Ernest John Walter Thornton (always known as Ernie) was born in London and was the eldest of six siblings. On 3rd September 1936 aged 17 he joined as a territorial member of the Royal Engineers but transferred to the Middlesex regiment as a regular soldier on 23rd November 1936 and was posted to Hong Kong in the defence of China.

Whilst in Hong Kong he completed an embroidery of the regimental flag, a picture which is included here.

Ernest was serving with his regiment when he was captured on 25th December 1941. His general at this time was General Maltby. He was sent to Sham Shui Po until 25th September 1942 when his regiment boarded the Lisbon Maru.

The attack on the Lisbon Maru was on 1st/2nd October 1942 and is well documented and the only information we have regarding Ernest's rescue was that he couldn't swim and one of his comrades saved him and helped him reach safety.

Ernest was in Kobe from 11th October 1942 to 6th September 1945 under Captain Horton and whilst there he completed an embroidery of the Middlesex flag a copy of which is included here.

Ernest did not discuss his war experiences with me as I'm aware many soldiers found it difficult to talk about. We found a brief medical record that stated in April 1943 he temporarily lost his sight but the next medical report was October 1945 and his sight was restored (we assume it was due to malnutrition).

Ernest returned to England on the ship SS Empress of Australia and we found a menu dated 25th October 1945 which included Giblet Soup, Turkey and Fruit and custard. It must have tasted like heaven.

Ernest met Eileen Mary Martin on his return to UK and they were married on 27th April 1946, and James (Jim) was born on 2nd February 1947. The family settled in Wembley Middlesex.

Ernest worked as a crane driver and was often in the local paper showing him high up carrying unusual items such as a white grand piano.

His hobbies were gardening, both flowers and vegetables, and fishing. He was a quiet man and would spend the evening sitting alone in the kitchen. In retrospect he must have found a lot of people difficult and chose hobbies and employment where he could spend time alone.

He did not appear to carry on his embroidery but all my friends automatically turned to him to mend their bikes/motorbikes.

When I was a young boy he hand built a sidecar for his motorbike so my mum and I could go out on trips with him.