A HERO OF MAMELON.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1634, 28 December 1912, Page 5

A HERO OF MAMELON.

It is interesting to recall in connection witii the death of Lieut. Neville Thorn-, ton,, the Crimean 1 veteran who passed away at Wanganui a few davs ago, that referenco was made to his career only the ®™er, day iri the last number of the New. Zealand Military Journal." A writer signing himself "8.W.," in reviewing a biography of Sir W. H. Russell tne first war correspondent, saidIt is interesting to note that an English officer in the Deuxieihe Chasseurs a i e r,' a •"'£« tricolour, was one of til© first to enter tho Maintjlon, whero he was. desperately'wounded. The name of this gentleman is Neville Thornton, now .Ming at Palmerston North, New Zealand, Mr. Thornton' received the Legion of Honour from the, hand of Napoleon 111 at li review m Paris- and when presenting it tho Emperor said that, besides other . wounds, Lieutenant Thornton s chest had been beaten in with tho butt end of a musket, and that in consequence he' Buffered from lung ~A s the climate of Algeria was tetter suited to chest cases than that of i ranee, he (the Emperor) Jind directed the Bureau de Guerre to transfer TliornV"?, ™ a, regiment of the Chasseurs dAfnque. Mr. Thornton, who i.q now I regret to say, very old and broken in health, settled in Australia, and subsequently in Now Zealand. For many years ho enjoyed.a reputation ia both countries as a clover and versatile actor, and an expert scenic artist."