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Leader (Angaston, SA : 1918 - 1954), Thursday 1 June 1933, page 3

Death of Capt. Otto Thorn
SAW SERVICE IN TWO WARS

Mr. Frederick Otto Thorn, eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. F. Thorn, of Angaston, whom we last week reported to have met with a serious accident, died on Monday, without regaining consciousness. He was well known throughout this district, and his passing at only 58 years of age is deeply regretted.

He was proceeding on his cycle to his duties for the Victorian Electricity Commission at Geelong, on Friday, May 19, when he was knocked down by a passing motor car, and suffered very severe head injuries. The funeral on Tuesday was attended by Mr. Alf. Thorn (who rushed to catch the Melbourne express at Balhannah), and Mr. and Mrs. R. Champness, of Kaniva.

The late Mr. F. O. Thorn was born at Kadina in January, 1875, and came with his parents to Angaston shortly afterwards. After completing his edu-cation here, he was for a short time gardening near Stockwell, and then took over his father's Packing Shed. This shed, now enlarged and adapted by Messrs. Crowe & Newcombe, was built by Mr. Napien Smith for packing export apples. Mr. F. Thorn subsequently purchased it and the house adjacent, then on the same block.

When the Boer War broke out, Mr. F. O. Thorn went with the late Mr. J. P. Richardson and saw service with the 9th Light Horse. He was shot through the thigh. His service won for him the rank of lieutenant. On returning, he went to Mildura to manage a garden, and was there when, in 1914, he was called to the colours to train men at Broadmeadows Camp, out side Melbourne.

After the earlier contingents had been embarked for the Great War, he sought active participation in the grim struggle and was permitted to go over seas. His indomitable courage and valour won for him the D.C.M., and a year before the War ended he was invalided home, now a Captain. No less than seventeen operations were performed upon him as a result of the injuries he had received.

His health regained to some extent, he continued to give service at Lang-warren Camp until cessation of hostilities, when he joined the service of the Victorian State Electricity Commission and was stationed at Geelong. He married Miss Marion Wishart, niece of Mr. Alex. Wishart, of Angaston, and she, with four grown-up daughters, is left to mourn the untimely demise. One child died in infancy.

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article165692263

Frederick Otto Thorn was a Horticulturist. He worked in Viticulture in the Barossa Valley. He had Prussian roots and was 25 when he enlisted to fight in the Boer War.

Mr T.D. Robertson from Broken Hill wrote this family background article for the South Australian Register Newspaper. It was published in 30 April 1900 Edition.

"Trooper F Otto THORN, one of the Australian Imperial Contingent leaving Adelaide for South Africa, is a son of Mr. and Mrs. F THORN of Angaston. Coming from one of the first families of Germany, he should have good fighting blood in his veins. He is a grandson of late Baron Hermann George VON PUTTKAMER, at one time a resident of South Australia. The Baron's widow is still alive, and a resident of Angaston. Trooper THORN's mother is thus a neice to the later Major-General VON PUTTKAMER, who took a prominent part in the Franco-Prussian War, and who at the close of hostilities was appointed Governor of Alasace and Lorraine. By marriage the late Chancellor of the German Empire, VON BISMARK, became connected with the family, having married Johann (sic) VON PUTTKAMER, a cousin of Trooper THORN's grandfather"