Born at Tettenhall Wood (a town now within the city of Wolverhampton), Staffordshire, the fourth son and seventh child (of 9) of Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Thorneycroft, JP, High Sheriff, and Jane {Whitelaw} Thorneycroft his wife
Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander Thorneycroft served in the 21st Royal Scotch Fusiliers, and saw action in Natal province, South Africa, during the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902). At Pietermaritzburg, he raised a corps of troopers which became famous in the course of the conflict, and consequently became known as Thorneycroft's Mounted Infantry
At the outset of the Battle of Spion Kop, Lt-Col. Thorneycroft was selected to lead the initial assault with his dismounted troopers. Before dawn, the British forces had captured what they thought was the summit of the kop, or hill. The Boers (the Dutch-speaking farmers in opposition), who actually held the higher ground, soon counter-attacked, swarming the British position in a brutal and uncharacteristic hand-to-hand mass combat
One by one all the higher ranking British officers were killed or mortally wounded. At that point, Thorneycroft unexpectedly found himself the most senior in the field. He was appointed commander on the spot. Thorneycroft seems then to have taken charge, leading a spirited counterattack that failed in the face of withering fire from the Boers, however refusing to allow any under his command to surrender. Not knowing that they actually had gained the upper hand over the course of the day, and running short on both water and ammunition, the British troops retreated under cover of dark. Spion Kop was considered a resounding defeat
With the possible exception of the officers (who would likely have been carried away in the departure), the British soldiers who lost their lives on January 24, 1900, were buried in the stoney entrenchments so hastily dug there early in the day. One such, a young trooper named Philip Laurence, who had been under Thorneycroft's command, was commemorated by a brass plaque in his home church at Leeds, near Maidstone, in Kent
Major-General Alexander Whitelaw Thorneycroft married Rebekhah (Rebecca) Frances Crozier (née Percy), a widow, at St Marylebone, London, during the second Quarter (Q2) 1903
For services to his King and country, he was invested with the honour of C.B. (Companion of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath)
Thorneycroft died at his residence, Blandford Lodge, Whiteknights, Reading, Berkshire, aged 72 years. His funeral was held at Earley Church, Reading, on Saturday, November 7, 1931; he was buried in the churchyard next to his beloved wife Rebekah
Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander Thorneycroft served in the 21st Royal Scotch Fusiliers, and saw action in Natal province, South Africa, during the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902). At Pietermaritzburg, he raised a corps of troopers which became famous in the course of the conflict, and consequently became known as Thorneycroft's Mounted Infantry
At the outset of the Battle of Spion Kop, Lt-Col. Thorneycroft was selected to lead the initial assault with his dismounted troopers. Before dawn, the British forces had captured what they thought was the summit of the kop, or hill. The Boers (the Dutch-speaking farmers in opposition), who actually held the higher ground, soon counter-attacked, swarming the British position in a brutal and uncharacteristic hand-to-hand mass combat
One by one all the higher ranking British officers were killed or mortally wounded. At that point, Thorneycroft unexpectedly found himself the most senior in the field. He was appointed commander on the spot. Thorneycroft seems then to have taken charge, leading a spirited counterattack that failed in the face of withering fire from the Boers, however refusing to allow any under his command to surrender. Not knowing that they actually had gained the upper hand over the course of the day, and running short on both water and ammunition, the British troops retreated under cover of dark. Spion Kop was considered a resounding defeat
With the possible exception of the officers (who would likely have been carried away in the departure), the British soldiers who lost their lives on January 24, 1900, were buried in the stoney entrenchments so hastily dug there early in the day. One such, a young trooper named Philip Laurence, who had been under Thorneycroft's command, was commemorated by a brass plaque in his home church at Leeds, near Maidstone, in Kent
Major-General Alexander Whitelaw Thorneycroft married Rebekhah (Rebecca) Frances Crozier (née Percy), a widow, at St Marylebone, London, during the second Quarter (Q2) 1903
For services to his King and country, he was invested with the honour of C.B. (Companion of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath)
Thorneycroft died at his residence, Blandford Lodge, Whiteknights, Reading, Berkshire, aged 72 years. His funeral was held at Earley Church, Reading, on Saturday, November 7, 1931; he was buried in the churchyard next to his beloved wife Rebekah
Born at Tettenhall Wood (a town now within the city of Wolverhampton), Staffordshire, the fourth son and seventh child (of 9) of Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Thorneycroft, JP, High Sheriff, and Jane {Whitelaw} Thorneycroft his wife
Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander Thorneycroft served in the 21st Royal Scotch Fusiliers, and saw action in Natal province, South Africa, during the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902). At Pietermaritzburg, he raised a corps of troopers which became famous in the course of the conflict, and consequently became known as Thorneycroft's Mounted Infantry
At the outset of the Battle of Spion Kop, Lt-Col. Thorneycroft was selected to lead the initial assault with his dismounted troopers. Before dawn, the British forces had captured what they thought was the summit of the kop, or hill. The Boers (the Dutch-speaking farmers in opposition), who actually held the higher ground, soon counter-attacked, swarming the British position in a brutal and uncharacteristic hand-to-hand mass combat
One by one all the higher ranking British officers were killed or mortally wounded. At that point, Thorneycroft unexpectedly found himself the most senior in the field. He was appointed commander on the spot. Thorneycroft seems then to have taken charge, leading a spirited counterattack that failed in the face of withering fire from the Boers, however refusing to allow any under his command to surrender. Not knowing that they actually had gained the upper hand over the course of the day, and running short on both water and ammunition, the British troops retreated under cover of dark. Spion Kop was considered a resounding defeat
With the possible exception of the officers (who would likely have been carried away in the departure), the British soldiers who lost their lives on January 24, 1900, were buried in the stoney entrenchments so hastily dug there early in the day. One such, a young trooper named Philip Laurence, who had been under Thorneycroft's command, was commemorated by a brass plaque in his home church at Leeds, near Maidstone, in Kent
Major-General Alexander Whitelaw Thorneycroft married Rebekhah (Rebecca) Frances Crozier (née Percy), a widow, at St Marylebone, London, during the second Quarter (Q2) 1903
For services to his King and country, he was invested with the honour of C.B. (Companion of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath)
Thorneycroft died at his residence, Blandford Lodge, Whiteknights, Reading, Berkshire, aged 72 years. His funeral was held at Earley Church, Reading, on Saturday, November 7, 1931; he was buried in the churchyard next to his beloved wife Rebekah
Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander Thorneycroft served in the 21st Royal Scotch Fusiliers, and saw action in Natal province, South Africa, during the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902). At Pietermaritzburg, he raised a corps of troopers which became famous in the course of the conflict, and consequently became known as Thorneycroft's Mounted Infantry
At the outset of the Battle of Spion Kop, Lt-Col. Thorneycroft was selected to lead the initial assault with his dismounted troopers. Before dawn, the British forces had captured what they thought was the summit of the kop, or hill. The Boers (the Dutch-speaking farmers in opposition), who actually held the higher ground, soon counter-attacked, swarming the British position in a brutal and uncharacteristic hand-to-hand mass combat
One by one all the higher ranking British officers were killed or mortally wounded. At that point, Thorneycroft unexpectedly found himself the most senior in the field. He was appointed commander on the spot. Thorneycroft seems then to have taken charge, leading a spirited counterattack that failed in the face of withering fire from the Boers, however refusing to allow any under his command to surrender. Not knowing that they actually had gained the upper hand over the course of the day, and running short on both water and ammunition, the British troops retreated under cover of dark. Spion Kop was considered a resounding defeat
With the possible exception of the officers (who would likely have been carried away in the departure), the British soldiers who lost their lives on January 24, 1900, were buried in the stoney entrenchments so hastily dug there early in the day. One such, a young trooper named Philip Laurence, who had been under Thorneycroft's command, was commemorated by a brass plaque in his home church at Leeds, near Maidstone, in Kent
Major-General Alexander Whitelaw Thorneycroft married Rebekhah (Rebecca) Frances Crozier (née Percy), a widow, at St Marylebone, London, during the second Quarter (Q2) 1903
For services to his King and country, he was invested with the honour of C.B. (Companion of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath)
Thorneycroft died at his residence, Blandford Lodge, Whiteknights, Reading, Berkshire, aged 72 years. His funeral was held at Earley Church, Reading, on Saturday, November 7, 1931; he was buried in the churchyard next to his beloved wife Rebekah
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