2225156 Sergeant John "Jack" Thornley, Air Gunner, R.A.F.
1912-1945
The following is taken from the book "Hazel Grove at War Again" ISBN 0 905164 06 7 and is reproduced here with kind permission of the author John D Eaton.
When Thomas Thornley went in search of his brother Jack's grave just after the war ended, he found three black wooden crosses outside the town of Alfeld, 20 miles to the south of Hannover in Germany. Jack was in the right hand grave, his colleagues Sergeant Henry Griffiths from Connah's Quay and Flying Officer Allan Marshall from Minehead, next to him. The graves had been neatly kept and flowers had been recently placed on them. He never found out who had tended the graves.
Jack was the son of Thomas (a wheelwright) and Florence Elizabeth Thornley, and was born on the 13th of April 1912 at 484, Buxton Road. Some years later, the family moved to Whitelegge's Buildings at the top of Commercial Road, and later they moved to 15 Grundey Street where Jack lived until he joined the R.A.F. on the 28th of September 1943.
Educated at the Council School, Jack became a close friend of Arthur Bennett whose name is also on the war memorial. As teenagers and young men they spent a lot of time together virtually living at each others house. On leaving school there lives went in very different - directions. Arthur became a professional Golfer at several local golf clubs, and Jack went to work as a painter and decorator for George Griffin and Sons. Jack was related to the Griffin Family through his mother.
At the outbreak of war Jack was working on Military Camouflage and was therefore in a reserved occupation. He joined the Auxiliary Fire Service in his spare time and was sent to help the hard pressed fire brigade in Coventry when it was severely blitzed on the 15th of November 1940, as well as being involved in the Blitz on Manchester on the 22nd and 23rd of December 1940.
On the 28th of December 1943 however, Jack joined the R.A.F. and, having volunteered for flying duties, he was trained as an air gunner. Once trained he was posted to 10 Squadron, flying Halifax Bombers from Melbourne airfield, between York and Hull.
He was about 5 feet 10 inches tall, with dark hair and was a very keen motor cyclist as well as enjoying wild fowling and rabbit shooting.
Jack married Hannah Elizabeth Melville (formerly Cuthbert), known as Ann at stock port registry office on the 7th of January 1944. An was a Divorcee then living at 7 Grundy Street with relatives of Jack's but was originally from the North East of England. She was a fitter at a textile manufacturer, and after the marriage they moved in with Jack's Mother and Aunt who were then living at 15 Grundey Street.
The record of 10 Squadron show that in the ten months following D-Day, it operated on 149 nights and days, dropped approximately 7,600 tons of bombs and laid 600 mines more than 30 Halifaxes were lost by the Squadron during these operations, two of them on the night Jack died. With a crew of seven in each aircraft 210 men had been lost.
One year and 10 days after his marriage, jacks aircraft, Halifax number NA237 ZA-C took off at 18:31 hours on the 16th of January 1945 for a raid on Magdeburg in Germany.
320 Halifaxes, 44 Lancasters and 7 Mosquitoes took part in this area raid, and the bombing destroyed 44% of the targeted built up area. The cost to the R.A.F. was also high, with 17% of Halifaxes being lost, over 5% of the total force. Jack's aircraft was one of the lost, being shot down by a night fighter. It crashed at 22:30 hours between the towns of Horsum and Alfeld. Four of the crew survived to be taken prisoner, but Jack and two others did not.
In about 1947 the three were reburied in Hanover War Cemetery, Jack lies in Plot 1, Row C Grave 12, with his two colleagues still lying next to him. Also buried in the same cemetery is Howard Lodge, who was shot down two months later. Four months before he was killed Jack's mother had died.
Jack Thornley who was 32 years old, is also commemorated on the memorial in Norbury Church and in the R.A.F. book of remembrance at ST Mary's Parish Church Stockport. For a number of years after the war the family of Arthur Bennett, Jack's closest friend placed an "In Memoriam" every year in the local newspaper, Jack was always included in it.