He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1920. Initially assigned to the infantry branch, General Farrell graduated from the Infantry Officer Course in 1921. He then served in several infantry assignments, including postings to Hawaii and China. In 1928, General Farrell transferred to the Field Artillery branch. He completed the Field Artillery Officer Course in 1928.
From 1942 to 1944, Farrell served in the Pacific Theater as chief of staff of the 11th Airborne Division. He commanded the 11th Airborne Division Artillery from 1944 to 1946.
Post-World War II
After World War II, Farrell was assigned to Fort Bragg, North Carolina as commander of the 13th Airborne Division Artillery. In mid-1946, Farrell was named chief of staff of the 82nd Airborne Division. He served in this assignment for only a few months before being appointed as chief of the Air Branch at Army Ground Forces, where he remained from late 1946 until 1948. Farrell was named director of the Technical Training Group at Sandia Missile Base, New Mexico in 1948.
In 1952, Farrell was assigned as deputy assistant chief of staff for operations on the Army Staff, serving until 1953. He commanded the 82nd Airborne Division from 1953 to 1955. In 1955, he was assigned as special assistant for national security affairs, advising the Joint Chiefs of Staff. General Farrell was named to command V Corps in 1957, serving until 1959. In 1959, General Farrell was assigned as commander of the Seventh United States Army, remaining in this post until he reached retirement age in 1960.
Civilian work
After retiring from the Army in 1960, General Farrell was appointed as New York State's Civil Defense Director, serving from 1961 to 1963.
Farrell had married Anne Ramsey (27 December 1909 – 20 May 2011) on 15 July 1931, at West Point, New York. The couple had a son, a daughter and six grandchildren. Their son Francis William Farrell Jr. (born 5 October 1938) is a 1960 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy who served in Vietnam and attained the rank of colonel. After Lt. Gen. Farrell's death, Anne Farrell remarried in April 1982 with retired General James Edward Moore, whose first wife had died in September 1976. Anne Farrell Moore was interred next to her first husband on 6 September 2011.
↑Hell or high water: MacArthur's landing at Inchon, by Walter J. Sheldon, 1968, page 14
↑Military Advisors in Korea: KMAG in Peace and War, by Robert K. Sawyer, Walter G. Hermes, published by U.S. Department of the Army Office of Military History, 1962, page 156
↑Newspaper article, 3 General Officers Given New Posts, by United Press International, Stars and Stripes, Europe, Mediterranean, and North Africa Editions, June 1, 1952
↑Newspaper article, Army Gives New Assignments to 11 Generals, by United Press International, Stars and Stripes, Europe, Mediterranean, and North Africa Editions, October 2, 1953
↑Newspaper article, 3 Generals Shift, Loucks Retiring, by Stars and Stripes Washington Bureau, Stars and Stripes, Europe, Mediterranean, and North Africa Editions, May 28, 1955
↑Newspaper article, Farrell Retiring, by United Press International, Stars and Stripes, Europe, Mediterranean, and North Africa Editions, May 14, 1960
↑Newspaper article, 7th Army, Bonn Troops Honor Retiring Farrell, by Herb Scott, Staff Writer, Stars and Stripes, Stars and Stripes, Europe, Mediterranean, and North Africa Editions, July 1, 1960
↑"Class of 1960—Register of Graduates". Official Register of the Officers and Cadets. United States Military Academy. 1969. p.765. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
↑"Marriage Return". No.82–012954. Richmond, Virginia: Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Health, Division of Vital Records and Health Statistics. 8 April 1982.