An Cosantóir

www.military.ie THE DEFENCE FORCES MAGAZINE | 39 Thornton and his co-conspirators' 'flight to freedom' had lasted precisely two and a half hours. But, for him, the war was far from over. Alphonsus Joseph Thornton, known as 'Alan', from Rathgar in Dublin, joined the Air Corps in 1939, in his late teens, along with 11 other cadets (including the late Captain Tommy McKeown who would fly Pope John Paul II into Ireland in 1979). He gained his 'wings' as a second lieutenant in April 1940 and was posted to Rineanna. Thornton and his comrades recalled the aerodrome as a god- forsaken place 'in the middle of marshlands, four miles down a dirt track off the main Limerick-Ennis road'. They described it as purgatory on Earth, with their only respite from the monotony being the odd visit to a hostelry called 'the Honk' located sev- eral miles away across the fields. Their main job was to patrol the 12-mile limit off the west coast, flying their Walrus's to several thousand feet, and taking meteorological readings. All the young officers were bored stiff, but none more so than Thornton, who resolved to do some- thing about it. Interviewed on the Marian Finucane Show in March 2005, some of his fellow-officers remembered him as being 'dif- ferent'. One recalled him 'always going on in the mess about flying Spitfires in action and engaging an enemy'. On the day they were issued with their service revolvers, there was a bang: Thornton had discharged his, the bullet (fortunately) lodging in a window frame. Air Corps historian, Donal McCarron, who knew Thornton, de- scribed him as 'a fine chap, a nice man, an outstanding athlete, and a natural and very good pilot, way above average'. When the Irish crew landed at St Eval, the RAF didn't quite know what to make of them. At first, they thought they must be part of a Free Dutch squadron, stationed further up the coast. However, it soon became evident who they were and they were placed under open guard, under Flight Lt Hugh Shackleton (later Lord Shackleton) the son of the famous Antarctic explorer from Co Kildare, while a call was put through to the Irish authorities. Soon, they were on their way under police escort to Holyhead, where they were handed over to Irish military police. A court martial in Cork followed. Thornton was dismissed from the forces and sentenced to 18 months in Maryborough Gaol (now Portlaoise), while the other ranks were acquitted; Thornton insisted that they were acting on his orders. His father, a senior civil servant (and one-time member of Michael Collins' intelligence section), was instru- mental in having him released after serving only four months. He later joined the RAF, wearing both his Irish and RAF wings on his uniform, and saw action in Greece, Yugoslavia, and northern Italy, mainly attacking transport and trains. On one occasion, as he recalled on the Marian Finucane show, while on active service in the Balkans he was captured by the notori- ous Chetnik guerrillas, who switched, as it suited their needs, between collaborating with the Axis and Allied forces. "They took me out three mornings and I thought I was going to be shot," he said. "However, when they 'clicked' their guns there were no bullets in them. You 'died' each morning; you know? They took my revolver, about $80, and then just let me go." Thornton was lucky; the Chetniks had an unenviable reputation for unspeakable forms of torture. He described himself to Mar- ian as something of a soldier of fortune, who later looked back on his unauthor- ised flight with 'deep regret'. 'Wings' Day 1939. Lt AJ Thornton, back row, third from left. Military Archives Collection Walrus N18, in Fleet Air Arm livery, now preserved at the FAA Museum in England. RAF Spitfires.

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