If there is one word to describe Normandy campaign veteran Ernest Thorne, it is ‘humble’.
A driver in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, the 94-year-old Jerseyman may not have been on the front line during the Second World War, but he undoubtedly played his full part in helping in the Allies’ efforts to liberate the continent from Nazi rule.
On Monday he was presented with France’s highest order of merit, the cross of the Chevalier de l’Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur, during a ceremony in the Le Capelain Gallery at the Town
Hall.
David Myatt, the honorary consul for France, issued Mr Thorne with the award, on behalf of the French government, in front of members of the veteran’s family. The Lieutenant-Governor, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Dalton, Bailiff Sir William Bailhache and St Helier Procureur du Bien Public Peter Pearce, were also in attendance.
Although the nonagenarian is grateful to have received the award – and readily admits it was a proud moment for him – he insists he did little to earn it.
‘I’ve never had so much attention. It’s pretty embarrassing really,’ says Mr Thorne, who lives in St Saviour with his wife, Mary.
‘I don’t like the limelight – it’s not my scene. I feel really proud, but I don’t feel like I did anything to warrant it.’
The fact is though, that we all owe a huge debt of gratitude to brave men like Mr Thorne, who were prepared to push on into Occupied France to make D-Day the military success it was and to help liberate Europe.
Mr Thorne landed on Juno Beach in Normandy in June 1944, alongside Canadian forces, in the pitch black.
‘I got on a merchant ship in the UK which took us out to landing craft, where we got into tow trucks and drove onto the beach. The beach was already very crowded with men and military vehicles. I followed the lights of the vehicle in front and you didn’t have time to look around – you wanted to get off the beach sharpish.’
He later saw action in Caen, where he worked to recover and rescue stranded British military vehicles and return them to camp for repairs.
‘Caen was a hell of a mess, I think the only building I saw still standing at the time was a church, and we were getting bombed and shelled and all sorts.’
He says the sound of the explosions was virtually incomparable to anything he had heard before.
‘It was like a thunderstorm, but ten times as loud. My role was as a vehicle recovery driver. If a vehicle had been bombed or was on its side blocking the route for the Allies, you were given a map reference and you had to go off and either get the vehicle back on its wheels and tow it away for repairs, or move bombed-out vehicles to one side.’
Despite the hostile terrain, Mr Thorne says he ‘can’t remember ever feeling any fear’ and puts that down to the naive exuberance of youth.
‘When you’re young, it’s more or less an adventure,’ he said.
Mr Thorne was flown back to a hospital in the UK after reaching the Belgium border following an accident in which he broke his arm.
‘I jumped on the bonnet of my vehicle to pull a military blind down over the rear window – to reduce the sun’s reflection to make it easier to see out of the back – and I slid down and broke my arm. My arm was patched up and I was flown back to England.’
After some months of recuperation, he was deployed to Palestine, where he says terrorist activity was taking place within the wartime setting.
‘It was shortly before the war ended and for me it was a bit more hairy than Normandy.
‘There were terrorists who were murdering British personnel. You did not know where the enemy was and you would get shot at from behind the corners of buildings. We went out in convoys on patrol trying to stop the terrorists.’
After he was demobbed, he returned to Jersey, but admits he ‘got a bit bored as a young man’ and rejoined the British Army as a signalman.
‘I was posted back to Palestine with the Royal Corps of Signals. We serviced the military vehicles and did all sorts of patrols. You could often hear the fighting between Jews and Arabs, but I didn’t see too much.
‘Then I went to Egypt and later to Tripoli in Libya for a couple of years – I think we were probably stationed there as peacekeepers.’
Once he was demobbed for a second time, Mr Thorne got a job working for a building firm back in Jersey as a foreman for nearly 30 years.
In retirement, he took on a role for the parish of St Helier as a clerk of the works and also served as a member of the honorary police in St Peter for several years.
‘I hope the honorary police never ceases, for not only does it save Jersey money, it is also good for the community,’ adds Mr Thorne, who has one daughter – Leisha who lives in St Peter – and two grandchildren, Laura and Rachel. Laura is a veterinary nurse also living in Jersey and his other granddaughter works in a children’s hospital in the UK.
I openly wonder what he thinks of the UK’s decision to turn its back on the European Union by voting for Brexit. After all, as a Normandy campaign veteran he did his bit to ensure that harmony spread throughout Europe.
‘I’m surprised the UK voted for Brexit. I think everything was going okay as it was and I believe the UK should have stayed in the European Union,’ he said.
‘The EU helps to keep the peace in Europe because you all talk with one another. If you are friendly with everyone, then that seems like the best way to keep the peace.’
