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]
Ronald Roscoe Thornely | |
---|---|
Born | Cambridge, England | 10 June 1889
Died | 21 August 1984 | (aged 95)
Buried | Putney Vale Cemetery, London |
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Service/ | Royal Navy Royal Air Force |
Years of service | 1914–1919 |
Rank | Captain |
Unit | Royal Naval Armoured Car Division No. 8 (Naval) Squadron RNAS |
Battles/wars | World War I • Gallipoli campaign • Western Front |
Awards | Distinguished Service Cross |
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.
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:
Thornley was promoted to the temporary rank of captain on 7 May 1918.[9][note 1]
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 |
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]