, Francis John Noel (Frankie)

Leading Aircraftman

No. 647105, 274 Squadron, Royal Air Force

Died in service on Thursday 23 April 1942 (aged 20)

Buried:

El Alamein War Cemetery, Egypt (Grave XXXI. D. 17)

Commemorated:

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Bangor and District War Memorial

Queen’s Parade Methodist Church, Bangor

BIOGRAPHY

Francis John Noel (Frankie) Gorman was a son of Albert and Isabella Gorman (nee Johnston) of 7 Beatrice Avenue, Bangor.  Albert Gorman was on active service during the Great War and he and Isabella Johnston were married on 19 March 1918 in Wesley Centenary Methodist Church, Hamilton Road, Bangor.  Albert Gorman, a Rifleman in the 11/13^th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles from 3 King Street, Bangor was a son of John Gorman, a labourer.  Isabella Johnston from 13 Beatrice Avenue, Bangor was a daughter of James Johnston, a bricklayer.

Albert and Isabella Gorman (nee Johnston) had at least two children:

Jim (born 1920)

Frankie (born 1922)

Frankie Gorman was educated at Main Street and Central Public Elementary Schools in Bangor.  He was a keen swimmer and a member of the 2^nd Bangor (Hamilton Road Methodist) Boys’ Brigade (BB) Company.  He played football for 2^nd Bangor BB and in 1932/33 he won the Junior Drill Award.  Frankie joined the Royal Air Force when he was 17 and spent a year in England before he was drafted to the Middle East.  In RAF sports competitions he won prizes for discus and javelin throwing and for swimming.

Leading Aircraftman Francis John Noel Gorman (No. 647105) was 20 when he died in Egypt on 23 April 1942 and he was buried in El Alamein War Cemetery.  There is an inscription on his CWGC headstone:

THE BEST IS YET TO COME

Leading Aircraftman Francis John Noel Gorman (No. 647105) is commemorated on Bangor and District War Memorial and in Queen’s Parade Methodist Church, Bangor.