John Thornton (athlete)

John Thornton
Personal information
Birth nameJohn St. Ledger Thornton
NationalityBritish
Born(1911-06-06)6 June 1911
Greasley, England
Died18 August 1944(1944-08-18) (aged 33)
Normandy, German-occupied France
Sport
SportTrack and field
Event110 metres hurdles

John St. Ledger Thornton (6 June 1911 – 18 August 1944) was a British hurdler. He competed in the men's 110 metres hurdles at the 1936 Summer Olympics.[1] He was killed in action during World War II.[2]

Personal life

Thornton served as a major in the Seaforth Highlanders during the Second World War.[3] He served at El Alamein and in the Sicily Campaign, and was killed in action on 18 August 1944 during the Battle of Normandy.[1] Thornton is buried at Banneville-la-Campagne War Cemetery.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "John Thornton Olympic Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  2. ^ "Olympians Who Were Killed or Missing in Action or Died as a Result of War". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Casualty Details: Thronton, John St. Ledger". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 20 May 2020.


Flag of United KingdomBiography iconStub icon 2

This biographical article relating to British athletics is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.