Born in the
East End of London in 1922, Turner developed an interest in sports as a boy, training in table tennis, diving, football, boxing and gymnastics. As a
flyweight Turner boxed in the semi-finals of the
Amateur Boxing Association of England Championship before deciding to develop his interest in gymnastics. Aged 11 he won the South of England Boys Championship in 1933 before making his international debut aged 15 in 1938. On leaving school in 1939 he worked as a bank clerk, but during
World War II he was
conscripted into the
Royal Artillery in 1941. He served in North Africa and Sicily and was twice wounded. Turner was also at the
1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, competing in the Men's Individual All-Around, the Men's Team All-Around, the Men's Floor Exercise, the Men's Horse Vault, the Men's Parallel Bars, the Men's Horizontal Bar, the Men's Rings, and Men's Pommelled Horse. In the
1956 Summer Olympics in
Melbourne Turner competed in the Men's Individual All-Around, the Men's Floor Exercise, the Men's Horse Vault, the Men's Parallel Bars, the Men's Horizontal Bar, the Men's Rings, and the Men's Pommelled Horse. As National Coach to the British gymnastics team he also attended the
1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. With his wife he had two sons, Keith and Colin Turner. Frank Turner died of cancer at his home in
Bricket Wood in Hertfordshire in September 2010 aged 87. His ashes were scattered in a field in
Aldenham. ==References==