Gordon Thomson (rower)

Last updated

Gordon Lindsay Thomson
Knatchbull M (capt the Hon) Collection Q44359.jpg
Thomson at Tenedos, Gallipoli, June 1915, photographed by M. Knatchbull
Born(1884-03-27)27 March 1884
Battersea, Surrey, England
Died8 July 1953(1953-07-08) (aged 69)
Staplehurst, Kent, England
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branch Royal Navy
Royal Air Force
Years of service1914–1919
Rank Lieutenant Colonel
Commands held No. 207 Squadron RAF
No. 215 Squadron RAF
Battles/wars World War I
 • Gallipoli Campaign
 • Western Front
Awards Distinguished Service Cross
Distinguished Flying Cross
Mention in despatches (×2)
Olympic medal record
Men's rowing
Representing Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1908 London Coxless pair
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1908 London Coxless four

Gordon Lindsay Thomson DSC , DFC (27 March 1884 – 8 July 1953) was an English rower who competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics for Great Britain. During the First World War he served as a pilot in the Royal Naval Air Service and Royal Air Force. [1]

Contents

Early life and rowing career

Thomson was born in Battersea, Surrey, the second of four children of Benjamin Thomas Lindsay Thomson and his wife Esther Florence (née Bowker). [2] He was educated at University College School in Hampstead and Trinity Hall, Cambridge. [3]

Thomson partnered John Fenning at stroke in the coxless pairs to win the gold medal for Great Britain rowing at the 1908 Summer Olympics. Later in the same afternoon he and Fenning were in the Leander coxless four with Philip Filleul and Harold Barker which won a silver medal, losing to the Magdalen College, Oxford crew. [3]

In 1909, Thomson was a member of the Cambridge crew in the Boat Race, and won his rowing blue. In 1910, he won Silver Goblets at Henley Royal Regatta partnering John Burn to beat Albertus Wielsma and Bernardus Croon. [4] He was also a rugby player who played for UCS Old Boys, London Scottish and Surrey. [3]

World War I

At the outbreak of World War I Thomson learned to fly, being granted Royal Aero Club Aviators' Certificate No. 873 on 20 August 1914 after soloing a Bristol biplane at the Bristol School at Brooklands. [5] He joined the Royal Naval Air Service as a probationary flight sub-lieutenant on 24 August, and was confirmed in his rank on 30 October, and posted to HMS Pembroke III. [6] [7]

On 1 January 1915 he was promoted to flight lieutenant, [8] seeing active service during the Gallipoli Campaign between April 1915 and January 1916, and on 14 March 1916 received a mention in despatches from the Vice-Admiral Commanding the Eastern Mediterranean Squadron, [9] and also the award of the Distinguished Service Cross for his low altitude photographic reconnaissance flights over enemy territory. [10] On 30 June 1916 he was promoted to flight commander, [11] and a year later, on 30 June 1917, to squadron commander. [12] On 1 May 1918 Thomson was again mentioned in despatches "for zeal and devotion to duty during the period from 1 July to 31 December 1917". [13]

On 1 April 1918, Royal Naval Air Service was merged with the Army's Royal Flying Corps (RFC) to form the Royal Air Force, and Thomson joined the new service with the rank of captain (temporary major). (The RAF initially used the army ranks inherited from the RFC). Soon after, the former No. 7 Squadron RNAS, now No. 207 Squadron RAF, was withdrawn from France to be re-equipped with the Handley Page O/400 heavy bomber at RAF Andover. [14] On 24 May 1918 Thomson was appointed commander of No. 207 Squadron [15] which returned to France on 7 June to be based at Ligescourt as part of No. 54 Wing of the Independent Air Force, to mount night-bombing operations. [14] However his tenure was short as Thomson was promoted to the temporary rank of lieutenant colonel on 27 July, [16] and transferred to command of No. 215 Squadron RAF. [15]

On 2 August 1918 Thomson was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. His citation read:

Captain (Temporary Major) Gordon Lindsay Thomson, DSC.
"This officer has carried out 340 hours flying, and has taken part in fourteen bombing raids. In one of the latter he led his formation to destroy a bridge over a canal; he flew at a considerable altitude over the objective, watching each machine drop its bombs, and endeavoured to observe the results. After all his machines had completed the raid and departed for the lines, he glided down and passed over the bridge at 140 feet altitude. In face of very severe machine-gun fire he crossed and re-crossed the objective in order to ascertain the results obtained. No material damage being apparent, he flew across it again at 100 feet altitude, dropping his bombs in a final attempt to destroy the bridge. He is a fine leader, and the excellent spirit in his squadron is largely due to his personal example." [17]

Thomson left the RAF after the end of the war, being transferred to the unemployed list on 1 March 1919. [18]

On 19 July 1919 Thomson and his brother Captain Alexander Thomson were two of the ex-servicemen of the parish who were presented with silver-mounted walking sticks in recognition of their military service from the Parish Council of Effingham, where their father was a parish councillor, as part of the Peace Day celebrations marking the signing of the Treaty of Versailles which brought the war to an end. [19]

Thomson died at Staplehurst, Kent, at the age of 69. [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

Edward Ellington

Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Edward Leonard Ellington, was a senior officer in the Royal Air Force. He served in the First World War as a staff officer and then as director-general of military aeronautics and subsequently as controller-general of equipment. In the inter-war years he held command positions in the Middle East, in India and then in Iraq. He served as Chief of the Air Staff in the mid-1930s and in that role he implemented a plan, known as 'Scheme F'. This scheme implemented an increase in the size of the Royal Air Force to 187 squadrons within three years to counter the threat from Hitler's Germany. He also broke up the command known as "Air Defence of Great Britain" to create RAF Fighter Command, RAF Bomber Command, RAF Coastal Command and RAF Training Command. He then served as Inspector-General of the RAF until his retirement in 1940.

Charles Rumney Samson

Air Commodore Charles Rumney Samson, was a British naval aviation pioneer. He was one of the first four officers selected for pilot training by the Royal Navy and was the first person to fly an aircraft from a moving ship. He also commanded the first British armoured vehicles used in combat. Transferring to the Royal Air Force on its creation in 1918, Samson held command of several groups in the immediate post-war period and the 1920s.

John Slessor Senior commander in the Royal Air Force

Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir John Cotesworth Slessor,, sometimes known as Jack Slessor, was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force (RAF), serving as Chief of the Air Staff from 1950 to 1952. As a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War, he saw action with No. 17 Squadron in the Middle East, earning the Military Cross, and with No. 5 Squadron on the Western Front, where he was awarded the Belgian Croix de Guerre. Between the wars he commanded No. 4 Squadron in England, and No. 3 (Indian) Wing, earning the Distinguished Service Order for operations with the latter in Waziristan. In 1936, he published Air Power and Armies, which examined the use of air power against targets on and behind the battlefield.

Douglas Evill Royal Air Force air marshal

Air Chief Marshal Sir Douglas Claude Strathern Evill, was an Australian-born Royal Naval Air Service pilot and squadron commander during the First World War. Serving in the Royal Air Force between the wars, he was a senior air commander during the Second World War.

Grahame Donald Rugby player

Air Marshal Sir David Grahame Donald,, often known as Sir Grahame Donald, was a Royal Naval Air Service pilot during the First World War, a senior Royal Air Force (RAF) officer between the wars and a senior RAF commander during the Second World War. In February 1939, Donald was appointed Director of Organisation at the Air Ministry. He was also a rugby union international having represented Scotland twice in 1914.

Group Captain John Leacroft MC & Bar was a World War I fighter ace credited with 22 victories. He remained in the Royal Air Force until 1937, and returned to service during World War II in administrative roles.

Captain Rupert Norman Gould Atkinson was a British World War I flying ace credited with five aerial victories.

Ronald Graham (RAF officer)

Air vice-marshal Ronald Graham, was a First World War flying ace of the Royal Naval Air Service. Remaining in the Royal Air Force after that war, he rose to the rank of air vice marshal during the Second World War.

Captain John Gamon was an English World War I flying ace credited with seven aerial victories.

Captain Thomas Frederick Le Mesurier DSC & Two Bars was a British flying ace of the First World War credited with seven aerial victories. Le Mesurier was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) and Two Bars for his conspicuous service in bombing operations.

Douglas Alfred Savage, (1892–1967) was a British flying ace of the First World War, credited with seven aerial victories.

Air Vice Marshal Kenneth Malise St. Clair Graeme Leask, was a senior officer of the Royal Air Force (RAF). He began his career in the British Army and served with the Royal Flying Corps in the First World War, being credited with eight aerial victories to become a flying ace. He flew over 100 sorties, and survived three forced landings. He attained the rank of captain, and position as flight commander, in No. 84 Squadron. He remained in the RAF after the war, being appointed Director-General of Engineering in the Air Ministry with the rank of air vice marshal after the Second World War.

Flight Lieutenant David Arthur Stewart, was a British First World War flying ace credited with sixteen aerial victories. Remarkably, they were all scored while he was flying bombers instead of fighters.

Ernest Norton (RAF officer)

Air Commodore Ernest William Norton, was a British air officer of the Royal Air Force (RAF), who began his military career as a flying ace of the First World War credited with nine aerial victories. He rose through the ranks in a mixture of domestic and foreign assignments during the interwar period until he was appointed Air Officer-in-Charge at RAF Headquarters in Singapore on 28 December 1937. By 7 September 1941, he was serving as an air commodore for RAF Fighter Command in Britain. He retired from the RAF on 24 February 1944.

Euan Dickson

Euan Dickson, was a British-born New Zealander bomber pilot and flying ace in the First World War. Serving with the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) and subsequently the Royal Air Force (RAF), he flew over 150 missions flying the D.H.4 aircraft. As well as flying so many bombing missions he, and his observer, was also credited with shooting down 14 enemy aircraft. After the war he returned to New Zealand and was the first person to fly across the Cook Strait.

Air Vice Marshal Charles Humphrey Kingsman Edmonds, was air officer of the Royal Air Force (RAF).

Air Vice Marshal Frederick George Darby Hards, was a Royal Air Force officer who served as Air Officer Commanding British Forces Aden from 1941 until his retirement in 1943.

Major Thomas Francis Netterville Gerrard was a British World War I flying ace credited with ten aerial victories. He died following a post-war equestrian accident.

Reginald Marix

Air Vice Marshal Reginald Leonard George Marix, was a British aviator, originally with the Royal Naval Air Service, who later reached air officer rank in the Royal Air Force. He is credited with being the first pilot to destroy a Zeppelin, when in October 1914 he bombed the airship sheds at Düsseldorf. A flying accident in 1916 ended his flying career, but he remained in the Royal Air Force, serving in various staff positions, and during the Second World War commanded two reconnaissance groups, and from 1943 to 1945 the group responsible for ferrying aircraft from North America to Europe.

Major Wulstan Joseph Tempest, was a British First World War pilot with the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force. He was celebrated for shooting down a Zeppelin R Class airship over Potters Bar in October 1916.

References

  1. ↑ "Gordon Thomson". Olympedia. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  2. ↑ Kemp, Andrew. "Benjamin Thomas Lindsay Thomson". Kemp(e)/Camp(e) one-name study. RootsWeb . Retrieved 27 March 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Olympic Sports - Gordon Thomson". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 24 October 2012. Retrieved 21 December 2009.
  4. ↑ "Henley Royal Regatta Results of Final Races 1839–1939". Rowing History.net. Archived from the original on 9 March 2012. Retrieved 21 December 2009.
  5. ↑ "Royal Aero Club: Aviators' Certificates". Flight. VI (296): 900. 28 August 1914. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
  6. ↑ "Royal Naval Air Service: Appointments". Flight. VI (306): 1096. 6 November 1914. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
  7. ↑ "No. 28965". The London Gazette. 6 November 1914. p. 9015.
  8. ↑ "No. 29024". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 1914. pp. 6–7.
  9. ↑ "No. 29507". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 March 1916. p. 2868.
  10. ↑ "No. 29507". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 March 1916. p. 2870.
  11. ↑ "No. 29687". The London Gazette. 28 July 1916. p. 7481.
  12. ↑ "No. 30156". The London Gazette. 29 June 1917. p. 6413.
  13. ↑ "No. 30662". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 April 1918. p. 5283.
  14. 1 2 Yoxall, John (17 April 1953). "No. 207 Squadron:: History of a Famous Bomber Unit (Part I)". Flight. LXIII (2308): 486. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
  15. 1 2 Barrass, M. B. "Squadron Commanding Officers, No.'s 201–220 Squadrons". Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
  16. ↑ "No. 30831". The London Gazette (Supplement). 6 August 1918. p. 9269.
  17. ↑ "No. 30827". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 August 1918. p. 9204.
  18. ↑ "No. 31264". The London Gazette. 1 April 1919. p. 4219.
  19. ↑ "Effingham Peace Day Celebrations". Effingham Parish Council. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.