General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Sir Augustus Francis Andrew Nicol Thorne, (20 September 1885 – 25 September 1970) was a senior

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer who served in the

First First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

and

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

s, where he commanded the 48th (South Midland) Infantry Division during the

Battle of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembour ...

in mid-1940.

Family

Thorne was the son of Augustus Thorne, a barrister, and Mary Frances Nicol. His nephew, Patrick Campbell-Preston, was the husband of Dame Frances Campbell-Preston. Thorne married the Hon. Margaret Douglas-Pennant, daughter of

George Douglas-Pennant, 2nd Baron Penrhyn George Sholto Gordon Douglas-Pennant, 2nd Baron Penrhyn (born Douglas; 30 September 1836 – 10 March 1907) was a British peer and landowner who played a prominent part in the Slate industry in Wales, Welsh slate industry as the owner of the Pen ...

, on 29 July 1909 at the Guards' Chapel, Wellington Barracks, in London. They had six children, including Lieutenant Colonel Sir Peter Francis Thorne.

Military career

Educated at Eton and the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC) was a United Kingdom, British military academy for training infantry and cavalry Officer (armed forces), officers of the British Army, British and British Indian Army, Indian Armies. It was founded in 1801 at Gre ...

, Thorne was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the

Grenadier Guards The Grenadier Guards (GREN GDS) is the most senior infantry regiment of the British Army, being at the top of the Infantry Order of Precedence. It can trace its lineage back to 1656 when Lord Wentworth's Regiment was raised in Bruges to protect ...

on 2 March 1904. He served in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, becoming a staff captain, having been promoted to the rank of captain on 22 March 1913, then deputy assistant adjutant and quartermaster general and then deputy assistant quartermaster general in France. He became

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually give ...

of the 3rd Battalion, Grenadier Guards in 1916, and saw action in the

First Battle of Ypres The First Battle of Ypres (, , – was a battle of the First World War, fought on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front around Ypres, in West Flanders, Belgium. The battle was part of the First Battle of Flanders, in which German A ...

in 1914 and

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme (; ), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and the French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 Nove ...

in 1916, earning the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful ...

and two Bars. The citation for his first Bar, appearing in ''

The London Gazette ''The London Gazette'', known generally as ''The Gazette'', is one of the official journals of record or government gazettes of the Government of the United Kingdom, and the most important among such official journals in the United Kingdom, i ...

'' in July 1918, reads: Thorne was also awarded the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

by the President of France in 1917, and was promoted to acting lieutenant colonel in July that year as well. In mid-October 1918 he became commander of the 184th Infantry Brigade and with it came the temporary rank of brigadier general. Just a month after his thirty-third birthday, he was one of the youngest generals in the

British Army during the First World War The British Army during the First World War fought the largest and most costly war in its long history. Unlike the French and German Armies, the British Army was made up exclusively of volunteers, as opposed to conscripts, at the beginni ...

. After the war Thorne became assistant

military attaché A military attaché or defence attaché (DA),Defence Attachés
''Geneva C ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

He then returned to the United Kingdom to attend a shortened course at the

Staff College, Camberley Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, was a staff college for the British Army and the presidency armies of British India (later merged to form the Indian Army). It had its origins in the Royal Military College, High Wycombe, founded in 1799, which ...

. This was followed, in 1922, by him becoming a

General Staff Officer A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, Enlisted rank, enlisted, and civilian staff who serve the commanding officer, commander of a ...

(GSO) at London District. He served at the Staff College as an instructor from 1923 to 1925. He was appointed military assistant to the

Chief of the Imperial General Staff Chief of the General Staff (CGS) has been the title of the professional head of the British Army since 1964. The CGS is a member of both the Chiefs of Staff Committee and the Army Board; he is also the Chair of the Executive Committee of the A ...

at the

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

in 1925 and commanding officer of the 3rd Battalion, Grenadier Guards again in 1927. In 1932, he was made military attaché in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

for three years, where he came to know

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

and many of his senior officers personally. He was commander of the 1st Guards Brigade at

Aldershot Command Aldershot Command was a Home Command of the British Army. History After the success of the Chobham Manoeuvres of 1853, reformers of the British Army decided to create a permanent training camp at Aldershot. To begin the preliminary work a smal ...

in 1935, a temporary brigade commander in Palestine and Transjordan in 1936, and in 1938 he became Major General commanding the Brigade of Guards and

General Officer Commanding General officer commanding (GOC) is the usual title given in the armies of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth (and some other nations, such as Ireland) to a general officer who holds a command appointment. Thus, a general might be the GOC ...

(GOC) London District. In 1939, at the start of the

, Thorne became GOC 48th (South Midland) Infantry Division, which played an important role in the defence of the Dunkirk perimeter in 1940. He then became GOC

XII Corps 12th Corps, Twelfth Corps, or XII Corps may refer to: * 12th Army Corps (France) * XII Corps (Grande Armée), a corps of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * XII (1st Royal Saxon) Corps, a unit of the Imperial German Army * XII ( ...

. As GOC XII Corps, he founded the innovative XII Corps Observation Unit as a prototype of the

Auxiliary Units The Auxiliary Units, Home Guard Shock Squads or GHQ Auxiliary Units were specially trained, highly secret quasi military units created by the British government during the Second World War with the aim of using irregular warfare in response to ...

guerrilla organisation. He became GOC

Scottish Command Scottish Command or Army Headquarters Scotland (from 1972) is a Command (military formation), command of the British Army. History Early history Great Britain was divided into military districts on the outbreak of Anglo-French War (1793–180 ...

and Governor of Edinburgh Castle in 1941 and was appointed a

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

(KCB) in the 1942 Birthday Honours. Whilst in Scotland, he was involved in the creation of

War Office Selection Boards War Office Selection Boards, or WOSBs, (pronounced Wosbees) were a scheme devised by British Army psychiatrists during World War II to select potential officers for the British Army. They replaced an earlier method, the Command Interview Board, an ...

and responsible for the Fortitude North deception plan, as well as preparation for the liberation of Norway. War Office Second World War Official Collection H14611

War Office Second World War Official Collection H14611

Germany officially surrendered in Norway on

8 May 1945 Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945; it marked the official surrender of all German military operations ...

, and Thorne arrived in Norway on 13 May together with Crown Prince Olav. He brought with him a small military force—one tenth the size of the German military presence—and so had to rely on cooperation with paramilitary forces from the

Norwegian resistance movement The Norwegian resistance (Norwegian language, Norwegian: ''Motstandsbevegelsen'') to the German occupation of Norway, occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany began after Operation Weserübung in 1940 and ended in 1945. It took several forms: *As ...

. He cooperated closely with

Jens Chr. Hauge Jens Christian Hauge (15 May 1915 – 30 October 2006) was a Norway, Norwegian lawyer and leader in the Norwegian resistance movement, World War II resistance—and one of the two incumbent Milorg Council members in May 1945.Olav Njølstad, Njø ...

. After the end of the war in Europe, German prisoners in Norway were reportedly forced to clear

minefields A land mine, or landmine, is an explosive weapon often concealed under or camouflaged on the ground, and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets as they pass over or near it. Land mines are divided into two types: anti-tank mines, whic ...

under British supervision. The Germans complained to Thorne but he dismissed the accusations arguing that the Germans prisoners were not prisoners of war but "disarmed forces who had surrendered unconditionally." By 1946, when the cleanup ended, 392 were injured and 275 had died; this was contrary to the terms of the

Geneva Conventions upright=1.15, The original document in single pages, 1864 The Geneva Conventions are international humanitarian laws consisting of four treaties and three additional protocols that establish international legal standards for humanitarian t ...

. He formally held the sovereignty of Norway until 7 June, when

Haakon VII of Norway Haakon VII (; 3 August 187221 September 1957) was King of Norway from 18 November 1905 until his death in 1957. The future Haakon VII was born in Copenhagen as Prince Carl of Denmark. He was the second son of the Crown Prince and Crown Princess ...

returned from his exile. Thorne remained in charge of dismantling the German presence in Norway until he left the country on 31 October 1945. Thorne retired in 1946. He was chairman of the Anglo-Norse Society for some time, and was at some point a deputy lieutenant of

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

References

Bibliography

* *"THORNE, General Sir (Augustus Francis) Andrew (Nicol)". (2007). In ''

Who Was Who ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It has been published annually in the form of a hardback book since 1849, and has been published online since 1999. It has also been published on CD-ROM. It lists, and gives information on, people from around ...

''
Online edition
* * * *

External links

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, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Thorne, Andrew 1885 births 1970 deaths British military attachés Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley Burials in Berkshire British Army generals British Army generals of World War I British Army generals of World War II British military personnel of the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine Commanders of the Legion of Merit Commanders with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Deputy lieutenants of Berkshire Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Grenadier Guards officers Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath People educated at Eton College People from Sevenoaks Academics of the Staff College, Camberley Military personnel from Kent