Private Thomas Thornton

Service Number: 1170

1st/5th Bn. East Lancashire Regiment

Died 9th June 1915, aged 33

Son of the late Daniel & Margaret Thornton

Husband of the late Mary Agnes Thornton, 3 Bush Street, Burnley

From the Burnley Express dated 19th June 1915:  BURNLEY DRUMMER KILLED.  Another Dardanelles Casualty

Mrs. M. A. Thornton of 3 Bush Street, Burnley, received official word on Thursday that her husband, Pte. Thomas Thornton (1170), of the 1st/5th Battalion East Lancashire Regiment (Territorials), had been killed in action at the Dardanelles, the presumptive date being June 9th.  Pte. Thornton, who was 33 years of age, worked as a weaver at Oak Bank Mill, and was well known in the town.  He was a member of the old Volunteer Force and continued with the Terratorials when the system was changed.  A member of the band, he was prominent, as the bass drummer.  His wife is left with two children, one aged seven and the other aged five. 

 Commemorated on the Helles Memorial: Panel 114 to 118