Norton Knatchbull, 6th Baron Brabourne

Who was Norton Knatchbull, 6th Baron Brabourne?

Norton Cecil Michael Knatchbull, 6th Baron Brabourne was a British peer and soldier, the son of Michael Knatchbull, 5th Baron Brabourne.

Lieutenant Knatchbull, educated at Eton College and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, served in the Grenadier Guards during the Second World War. He was wounded and captured by the Germans in Italy in 1943. On his way to captivity in Germany he tried to escape from the prison train at Bronzolo, a village in South Tyrol, together with Lt Arnold Guy Vivian, a fellow officer in the 6th Battalion, Grenadier Guards. Both were recaptured and executed by the SS in Bronzolo on 15 September 1943.

Lord Brabourne died unmarried and his titles passed to his younger brother, John Knatchbull.

Arnold Guy Vivian's uncle was the composer Roger Quilter, who was devoted to his nephew and was moved by his death to name and dedicate the Arnold Book of Old Songs in his memory.