Martin Thornhill

Bank: Westminster Bank

Place of work: Gillingham, Kent branch

Died: 11 June 1944

Martin Arthur Thornhill was born on 1 February 1922, the son of Arthur Barrick Thornhill and Alice Katherine Thornhill. He joined the temporary wartime staff of Westminster Bank at its Gillingham, Kent branch in October 1939. 

He later left the bank to join the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, becoming a Flight Sergeant (Wireless Operator). On the night of 10-11 June 1944 he was part of the crew of a Lancaster bomber that took off from RAF Gransden Lodge, Cambridgeshire, on a mission to Germany. During the flight they came under attack from a night fighter, causing the plane to catch fire and crash. Only two of the crew survived. Flight Sergeant Thornhill, along with five of his crewmates, was killed. He was 22 years old.

Martin Thornhill is commemorated on a bank war memorial at NatWest Gillingham Kent branch.