William Christopher Thornton          Updated: 22 NOV 2021

Airman: a096054.htm Surname: Thornton Init: W C Rank: Sgt Service: RAF Sqdn: 44

P_link: p403.htm Plane: LAN NG396 Operation: Bomb G Crash_site: The Baltic Sea

Crash_d: d070345 Buried_d: b230646 C_link: c096.htm At_Next: Svinø

Den 7. marts 1945 styrtede LAN NG396 i Østersøen i forbindelse med et bombetogt til Sassnitz.
Hele besætningen omkom. (Kilde: p403MACR)

W. C. Thornton blev fundet i Storstrømmen (omkring her) af en fisker. Han blev begravet på
Svinø Kirkegård den 23. juni 1946. (Kilde: Kirkebogen) Identificeret senere, se foto fra Mette Magnusson.
Han var ikke canadier men irer. Han havde ligget over 15 måneder i vandet, da han blev fundet.

Sergeant (Flight Engineer) William Christopher Thornton, 28 år, britisk statsborger, var søn af
Nicholas Thornton og Johanna Thornton (f. Cummins), Cashel, Co. Tipperary, Irland. (Kilde: CWGC)
6 flyvere blev meldt savnet. 7 flyvere.

On 7 March 1945 LAN NG396 crashed into the Baltic Sea in connection with a bombing raid on
Sassnitz. All of the crew perished. (Source: p403MACR)

W. C. Thornton was found in the Storstrømmen (about here) by a fisherman. He was buried in
Svinø Churchyard on 23 June 1946. (Source: The church register) Identified later, see photo from
Mette Magnusson. He was not a Canadian but an Irishman. He had been in the sea for more than
15 months when he was found.

Sergeant (Flight Engineer) William Christopher Thornton, 28, a citizen of the UK, was the son of
Nicholas Thornton and of Johanna Thornton (née Cummins), of Cashel, Co. Tipperary, Irish Republic.
(Source: CWGC) Sacred heart of Jesus, have mercy on his soul. R.I.P.

He is remembered on The Walls of Names at the International Bomber Command Centre, Phase 1, P 107. 

See No. 44 Squadron RAF - Wikipedia*History of No. 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron*
 No. 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron Association*No. 44 Squadron (RAF): Second World War
RAF-Lincolnshire.info: 44 Squadron * Lancaster * Lancaster Photos.
Lancaster I NG396 KM-G took off from RAF Spilsby at 18:31 on 06 MAR 1945.
(Source: Aircrew Remembered has this.) 7 airmen.