Leonard Thornton

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lieutenant General Sir Leonard W. "Bill" Thornton, KCB, CBE (15 October 1916 - 10 June 1999) was a New Zealand Army officer. He was the second and longest serving Chief of the Defence Staff (1966-1974).

Thornton was born in Christchurch, and in 1934, he was one of the first New Zealand cadets to enter Duntroon Military College since World War I. He was commissioned in the Royal New Zealand Artillery in 1937.

During World War II, he served as a staff officer and artillery commander in the 2nd New Zealand Division. After the war, he served as Deputy Chief (1948-1949) and Chief of the Army General Staff (1963-1965). He was also Commandant of Linton Army Camp from 1949 to 1951.

Works

Thornton, L. W., Marking time : a personal memoir, Wellington, N.Z. 322 p., [33] leaves of plates : ill. (some col.) ; 22 cm., R. Thornton, 2005 (held by National Library of New Zealand)

External links

Military offices
Preceded by Rear Admiral Peter Phipps	Chief of the Defence Staff 1966–1974	Succeeded by Lieutenant General Sir Richard Webb

Authority control	VIAF: 16965792

Persondata
Name	Thornton, Leonard
Alternative names
Short description	New Zeaalnd general
Date of birth	15 October 1916
Place of birth
Date of death	10 June 1999
Place of death

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