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Harry J. Thompson. . USAAF
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Sgt. John Jocelyn Thompson. . Royal Air Force 76 Squadron (d.3rd/4th Mar 1943)
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P/O W. E. Thompson. . Royal Air Force 434 sqd.
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Pte. Thomas Thompstone . British Army Manchester Regiment from Salford
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Sgt Donald Thomsett . RAF Royal Air Force RAF Snaith 51 Sqn from Kent Donald Thomsett was my Grandad.
He flew as an RAF gunner during the whole of the war, moving from varying heavy bombers including the Wellington but settled for the majority of the war as a rear gunner in Halifax bombers based at RAF Snaith with 51 Sqn.
My Grandad lasted until January of 1945 before being shot down during a night raid on Hannover. His story was one he hardly ever spoke of and he never really got over his experiences til the day he died. Towards the end of his life he began to talk more and more about the war, eventually dying of cancer in 2000.
Donald was on a night bombing mission over Hannover which took place on the night of the 5th of January 1945. He remembered sitting in the rear turret as usual when out of the darkness, and in heavy flak, he saw a German fighter plane approach from the rear and slightly above his plane. He managed to fire on it and thought he had shot it down as it turned away very quickly and looked to be out of control. Next, another fighter appeared to the rear and slightly below the plane. Don moved the guns downwards and saw the pilots face illuminated by the lights on his German instrument panel. The guns wouldn't reach to a position to fire on the fighter plane. As the Halifax was being engaged, the pilot had gone into a wide sweeping manouvre to make attack from the fighter more difficult - a sort of large u shape, rolling the controls right, then left. Don watched as the German fighter continued to match the Halifax and flew underneath it. He heard a loud explosion and felt the plane shudder, then it changed direction steeply heading towards the ground.
My Grandad said he was supposed to keep his parachute in the turret with him but always slung it just into the bulk inside the fusilage. The angle of the plane meant he thought it would have slid down the length of the plane out of his reach, but it had snagged on something and he put his hand straight on it. Realising that the plane was going to crash he pressed for the turret to turn to bail out but found the hydraulics had failed (probably something to do with the explosion he thought?) so had to turn it by hand until he could get out.
He landed on the roof of a house and fell into the garden, badly spraining his ankle. There was snow everywhere and it was freezing. Local residents came out and, possibly scared, started to beat him with whatever they could get their hands on - brooms, sticks, feet - until some soldiers arrived and took him to a local police station, then marched him to Dulag. They had removed his flying boots and made him limp in the snow with his damaged ankle. My Grandad said he remembered this taking a couple of days, but thinks there was some transport at some point too. Along the route to Dulag he said he saw the blodies of allied airmen hung on lamposts, killed by the local populace, or German soldiers.
At Dulag interrogation centre he was hung up by his hands and all his possessions taken from him. He was tortured with a knife being run up and down his back - he had scars on his back that I remember seeing, long lines. - and was kept in solitary for a couple of weeks. By that time he had frostbite on his feet and the Germans repeatedly made the room very hot, then cold in an attempt to extract information from him. He was also put into a room with another British airman to live for a couple of days. This airman then told the Germans all the things that my Grandad hadn't - like where he lived, the name of my grandmother, etc. He must have been some sort of double agent my Grandad thought.
He was taken to a train station and loaded into large cattle trucks with lots of other POWs. There they spent a couple of days including one frightening night in Berlin station, locked in their trucks as the allies bombed Berlin.
He intially was taken to Sagan camp, but was soon transferred out to what he called Stalag luft 3b.
He spent from February until May 1945 there and witnessed some horrific things, including the shooting of an attempted escapee. He also mentioned that the Russian POWs, who were kept next door, were treated "like dogs".
In May, and with the camp on the verge of being over-run by Soviet troops, my Grandad, an American airman and a Canadian airman, escaped by going over the wire and running into the countryside.
They happened on a car that had been disabled on purpose and got it going, driving across Germany. They had no food. He told me they managed to meet a German family in a small village who offered them food and somewhere to stay. It was while staying there that the Soviet troops came into the area. My Grandad and his two friends hid in the cellar of the German family's house as they were unsure of what the intention of the soldiers was and I remember him telling me that he witnessed "chinese looking men coming into the cellar and eating raw sugar out of sacks with their bare hands like they hadn't been fed for weeks."
When the Soviet troops left, they made their way towards the west and eventually were picked up by some American troops in the area surrounding Berlin in early June (or late May).
Returning to England, my Grandad was silent. He learned that he was the only survivor from his plane that night and blamed himself for the deaths of his friends because he failed to shoot down the second fighter that night. pHe walked with a slight limp for the rest of his life, received no counselling, compensation, or anything to help him get over what he had seen. But the story does have a ending of sorts. In his seventies, a historian got in touch with my Grandad and via some research found the name of the German pilot who had claimed the "kill" of my Grandad's plane; one Hermann Greiner. Herr Greiner was still alive. He was contacted by the historian and eventually, after some soul searching and correspondence, my Grandad went over to Germany to meet him. Hermann remembered that night, and told my Grandad that an experimental type of gun was on his night fighter (It pointed upwards from behind the cockpit) meaning that there was nothing my Grandad could have done to save his friends. He flew under the Halifax and merely shot up into the fuel tanks as it lumbered about its defensive manouvres. My Grandad was able to meet the face he had seen 50 years previously on that fateful night when his life changed forever. He bore no grudge and Herr Greiner gave him his Iron Cross, with Oak Leaf, medal as a token of their friendship and in reconcilliation. Hermann Greiner had around 50 "kills" as a night fighter ace and was one of the luftwaffes "stars".
My Grandad died in 2000 and his ashes were scattered at the memorial site of his old, now long forgotten, RAF base at Pollington, Yorkshire. The war had affected the rest of his life and if it hadn't been for his courage and bravery I wouldn't even be writing this, as his young wife (My Grandmother) gave birth to my father a year after he got home.
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F/Sgt Donald Edward Thomsett . Royal Air Force 51 Squadron from Sittingbourne, Kent My Grandad, Donald Thomsett was POW in Stalag 3a for the last 4 or 5 months of the war. He was the rear gunner in a Halifax bomber flying out of RAF Snaith/Pollington. He'd been an RAF gunner for all the war on varying aircraft - Wellingtons and Halifax's mostly. He'd flown God knows how many missions from 1940 onwards!
He remembers being shot down over Hanover on a night raid. That night he was rear gunner in the plane and told me that two German night fighters approached the plane from the rear, one high and one below. He managed to shoot at the higher aircraft and said he either shot it down, or it broke away because my grandad thought he was getting pretty good hits on it. By the time he got his guns to the floor he saw the face of the other German pilot illuminated by his instrument panel below him. Bit corny maybe, but he swore on it. After that, the German plane flew under the Halifax (which was doing an evasive manouvre). There was an explosion and the plane started heading for the ground. The comms had gone and so had the hydraulics, so grandad had to manually wind the turret round so he could bale out. He landed on the roof of a house and sprained his ankle while falling into the garden below. The local residents came out and beat him with pieces of wood, then the SS arrived and took him through the streets. They took off his flying boots and coat and made him walk through the snow bare foot. While walking he saw the bodies of other airmen hung from lamp posts, he said they looked as if they had been hung by the locals after landing.
They took him to the Dulag and interrogated him and strung him up and ran a knife down his back - he still had the deep long scars right up to his death. He had frostbite on his feet so they made the room alternitively hot and cold to make it worse. They also put another English prisoner in the room with him. Grandad wasn't telling them anything in interrogation, but he spoke with the room mate. It turned out that the room mate was a German plant and he told them everything he had been told by my grandad, where he was from, his girlfriend's name. Eventually, via being cattle trucked in Berlin station while the Allies were bombing Berlin - something he said the Nazis thought was very funny. If the Allies bombed their own men trapped in cattle trucks in the station - he was taken first to Sargen, then to Camp 3a. He was there when the Russians advanced on the camp. He said the german guards were a bit like "dad's army" and he bore no ill will towards them, even though they had little food. He remembers the Russian prisoners being treated like animals in a seperate compound. Eventually he escaped from the camp by going over the wire with a Canadian and an American. They found an old beat up car, got it going, then drove it across Germany westwards. A German family helped them out and housed/fed them for a few days in a little village. One day the Russians came to the village and my grandad hid in the cellar of the house. He remembered seeing "people looking like really dirty Chinese people" coming into the cellar and eating raw sugar with their bare hands like they were starving. The Russian soldiers took the family's 11 year old girl into the woods and she was never seen again. They didn't discover my grandad or his two friends. Eventually they made it to just outside Berlin and literally walked into the city. He was treated well by the Americans and given food and fags and some money. He arrived back in the UK about three weeks later and couldn't even speak for weeks. The war stayed with him for the rest of his life. But it wasn't the end. Nearly 50 years later a local historian had found out who had shot down my grandad that night (he had been the only one of his crew in the Halifax to survive) and arranged for the two of them to write to each other. It turned out that the German pilot - Herman Greiner - was a WW2 ace. He remembered that night and was able to tell my grandad how his plane was shot down (some kind of upward pointing gun that the night fighter had just had installed), and my grandad didn't blame himself as much for the death of his 6 friends that night. Herman gave his Iron Cross with Oakleaf, medal to my grandad as a token of his sorrow and apology. They met in Germany and shook hands after 50 years. Grandad died of cancer a couple of years later, he hardly ever talked about it all, despite me writing this, and only opened up at all towards the end. That war destroyed him. But he was brave as anyone I've ever met.
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A Thomson . British Army A Thomson served with the British Army. I have his unissued dogtags, made in preparation for deployment to the Far East and would love to get them home to his family. I am happy to cover all costs. If you are a family member or can put me in touch with them please get in touch. Update: Unfortunately The Wartime Memories Project has lost touch with Dan, his website, facebook page and email have all ceased to function. But if you can add any details about the person listed, please use the add to record link below.
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Rfmn. Allan Thomson . British Army Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) from Thornliebank, Scotland (d.30th Mar 1942) I never knew my uncle Allan Thomson. He was the eldest of my grandparent's children. They were married for seven years before he was born. He was so keen to join up he lied about his age. He died in the war and was buried in Rangoon as far as we know. If I could find out exactly where I would like to visit his grave and pay my respects to the memory of a young boy who gave his life for his country.
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Rflmn. Allan Stewart Thomson . British Army 2nd Battalion Cameronians from Thornliebank, Renfrewshire (d.30th Mar 1942) I never met Allan Thomson, my uncle. He lied about his age as he was desperate to join up and gave his name as Robert Smith. He will not be forgotten. I admire him and his fellow countrymen who gave their lives to save us.
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Sgt. Arthur S. Thomson . Royal Canadian Air Force ED660 101 Squadron from Miramichi, NB Canada (d.26th May 1943) My Great Uncle, Sgt. Authur S. Thompson From Newcastle Miramichi, New Brunswick, Canada served with 101 Squadron. His crew flew out of Holme on Spalding Moore on the night of 25th of May 1943 and crashed/was shot down?? near Cromvoirt, Holland on a Dusseldorf bombing run. Six 6 of the crew lost. They included all of those listed below. His death was listed as 26th of May 1943. I would like to find out more about what happened as my Father thought the crew may have been captured after crashing/bailing out and then shot by the Germans. Any information would be of great interest.
Records state: 101 Sqd Lancaster III ED660 SR-U took off from Holme on Spalding Moor on Ops to Dusseldorf, crashed near Cromvoirt Holland, those killed are buried in Uden War Cemetery, Holland.
- Sgt. Ainsworth B C. 1079641
- Sgt.
Bates C W. 1586116
- Sgt. Berresford D L. 1211846
- Sgt.
Shackleton E. 1507344
- Sgt. Thomson A S. R112455
- Sgt. Tindale V J S. 1480799
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CO Thomson . British Army Royal Corps of Signals CO Thomson served with the Royal Corps of Signals British Army. I have his unissued dogtags, made in preparation for deployment to the Far East and would love to get them home to his family. I am happy to cover all costs. If you are a family member or can put me in touch with them please get in touch. Update: Unfortunately The Wartime Memories Project has lost touch with Dan, his website, facebook page and email have all ceased to function. But if you can add any details about the person listed, please use the add to record link below.
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2Lt. David Andrew Graham Thomson . British Army 6th Btn. Black Watch (d.28th May 1940) David Thomson was the son of Vice Admiral Evelyn Claude Ogilvie-Thomson, C.B., D.S.O., and of Agnes Ogilvie-Thomson, of Stanley, Perthshire.
He served with the 6th Battalion, Black Watch in WW2. He died 28th of May 1940 aged 20 and is buried in Bas-Warneton (Neerwaasten) Communal Cemetery and commemorated on Dunning War Memorial and also on a plaque located on the tower of St Serf's Church Dunning. The plaque was erected by the War Comforts Committee in memory of the men of the Parish who died 1939-45.
Information about the family and place of burial obtained from Commonwealth War Graves Commission records.
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Flt.Lt Donald Ivan "Tommy" Thomson DFC. Royal Canadian Air Force 77 Squadron from Thessalon, Ontario, Canada
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Tpr. Edward Thomson . British Army Royal Armoured Corps from Cuminestown
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GM Thomson . British Army GM Thomson served with the British Army. I have his unissued dogtags, made in preparation for deployment to the Far East and would love to get them home to his family. I am happy to cover all costs. If you are a family member or can put me in touch with them please get in touch. Update: Unfortunately The Wartime Memories Project has lost touch with Dan, his website, facebook page and email have all ceased to function. But if you can add any details about the person listed, please use the add to record link below.
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F/Lt. Harry Stuart "Doc" Thomson . Royal Canadian Air Force 407 (Demon) Squadron Harry Thomson was my father. Born in Canada, raised in England and returned to Canada just prior to the Second World War.
He joined the RCAF and trained in Calgary, Alberta, as a pilot and went back to England to fly for the RCAF.
My understanding is that he flew in the 407 Demon Squadron RCAF and flew Hudsons and Lancasters.
Postwar he was assigned to transport diplomats and VIPs to various countries.
He returned to Canada after the war and lived in British Columbia.
He died in1963.
I am interested in learning more about his service during World War II.
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Tpr. Henry Alexander Thomson MM.. British Army 1st Lothians and Border Horse Royal Armoured Corps from Bordesley Green, Birmingham (d.21st July 1944) Henry Thomson was the son of Ada Thomson of Lee, London and husband of G. Thomson of Bordesley Green, Birmingham.
He was 25 when he died and is buried in the Popielow Cemetery in Poland
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Squadron Leader J S J Thomson . RAF 59 Squadron
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J Thomson . British Army J Thomson served with the British Army. I have his unissued dogtags, made in preparation for deployment to the Far East and would love to get them home to his family. I am happy to cover all costs. If you are a family member or can put me in touch with them please get in touch. Update: Unfortunately The Wartime Memories Project has lost touch with Dan, his website, facebook page and email have all ceased to function. But if you can add any details about the person listed, please use the add to record link below.
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L/Cpl James Thomson . British Army 2nd Btn Coldstream Guards My Grandfather, James Thomson, was in S Company, 2nd Battalion, Coldstream Guards. I have a print from Italy 1944-45 to commend them of their fighting spirit and splendid record.
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Able Sea. James Spencer Thomson . Royal Navy from Inverness
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R Thomson . British Army 13/18th Hussars R Thomson served with the 13/18th Hussars British Army. I have his unissued dogtags, made in preparation for deployment to the Far East and would love to get them home to his family. I am happy to cover all costs. If you are a family member or can put me in touch with them please get in touch. Update: Unfortunately The Wartime Memories Project has lost touch with Dan, his website, facebook page and email have all ceased to function. But if you can add any details about the person listed, please use the add to record link below.
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Sgt. R. K. Thomson . 102 Squadron
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Pte. Robert Thomson . British Army Highland Light Infantry from Glasgow My mother-in-law was adopted and has now recovered her adoption records. They have disclosed that her father was Robert Thomson of the HLI. Her mother lived in Forfar and we presume my mother-in-law was conceived in December 1943.
The records further show that Robert Thomson admitted to the Regiment's padre that he was the father of the child. However, he was posted abroad and never seen again. He came from Glasgow and may have been posted to the Forfar area for training.
Would anyone have any information leading to the identity of Robert Thomson from this information?
Any information would be appreciated. My mother-in-law is 67 years of age and would like to find out more about her natural father.
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Sgt. S. Thomson . 102 Squadron
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Sgt. S. Thomson . 102 Squadron
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Asst.Steward Samuel Thomson . Merchant Navy SS. Athenia (d.3rd Sep 1939)
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F/Sgt Daniel McNicol Thomson. . RAAF 12Sqd. (d.12th Jun 1943) Daniel McNicol was a pilot in the RAAF her was killed on 12th June 1943 flying Lancaster ED357 PH-S of 12sqd
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Spr. Everette Euthard Thon . Canadian Army 2nd Field Coy. Royal Canadian Engineers from Gull Lake, Canada
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