Ronald Roscoe Thornely
Born(1889-06-10)10 June 1889
Cambridge, England
Died21 August 1984(1984-08-21) (aged 95)
Buried
Putney Vale Cemetery, London
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchRoyal Navy
Royal Air Force
Years of service1914–1919
RankCaptain
UnitRoyal Naval Armoured Car Division
No. 8 (Naval) Squadron RNAS
Battles/warsWorld War I
 • Gallipoli campaign
 • Western Front
AwardsDistinguished Service Cross

Captain Ronald Roscoe Thornely DSC (10 July 1889 – 21 August 1984[1]) was an English World War I flying ace. He was credited with nine aerial victories while flying for the Royal Naval Air Service.[2]

Early life

Thornely was born in Merton Hall, Cambridge, England,[2] the son of Thomas Thornely (1855–1949), a historian, poet and Fellow of Trinity Hall, Cambridge,[3] and his wife Mabel Martha Thornely.

Military service

Thornely was commissioned as a temporary sub-lieutenant in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve on 12 December 1914.[4] He served in the Royal Naval Armoured Car Division during the Gallipoli campaign. In May 1916, he transferred to the Royal Naval Air Service,[5] being confirmed as a flight sub-lieutenant on 5 May,[6] and granted Royal Aero Club Aviator's Certificate No. 3290 after soloing a Maurice Farman biplane at the Royal Naval Air Station, Chingford, on 29 July 1916.[2]

He joined No. 8 Squadron RNAS in March 1917,[5] gaining his first aerial victory on 4 June, and then two more[2] before being promoted to flight lieutenant on 30 June.[7] Two more victories followed in July, three in August, and his ninth and last on 11 September.[2]

His award of the Distinguished Service Cross was gazetted on 30 October 1917. His citation read:

Flight Lieutenant Ronald Roscoe Thornley, RNAS.
"For gallantry and skill in aerial combats, notably on the following occasions:
On the 16th June, 1917, whilst on patrol, he attacked a two-seater Aviatik, which fell to the ground, inside our lines.
On the 15th August, 1917, he attacked an Albatross scout and shot it down out of control.
On the 19th August, 1917, he attacked an Aviatik and drove it down out of control.
On the 11th September, 1917, he engaged one of three enemy machines, firing about fifty rounds when quite close, apparently wounding the observer at once, and shortly afterwards the enemy machine fell out of control."[8]

Thornley was promoted to the temporary rank of captain on 7 May 1918.[9][note 1]

List of aerial victories

Combat record[2]
No. Date/Time Aircraft/
Serial No.		 Opponent Result Location Notes
1 4 June 1917
@ 0945 hours		 Sopwith Triplane
(N5465)		 German reconnaissance aircraft Set afire; destroyed East of Lens Shared with Flight Sub-Lieutenants Robert Compston and E. A. Bennetts.
2 7 June 1917
@ 1015 hours		 Sopwith Triplane
(N5465)		 Albatros D.V Driven down out of control Henin-Liétard[2][10]
3 16 June 1917
@ 0830 hours		 Undetermined[2][10][note 2] German reconnaissance aircraft Captured Loos, east of Lens Shared with Flight Lieutenant Robert Compston. German pilot KIA, observer WIA.[5]
4 22 July 1917
@ 0630 hours		 Sopwith Camel
(B3845)		 Albatros D.III Driven down out of control Southeast of Gavrelle
5 28 July 1917
@ 0915 hours		 Sopwith Camel
(B3845)		 Albatros D.III Driven down out of control Lens–La Bassée
6 9 August 1917
@ 0915 hours		 Sopwith Camel
(B3845)		 Albatros D.V Driven down out of control East of Henin-Liétard Shared with Flight Sub-Lieutenant William Jordan.
7 15 August 1917
@ 2015 hours		 Sopwith Camel
(B3845)		 Albatros D.III Driven down out of control Lens
8 19 August 1917
@ 0850 hours		 Sopwith Camel German reconnaissance aircraft Driven down out of control East of Lens Shared with Flight Sub-Lieutenants William Jordan, Roderick McDonald, and J. H. Thompson.
9 11 September 1917
@ 1150 hours		 Sopwith Camel
(B3845)		 German reconnaissance aircraft Driven down out of control Pont-a-Vendin

Post World War I

Thornely received a mention in dispatches "for distinguished service in war areas" on 1 January 1919,[5][11] and was transferred to the unemployed list of the Royal Air Force on 1 March 1919.[12]

On 29 April 1949 Ronald Roscoe Thornely was named as executor of the estates of his parents Thomas and Mabel Martha Thornely, who both died in January 1949.[13]

Thornely died on 21 August 1984, and is buried at Putney Vale Cemetery, London.[1]

Notes

  1. ↑ Such promotion usually accompanied an appointment as flight commander.
  2. ↑ Sources disagree as to whether Thornely was flying a Triplane or a Camel for his third victory.

References

  1. 1 2 Lampert, R. L. (19 August 2011). "Ronald Roscoe Thornely (1889–1984)". Geni.com. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Ronald Roscoe Thornely". The Aerodrome. 2016. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  3. ↑ "Books for adoption" (PDF). Oxford Union Library. June 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 September 2015. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  4. ↑ "No. 29007". The London Gazette (Supplement). 15 December 1914. pp. 10689–10690.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Franks (2003), p. 23.
  6. ↑ "No. 29786". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 October 1916. p. 9953.
  7. ↑ "No. 30156". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 June 1917. pp. 6413–6415.
  8. ↑ "No. 30363". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 October 1917. p. 11320.
  9. ↑ "No. 30694". The London Gazette (Supplement). 21 May 1918. p. 5995.
  10. 1 2 Shores, Franks & Guest (1990), p. 264.
  11. ↑ "No. 31098". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1918. p. 103.
  12. ↑ "No. 31251". The London Gazette (Supplement). 25 March 1919. pp. 3887–3889.
  13. ↑ "No. 38598". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 April 1949. p. 2155.

Bibliography

  • Franks, Norman (2003). Sopwith Camel Aces of World War 1: Volume 52 of Aircraft of the Aces: Volume 52 of Osprey Aircraft of the Aces. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84176-534-1.
  • Shores, Christopher F.; Franks, Norman & Guest, Russell F. (1990). Above the Trenches: a Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the British Empire Air Forces 1915–1920. London, UK: Grub Street. ISBN 978-0-948817-19-9.
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