Etaples rebellion

[lionboxer]

Tom,

Can you confirm from the original map of Etaples that 26 General Hospital is between 1 and 7 Canadian Hospitals and not 28 Gen Hosp please? I'm struggling at the moment as I'm unable to find any reference to 26 General Hospital other than what appears to be it's location at Etaples. Family history has that my uncle was taken there after being gassed at Villers Brettoneux May 1918. Can anyone else help?

Lionboxer

[Guest SpoonerYork]

Anyone know whatever become of Brigadier A. Graham Thomson ( Base Commander) and Captain E.F. Strachan, Assistant Provost Marshal ??

[bartbandyrfc]

According to the London Gazette Colonel (temporary BGen) A. G. Thomson was retired 8 Feb 1919. He received the CB and CMG.

See Issue 31351

[Gary Samson]

The local museum also has a display relating to the camp, which is very interesting. I believe it was a temporary display, that has become semi-permanant. It is located in the centre of Etaples.

Is anyone able to confirm that this display is still open to visitors? I may be near Etaples this week and would like to stop by the exhibition if it's still running.

Gary

[P.B.]

According to the London Gazette Colonel (temporary BGen) A. G. Thomson was retired 8 Feb 1919. He received the CB and CMG.

See Issue 31351

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thompson seems to have had a somewhat mixed career -he initially served in the Royal Engineers, and was obviously rated highly enough to be posted as Officer Commanding the RMA at Woolwich -in the pre-war Army this was a prestigeous and important appointment, and unlikely to have been given lightly. It appears that during a visit to Woolwich Sir John French was publicly critical of Thompson's lax attitude and the increasing emphasis on the social life of the cadets there to the detriment of their military training (Thompson's wife encouraged amatuer dramatics, parades were held in shirt-sleeves, etc)

Whatever the effect of this very public rebuke had on Thompson emotionally (some might conclude that it hardened his attitudes where discipline was concerned) it certainly harmed his career, and his command at Etaples can be described at best as negligent and uncaring. Certainly the conduct of the instructors, and the Military Police under the command of Stachan, the Provost Marshall, seems to have inflamed more generally held grievences about food, living conditions and the treatment of experienced soldiers -many of them having been wounded, some decorated- by "base-wallahs".

After Etaples, Thompson was engaged to command British troops interned in Holland, and here too complaints were voiced about his leadership -gripes about food and living conditions again being prominant. Much of the early accounts of the mutiny at Etaples are flawed -"The Monocled Mutineer" in particular- but it does seem that Thompson was unsuited for commanding static large-scale encampment, either temprementally, or because he lacked the necessary administrative skills. The end of WWI saw him resident in Switzerland, having left his Holland assignment under yet another cloud.

I believe his son was killed early in WWI, and the Thompson's governess described in an interview how this contributed to his already dour and taciturn personality.

A lot of this is from memory, so bits of it might be a bit off, but generally this is the path his career took post-Etaples.

All the best

Paul.

[Chris Best]

Tom

Here's a plan of the base camp at Etaples. I've deliberately left it a bit big so that people can read the names of the buildings, areas, etc.

Another request (2nd today) but I cannot access this image. Any chance of re-submitting or Emailing?

Cheers

Chris