John joined the RAF at the outbreak of war completing most of his training in the USA. He returned to England as a qualified pilot and a commission. Posted to 172 Squadron in 1942 which was an anti-submarine squadron, part of RAF Costal Command, based at RAF Chivenor, Devon, flying the Vickers Wellington fitted with a carbon arc searchlight.

As the captain of Wellington bomber VIII LB114, he and his crew were reported missing from an air-sea rescue flight on Tuesday 15^th December 1942 when their aircraft failed to return. John, aged 24 at the time of his death, is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial, Englefield Green, Surrey.

He served alongside fellow OW John Webber in the same squadron when he too was killed less than a fortnight later.

Son of Alexander James Thornton & Constance Mary Margaret Thornton.

A downloadable copy of this story is available here.

See also the Commonwealth War Graves Commission permanent digital memorial, ‘Evermore: Stories of the fallen’ relating to:-
F/Officer John Brian THORNTON