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Pte. Thomas Norman Thomson
British Army 87th Field Ambulance Royal Army Medical Corps
from:Wallase, Cheshire
My father, always known as Norman Thomson, shared little with us about his war experiences. We know that he joined the RAMC in Liverpool in July 1914 and his first posting was Gallipoli with the 29th Division which landed at Cape Helles. He was a stretcher bearer with the RAMC, 87th Field Ambulance.
After the evacuation from the Dardanelles in January 1916 he went with his unit to France where he was wounded and had the lower half of his leg amputated. We don't know at which battle this happened, it could have been the Somme. Our friends were allowed to stick a drawing pin in his leg, he always made sure it was the artificial one, he used the same method to hold up his sock. As children we used to nibble at a standard issue army biscuit when no one was looking. All his personal records have been lost together with his medals. He was discharged according to Medal Role Index Card on 28th Feb. 1920.
When we were bombed during WW2, in Wallasey, Cheshire, we saw the devastating effect on him when hearing the bomb explosions again, which we as children did not understand. He died at the age of 70 in 1959 with a heart attack and damage to his lungs due to being gassed. His elder brother, Douglas, also served in the Army but died in 1922, probably from the effects of being gassed.
He renewed his occupation as a draper after the war and was employed as the buyer manager at T. J, Hughes, discount store in Liverpool, until probably 1930 when he opened up his own Gents Outfitters business in Wallasey until he retired. He was married to Meg Rogers in 1922, who was also employed at T. J. Hughes and had two children, Beryl and Alex. Despite his disability he made the most of life and was well respected by all who knew him.
I was able on Sunday 15th March 2015 to lay a wreath at the 29th Division Memorial Centenary Commemoration, Stretton-on-Dunsmore, Warwickshire, which said: Thomas Norman Thomson, 87th Field Ambulance, 29th Division, who served in the Gallipoli Campaign, 1915-1916 And also in Memory of all those Of RAMC who served with him By His son T.A.Thomson, on behalf of the family.
