Bill was an amazing man, superb clinician scientist, brilliant raconteur, close colleague and a good friend. He was the grandfather of the specialty of Allergy in the UK and a global icon.
A legion of his disciples including me Will miss him dearly and mourn his passing. At the same time we feel blessed to have been touched by his humour, generosity of spirit and courage. All of us benefited from his encyclopedic knowledge of allergy and enjoyed his inexhaustible wealth of life stories. We had always encouraged Bill to write his autobiography and finally his long awaited biography was published in 2018.
His book ‘From Hell Island To Hay Fever ‘ was fascinating and gave insights into Bill’s war time experience and his career. Even though he must have had a torrid time spent as a POW, he was able to recount the experience without undue rancour or bitterness; an amazing achievement. His role in the story of the discovery of penicillin , his encounter with a despot dictator and an account of his subsequent career progression would have filled the fictional pages of an issue of Boys’ Own story book except it was all true! He will be remembered in the annals as the person who conducted the first double blind placebo controlled trial of pollen injection immunotherapy for seasonal hayfever.
I had the privilege of working with Bill for 10 years or more At Guy’s Hospital and I have known him for a quarter of a century. I was the proud recipient of The William Frankland Award. The accolade meant a great deal to me then and even more now. It is a recognition that I will treasure forever. His legacy of scientific curiosity, clinical excellence, mentorship and companionship will have inspired and be held in the hearts by all those who have known him.
My dear Bill, may you rest in peace in the loving arms of your beloved Pauline and continue to delight all your good friends in heaven with your stories.
Tak Lee
Tak
4th April 2020