- See Charles Aldridge Thorne’s entry on the Board of Trade’s Ancestry public tree.
- This information updates the group’s previous research published on the former DTI website (now archived by the National Archives).
- Do you have any more information about Charles Aldridge Thorne? If so the War Memorial Research Group would love to hear from you
Name recorded on Board of Trade Memorial: C. A. Thorne DCM and Bar
Born: January 1879, Tipton, Staffordshire, England
Date of Death: 13 October 1918
Age at death: 39
Service, Regiment, Corps, etc: Wiltshire Regiment
Unit, Ship, etc: 7th Battalion
Enlisted: Swindon
Rank: Coy Sergeant Major (Service No: 13568)
Decorations: WW1 Service Medals (Victory Medal, British War Medal and 1915 Star) and Distinguished Conduct Medal and Bar and Mentioned in Dispatches
War (and theatre): WW1 (France and Flanders)
Manner of Death: Died of Wounds (DOW)
Family Details: Husband of Catherine Thorne (nee O’Connor)
Residence: Swindon
Home Department: Board of Trade – Labour Department (South Western Division)
Civilian Rank: Clerk
Cemetery or Memorial: Honnechy British Cemetery, Nord (II.A.8); Board of Trade War Memorial; Memorial to Staff of the Ministry of Labour; Swindon WW1 Memorial Board in former Swindon Town Hall; Swindon Cenotaph;
Biography:
Charles Aldridge Thorne was born in about January 1879 as Charles Aldridge. His parents were Charles Aldridge (1837-1919) and Mary Millwall (1840-1902) Charles had two siblings – Sarah Aldridge (1866-?) and Mary Jane Aldridge (1869-1915). His father was a ‘puddler’ working for an iron manufacturing company. Tipton (and many other Staffordshire towns were the centre of iron producing industry in England due to large mineral deposits. The most common method producing wrought iron was called ‘puddling’ which was invented in 1784 by Henry Cort which involved melting pig or scrap cast iron in a puddling furnace.
Charles appears in three census records. In the 1881 census, he is living at 7 Lorne Street, Princes End, Tipton, Staffordshire with his parents. In the 1891 census he is living at 16 Sand Street, Greets Green, West Bromwich, Staffordshire.
Charles escaped this working class life and decided to join the military aged 18.
He does not appear in the 1901 census because he was serving at the time in the Boer War in South Africa with the 1st Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment. Charles had originally enlisted as a Private in the 1st Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment on 19 March 1898.
Curiously before his enlistment as a regular soldier, Charles appears to have enlisted in firstly the 3rd (Militia) Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment (on 10 December 1897) and then the 3rd Militia Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment (on 3 February 1898). It is at this time that he takes the surname ‘Thorne’ that he continues to use for the rest of his life. His enlistment papers for both Regiments are remarkably similar. In the Worcestershire Militia papers they state that he was aged 18 years old, was 5 feet 4 and 3/4 inches tall, weighed 142 pounds, had a fair complexion, blue eyes and brown hair. Both enlistment papers state his occupation as an iron worker and have very similar signatures.
Charles served with as a regular soldier in the 1st Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment from 1898 to 1910 ending his terms of service as a Sergeant. He was awarded the Queen’s South Africa Medal with Cape Colony, Orange Free State and Transvaal clasps and the King’s South Africa Medal with South Africa 1901 and 1902 clasps. After the end of the Boer War he served with the 1st Worcestershire Regiment in 1903 at Templemore, Ireland, and from 1907 at Portobello Barracks, Dublin and from 1908 at Bordon Camp, Hampshire.
Whilst serving Ireland, Charles met Catherine O’Connor (1877-1953) who was born in Cork, Ireland. They were later married in Winchester, England in March 1907. Together Charles and Catherine had four children – Mary Adelaide Thorne (1907-1976), Victor Charles Thorne (1909-1978), Kathleen Sarah Thorne (1910-1997) and Martin Thomas Thorne (1913-1973) and tragically his youngest daughter Emily F Thorne (1915-1918) who died aged 3 years old not long before Charles himself died.
Charles subsequently left the army and he re-appears in the 1911 census as a visitor at 1 St Margaret’s Road, Bishopstoke, Hampshire at the house of his brother-in-law and sister, John and Sarah Carpenter.
He later moved to Swindon, Wiltshire and worked as a Clerk at the Swindon Labour Exchange (as part of the Labour Department and the Board of Trade).
At the advent of WW1, Charles re-enlisted as a Sergeant on 29 September 1914 at the Le Marchant Barracks, Devizes, Wiltshire, with the local Wiltshire Regiment. As a Boer War veteran, Charles must have been welcomed with open arms thanks to his prior military experience.
Charles was assigned to the 7th Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment. The battalion were part of the 79th Brigade, 26th Division. They trained at Codford, Wilshire and then spent the winter of 1914 in billets at Marlborough. This period training was characterised by lack of equipment and uniforms meaning that the battalion had to improvise. They then had final training at Sutton Veny, Wiltshire in April 1915. The battalion were sent to serve in France in September 1915. According to Charles WW1 medal index record card he first arrived in France on 29 September 1915. They were then posted overseas to Salonika in November 1915 where the battalion remained until June 1918 when they returned to serve in France. Whilst in the Balkans the battalion fought in 1916 at the Battle of Horseshoe Hill fighting the Bulgarians and then in 1917 in the First and Second Battles of Doiran. On their return to France in 1918, the battalion fought in the Battles of the Hindenburg Line. This was a series of major British offensive operations to try and break the German’s defensive system. It was during these military engagements that Charles died.
Charles was clearly a fine and dedicated soldier and was twice awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) for bravery and was also mentioned in dispatches.
The award of the first DCM to Charles Thorne is listed in the London Gazette of 18 February 1918 and the Bar to DCM on 12 March 1919. He was also mentioned in dispatches.
The award citation in 1918 took place in relation to his service in Macedonia and reads as follows:
“DCM, London Gazette 18th February 1918
13568 C.S./M. C. Thorne, Wilts. R. (Swindon).
For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. After all his company officers had been killed or wounded he took command, rallying the company after heavy casualties had been sustained, and keeping the men together. His pluck and determination inspired confidence, and set a very fine example at a time when it was most needed.“
The second DCM award relates to the action in which Charles died:
“London Gazette 12th March 1919, DCM Bar.
13568 C./S./M. C.A. Thorne, D.C.M., 7th Bn., Wilts. R. (Swindon).
“For most conspicuous gallantry and good work during operations near Gouy from 4th to 6th October, 1918. He showed the greatest dash throughout the attack on 4th October, and, although wounded, continued to carry on, consolidating the new line. After having had his wound dressed he returned to his company, and throughout the night materially assisted his company commander in every way under very heavy shellfire. He set a very fine example to his company throughout the day and night under most trying circumstances.”
On the 12th and 13th October, the 7th Wilts were in reserve to 50th Division at Reumont, 3 miles south west of Le Cateau. The Swindon Advertiser reported that Charles was killed by shell fire which fell in the transport lines, as he was returning from duty in the front line; this is very likely given their location on 13th October. Charles is recorded as dying from his wounds, and he is buried in Honnechy British Cemetery which is close to Reumont.“
His local newspaper, the “Swindon Advertiser” reported his death on 18 November 1918:
“THE ROLL OF HONOUR
C.S.M. C.A. THORNE
Mrs Thorne of 27 Stanier Street, Swindon, has received the sad news of the death of her husband, Company Sergeant-Major C.A. Thorne, who volunteered to join up at the outbreak of war, and did so in September 1914. He spent 3 years in Macedonia, and gained the D.C.M., and was mentioned in dispatches. Last July, his battalion (the Wilts) came to France. He was home on leave as recently as last August, and proceeding back to France was shortly in the firing line, attached to the 5th Army (Editor: actually 4th Army). He was again recommended for distinction for gallant services rendered, and had got back to the transport lines from the front line, when a shell burst over him killing him instantaneously, on the 13th October. C.S.M. Thorne was a clerk in the Employment Exchange at Swindon, and his loss is greatly regretted by the manager and staff. He was a Freemason, being a member of the Mark Mason Lodge, and the Royal Arch Lodge of England.“
Charles died on 13 October 1918 aged 39. By the time of his death he was a Company Sergeant Major meaning that he was a senior non-commissioned officer responsible for standards, discipline and distribution of ammuntion.
Charles is buried in Honnechy British Cemetery near to Le Cateau. From August 1914 until 9 October 1918, the village was held by the Germans and was the site of a German cemetery begun by German hospital centre. After its recapture by the British, the cemetery continued to be used by British troops until 24 October 1918. 300 German graves were moved elsewhere, leaving 44 British graves. These graves were added to by additional re-burials from German cemeteries so that there are now over 450 WW1 graves (including a quarter that remain unidentified).
According to a local paper, Charles was a freemason at Mark Mason Lodge and Royal Arch Lodge so he should appear on the Masonic Roll of Honour. However he does not appear on the roll according to the Masonic Great War Project. This is not that surprising as the original document included 3064 names and the known list of freemasons has now expanded to over 4100 names. The original document has a number of discrepancies as well as missing names, which is understandable given the challenge of gathering names from across the UK in the aftermath of WW1.
Charles is however commemorated on the the Swindon WW1 Memorial Board in the former Swindon Town Hall (which is now a dance centre) and on the town’s Swindon Cenotaph.
He is named on two Civil Service War Memorials – the Board of Trade War Memorial and the Memorial to Staff of the Ministry of Labour. He is not commemorated in his original home town of Tipton but his remembered on “Tipton Remembers” website where we kindly acknowledge much of the prior research into Charles’s life.
Board of Trade War Memorial 