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Remembered Today:

2nd Lt G A Thompson


Red Gate

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Can anyone help me to identify this man please.

He is mentioned in “Air Defence of Britain” by Cole and Cheesman as having participated in the response by 37 Squadron to an air raid on 7 July 1917.  Similar information is included in “Canadian Airmen of the First World War” by S F Wise and includes the additional information that he came from Vaudreuil Station, Quebec and refers to him as Lt.  
 

There are a number of G A Thompsons with records at the TNA and LAC but unless I have missed it, they do not seem to be this man.

Any ideas please? 

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Red Gate,

G.A. Thompson is Captain George Anson Thompson.  He was born on 27 October 1894, at Bengal, India, his family resided in Bedford, Bedfordshire,

he went to Canada to work as a rancher, at Guelph, Ontario, in May, 1913.  With the outbreak of the war, he left Canada in August, 1914, was

commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the Sussex Regiment, and was attached to the Royal Flying Corps in early 1916.  Appointed a Temporary 2nd Lieutenant &

Flying Officer on 22 May 1916, he had been posted to 36 Squadron on 15 May 1916, posted to 16 Squadron in France on 25 May 1916, was wounded in July, 1916,

and posted to Home Establishment in July, 1916.  Appointed a Temporary Lieutenant on 1 September 1916 and a Temporary Captain & Flight Commander

on 17 December 1916, he was posted to 37 Reserve Squadron, at Scrampton, as a Flight Commander on 2 January 1917, then to Central Flying School on

28 May 1917, posted to 18 Squadron in France on 10 August 1917, and to Home Establishment on 6 February 1918.  He was posted to 60 Training Squadron

during 1918 and was placed on the Unemployed List on 13 July 1919.  A bush pilot in Canada after the war, he was the tenth pilot in Canada to qualify for

a commercial flying license and was the District Controller, Air Service Department of Transport, from 1948 to 1953.  A resident of Vancouver, British Columbia

since 1942, he died there on 21 July 1957.  This information was sourced from his R.A.F. Officer's Service Record (Air 76 file at the National Archives, Kew), his

Medal Index Card in the 372 series at the National Archives, and his Find A Grave profile.  I did not find any reference to Quebec.

Josquin

Josquin

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Thanks for that information Josquin. 

I had wondered about George Anson Thompson given his connection to Canada, albeit Ontario rather than Quebec, and the reference to 37 Reserve Squadron which I imagine could have been a typo for 37 Squadron.  However I had discounted him as the dates do not seem to tie up and the ranks seem to differ.  According to his service record he was at the Central Flying School from 28 May to 10 August 1917 whereas on 7 July Cole and Cheesman have him with 37 Squadron in Essex flying an anti-Gotha sortie from Stow Maries.  Wise describes the same eventful sortie but adds points that suggest he consulted Thompson's combat report.  His service record has him as a Captain on 7 July but Wise refers to him as a Lt and Cole and Cheesman as a 2nd Lt.  

What do you reckon?  Can these differences be reconciled?  

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The records that survive after a century are often fragmentary and contradictory.  The differences in rank attributions occur often in the records.  In

Thompson's instance, he was a 2nd Lieutenant and Flying Officer appointed later to Temporary Lieutenant and Temporary Captain--so he was,

strictly a 2nd Lieutenant rather than a Lieutenant or a Captain.  The RAF and Army records, however, often simply list both 2nd Lieutenants and

Lieutenants as holding the latter rank, so the different attributions of ranks is not surprising.  As for his appointment to C.F.S., the records are

rather minimal and do not provide the distinctions you mention.  All I can suggest is that Thompson was a pilot with combat experience in

France during May to July, 1916, including being wounded, and his appointment to C.F.S. for two and a half months was probably somewhat

frustrating.  I suspect that he participated in some unofficial combat flights when opportunities presented themselves, such as the Gotha bombing raids,

and Stow Maries is only about 140 miles from Upavon.  I cannot offer a definitive resolution or reconciling of documents because the documents

are too incomplete.  I examined all of the service records for officers named G.A. Thompson in the AIR 76 file at the National Archives and none

had a posting to a 37 Squadron except George Anson Thompson.

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I agree that the records of the others with the TNA have no relevance to 37 Squadron.  Thanks once again for the information and advice. 

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On 28/01/2023 at 17:05, Red Gate said:

His service record has him as a Captain on 7 July but Wise refers to him as a Lt and Cole and Cheesman as a 2nd Lt.  

Possible that he had a substantive tank of Second Lieutenant / Lieutenant but was an Acting Captain so was just referred to as Captain as that was how he was seen by those with / under him.

I've seen a Lieutenant (Acting Lieutenant-Colonel) in command of the 8th Bedfordshires before now for what it's worth - a difference of three full ranks.

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I researched the possible relevance of Vaudreuil, Quebec, to Thompson and established that no records, census or otherwise, connect anyone

named G.A. Thompson to Vaudreuil.  Only one man, George S. Thompson, has census listings (from 1881 through 1911, inclusive) stating that

Vaudreuil was his residence.  The census returns state that he was born in 1877, in Quebec, and the Find A Grave site gives his birthdate as

10 June 1877 and his death date as 10 September 1918.  He is not listed in the RAF Officer Service Record (AIR 76) file at the National Archives,

in the Air History People Index, or the Commonwealth War Graves site, so his death appears not to be war related.  The available records do not

document Wise's statement linking Thompson to Vaudreuil.  Also, I did not locate Quebec birth records for George S. Thompson.  This is a

challenging research problem, surely.

Josquin

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That is very interesting about Vaudreuil.  Given the rationalisations of the queries on dates (Thank you both) I think that George Anson seems to be the best bet at the moment, always assuming that the reference to Thompson is correct!  But indeed a knotty problem. 

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