Notes
Dick Henry Brewster Thornton was born on 21 July 1907, the elder son of Gwendoline and Thornton Benjamin Thornton, a jute merchant. He was educated at Eton College until 1926 and entered Worcester College, Oxford on 15 October 1926. He graduated with a pass degree in 1929.
Dick Thornton studied at the Inner Temple and was called to the bar in 1933. He practised as a barrister at law until 1940 and was a member of the Medico Legal Society. He married Joan Rosemary Cohen on 16 December 1937 and they honeymooned in New York. They had a son named Jeremy in December 1938.
Following the outbreak of war Dick Thornton enlisted a Special Constable with the Metropolitan Police before being commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Grenadier Guards on 4 September 1940. He suffered from an old injury to his left knee which caused some pain and caused him to walk with a limp. As a result, a medical board ruled that he should not serve on active duty. He transferred to the London District Legal Aid Section on 15 July 1942 and was promoted to Captain in October that year.
On Sunday 18 June 1944 Dick Thornton attended a service at the Guards Chapel in Whitehall to commemorate the Battle of Waterloo and the recent success in the Normandy landings. The service was in progress when the Chapel was hit by a V1 ‘Doodlebug’ rocket, the explosion completely destroying the roof and supporting walls. Major Dick Thornton was among those killed. He was 36 years old.
Dick Thornton is commemorated at Golders Green Crematorium, and on the war memorials at Lord’s Cricket Ground, Eton College, the Inner Temple and Worcester College, Oxford.