Edward Thornton

Edward Thornton, 3rd Count of Cacilhas (27 October 1893 – 18 October 1970) was an English first-class cricketer, British Army and Royal Air Force officer. Early life Thornton was born at Woodhurst, Pease Pottage, Sussex, son of Edward Thornton (1856-1904), a diplomat who worked in Buenos Aires, Russia and the United States, and Emma Jessie, daughter of Philip Rawson, DL, of Woodhurst, Sussex. His grandfather was the diplomat Edward Thornton, 2nd Count of Cacilhas; on his grandfather's death in 1906, Thornton succeeded to the title as 3rd Count of Cacilhas (also "Cassilhas") due to his father's death two years earlier. Career Thornton served during the First World War with the Royal Fusiliers, holding the rank of temporary lieutenant in August 1916. He was transferred to the Royal Flying Corps in November 1916, as an observer with the rank of flying officer. He was promoted to the rank of captain in September 1918, by which point the Royal Flying Corps had been amalgamated into th newly formed Royal Air Force, along with the Royal Naval Air Service. He remained in the Royal Air Force into the 1940s, serving during the Second World War, during which he retired in March 1945, retaining the rank of group captain.