CLAUDE THORNTON

.Trooper William Claude Thornton had been serving with the Canterbury Mounted Rifles in Palestine. Claude, as he is remembered by his family today, was born in 1892 and grew up in the family home at 244 Harewood Road and attended Harewood School. He had joined in March 1916 and arrived in Suez in January 1917. He had been promoted to Corporal and then to Sergeant, but relinquished these ranks at his own request on 25 January and returned to the ranks, presumably to remain with close comrades. In March he was posted initially to the 10th Squadron of the Canterbury Mounted Rifles, but a month later was transferred to the 1st. After a break in Red Camp in Port Said he returned to the field, where he was wounded in the left buttock on 21 October 1917. On recovering from this wound he returned to active duty and was killed in action on 25 November 1917. He was buried in the desert where he was killed (see the photograph below) and is listed on the Jerusalem Memorial, which commemorates the 3300 Commonwealth servicemen who died in operations in Egypt and Palestine, many of whom have no known graves.

(Thornton family)

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