Frank Cecil Thornton was the son of George and Emily Thornton of Bromley House, South Street, Oakham and elder brother of Frederick William Thornton who also died in the war. He was a clerk in the Rutland Education Office when war broke out. He enlisted in Melton Mowbray on 9 September 1914 and joined the 11th Battalion Leicestershire Regiment as a Private. He gained a commission a year later on 10 September 1915, becoming a Lieutenant on 1 July 1916. Frank went to France on 4 May 1916. While teaching his men to throw live grenades, he was killed almost instantly by the premature bursting of a Mills bomb. Six of his men were also wounded. His Commanding Officer wrote: "I cannot express the regret I feel at such a disaster... I feel most severely the loss of such a promising officer, he was always keen about his work and very painstaking, and for his future I had great hopes." He was buried with full Military Honours in Ferme Olivier Cemetery, Elverdinge, grave I.B.8, on 15 July 1916 and is remembered on Oakham's war memorial.