Franz was born on 7 April 1905 in Graz, Austria. Little is known about his background but records state that he was a lawyer whilst living in Graz. Franz escaped from the Nazi Regime and fled to England where in 1939 he was living at Kitchener Camp in Sandwich, Kent.

He enlisted into the Pioneer Corps at the outbreak of war. On 1 October 1941, Franz’s body was found outside 200 Gloucester Terrace, Paddington in London. The Coroner at the inquest ruled that Franz died from a fractured skull after a fall from the roof of a house to the roadway. He concluded that he killed himself while the balance of his mind was disturbed.