David Thorne (British Army officer)

Thorne was given command of the 1st Battalion, Royal Anglian Regiment in 1972.^[1] He was appointed commander of the 3rd Infantry Brigade in Northern Ireland during Operation Banner in 1977, in which capacity in 1979 he was the first officer to brief Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher on the Warrenpoint ambush.^[4] He was appointed to the post of the British Army's Vice Quartermaster-General in 1981. In 1982, he was appointed as the Commander of British Forces in the Falkland Islands, shortly after their re-capture by the British Armed Forces from an Argentinian invasion in the Falklands War.^[1] In that role he gave support to the idea of then-Captain Geoffrey Cardozo to locate, retrieve, and respectfully bury every dead Argentine soldier left after the war ended.^[5]

Thorne went on to be General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 1st Armoured Division in 1983 and Director of Infantry in 1986, in which role he secured the rejection of a proposed reform in the Ministry of Defence for the posting of officers which he believed would undermine the British Army's regimental system.^[6] He retired from the army in 1988.^[1]

In retirement Thorne became Director General of the Royal Commonwealth Society.^[4] He died from the effects of a cancer on 23 April 2000 at Framlingham, in the county of Suffolk, in his 67th year.^[4]

In 1962, Thorne married Suzan Anne Goldsmith; they had one son and two daughters.^[1]

Military offices
Preceded by Brian Kenny	GOC 1st Armoured Division 1983–1985	Succeeded by Anthony Mullens