He was elected to the Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers in 1937 and was president of the Royal Town Planning Institute in 1944.

[5] Frank was chief engineer of the London County Council from 1931 to 1946 and coordinating officer for Road Repairs and Public Utility Services during the period 1939-1945.

He was knighted in 1942 for his direction of the repair services that enabled London to carry on in spite of the severest air raids.

He is credited with having organised and put to action "rapid response" teams who repaired upwards of a hundred breaches in the Thames wall, thus preventing low-lying areas of London from being flooded,[6] an achievement that, for reasons of protecting "the public's morale," was kept secret during the war.

[6] On 29 October 2014 a commemorative green plaque, funded by the Institution of Civil Engineers, was unveiled by the Lord Mayor of Westminster in his memory.