[2] He had a younger brother Max, born on 22 August 1918 in Düsseldorf, who was killed in action as a Hauptmann and commander of the I. Gruppe (1st group) of Zerstörergeschwader 1 (ZG 1—1st Destroyer Wing) on 19 July 1943 on the Eastern Front.

[6] World War II in Europe began on Friday, 1 September 1939, when German forces invaded Poland.

[8] In mid-January 1940, I. Gruppe was ordered to an airfield at Gymnich, today part of Erftstadt, where it patrolled Germany's western border.

On an early morning mission to Maastricht, the Gruppe engaged in aerial combat with Belgian Gloster Gladiator fighters.

Later that day, the Gruppe intercepted ten French Lioré et Olivier LeO 45 bombers escorted by two squadrons of Morane-Saulnier M.S.406 fighters.

That day, Franzisket was credited with his last aerial victories of the Battle of France, claiming two LeO 45 medium bombers near Nesle and a M.S.406 fighter shot down near Roye.

[13] When the Armistice of 22 June 1940 was signed, Franzisket was credited with nine aerial victories and had been awarded the Iron Cross 2nd and 1st Class (Eisernes Kreuz zweiter und erster Klasse).

[14][6] In preparation for combat with the Royal Air Force (RAF) in what would become the Battle of Britain, I. Gruppe moved to an airfield at Plumetot, locate north of Caen on the English Channel, on 30 June.

[16] Franzisket claimed his first aerial victory of the Battle of Britain on 11 July during a Kanalkampf mission over a Hawker Hurricane fighter south of Isle of Portland.

[17] On 8 August, I. Gruppe escorted Junkers Ju 87 dive bombers attacking Convoy CW 9 in the English Channel.

That day, I. Gruppe pilots claimed nine aerial victories south of the Isle of Wight, including a Hurricane by Franzisket, for the loss of one of their own.

The day before, I. Gruppe had received new orders, was withdrawn from the English Channel and had relocated to an airfield at Stade in Northern Germany.

[20] On 3 December 1940, I. Gruppe was again withdrawn from the English Channel and relocated to Döberitz located approximately 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) west of Staaken.

There, the ground crew began preparations for the air elements to arrive at the designated airfield at Ayn al-Ġazāla.

The orders for I. Gruppe that day were to attack and destroy the Yugoslavian air defenses in the area of Laibach, present-day Ljubljana in Slovenia.

[22] At the time of his relocation to North Africa, Franzisket was credited with 14 aerial victories and one of the most successful fighter pilots within I. Gruppe of JG 27.

[23][24] A notable success in this period occurred on 14 June 1941 when Franzisket intercepted and shot down South African ace Captain Kenneth Driver.

He managed to bail out of his Bf 109 G-2 trop (Werknummer 10616—factory number) in a location approximately 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) southeast of Quotaifiyah, a makeshift airfield at 31°04′N 28°18′E / 31.067°N 28.300°E / 31.067; 28.300.

Over and above, our tactics seemed to be better than the British, but on the other hand, the ever-growing superiority in numbers of the RAF was the reason why JG 27 was from the summer, 1942 onwards, more and more decimated and weakened.

In late July, the Gruppe moved to Münster-Handorf Airfield in Germany for combat operations against the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF).

[34] On 22 August, I. Gruppe relocated to an airfield at Fels am Wagram located approximately 17 kilometers (11 miles) east-northeast of Krems an der Donau, Austria.

[35] On 14 October during the second Schweinfurt raid at 12:44, I. Gruppe took off at Fels am Wagram and were vectored in a northwesterly direction and were refueled at Ansbach Airfield.

At 14:45, the Gruppe intercepted a formation of Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombers in the area south-southeast of Schweinfurt.

[38] That day, Franzisket's Bf 109 G-6/U4 (Werknummer 441097) was shot down and severely wounded in combat with the bombers, forcing him to bail out near Frankfurt.

On 30 December, Franzisket was appointed Geschwaderkommodore (wing commander), replacing Oberstleutnant Gustav Rödel who had been transferred to the 2.

[42] Following World War II in 1946, Franzisket attended the University of Münster where he studied biology, chemistry and physics.