Sergeant Thorold Anderton Firth was the youngest of the only two children of Dr. Ian George Macdonald Firth (born 20 October 1891, died 16 February 1954) and Mrs Janet Margaret Firth (born 26 April 1895, died 21 April 1977). Both Dr. Firth and his wife are buried in Eday Old Kirkyard, Orkney, Plot 448, Eday, St Mary’s near Skail. Dr Firth was, for a number of years, the GP for Llanrhaidr and both his sons are named on the Llanrhaidr War Memorial. The other son was Sergeant John Alexander George Firth, who was killed in a Halifax flying on night bombing raid to Stuttgart, Germany on 6/7 May 1942 and he is buried at Neufchateau on the Belgian border.
Thorold Firth attended Aberdeen Grammar School and on his father’s appointment as GP in Llanrhaidr transferred to Oswestry Boys’ High School. Both brothers worked for the Midland Bank Limited for a period; Thorold for the Shrewsbury branch, where he joined the Home Guard. He volunteered for the RAF in August 1941 as a Navigator/Bombaimer and served in a number of camps in the UK until being posted to South Africa under the Empire Air Training Scheme. Just before completing his course he was taken seriously ill and returned to UK by hospital ship. He died, whilst on leave pending medical discharge, at his parents’ home Bronheulog, Llanrhaiadr on 3rd July 1944. His Death Certificate gives causes of death as 1(a) Generalized Tuberculosis (b) Pulmonary Tuberculosis; his age is given as 22years. He is buried in Oswestry Cemetery, in a War Graves Commission grave, and in addition to his name being on the Llanrhaidr War Memorial, he is also named the Oswestry Boys’ High School memorial in the Bryn Hafod playing field Oswestry.