The Funeral of Private Matthew Thornton, A Territorial Army Soldier from 4 Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment (4 YORKS) was held at All Saints Church Darton in Barnsley on Tuesday Morning 29 October 2011.
Private Thornton was deployed to Afghanistan in October of 2011. As a member of the support Company for 1 Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment (1 YORKS), which is part of the The Queen’s Royal Hussars Battle Group, Matthew was based at the northern end of Lashkar Gah district in the Babaji area, at Checkpoint Koorashan. On the 9 November 2011 Private Thornton was taking part in a patrol to the north of Checkpoint Loy Mandeh, the aim was to develop a better understanding of the local area and people. During this Patrol his unit was attacked by an enemy using small arms fire and grenades, as Private Thornton was manoeuvring and returning fire an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) was detonated and the blast killed him. Poignantly Matthew Thornton’s tragic death came less than a week after his 28th birthday and only 2 days before Remembrance Day (11 November).