Flt/Lt Hugh Wallace Thomson RAF 1944- Artilleryman 1940

Hello,
On 16 June 1944 Flt/Lt Thomson's Lancaster crashed in Anzegem, Flanders. Flt/Lt. Thomson was trown out of the aircraft by an explosion and survived.
Four years earlier Thomson was an artilleryman in the BEF. Joan,his is wife and widow told me he fought in Louvain (Leuven) and had to withdrawn via Escaut and Dunkirk. He got off the beach in De Panne, but his boat was shot and sank. This happened three times. Still he survived, he reached Dover in his underwear. That's what Joan told me. She couldn't tell me what artillery unit he had served.
I found out Sector Leuven ( Louvain) May 1940 was held by II Corps, 3rd Division.
After the Dyle front he went to Escaut. Is there anyone who knows which artilleryunit he served . Later he got a DFC and MC. I found two numbers connected with his name Hugh Wallace thomson RAF VR N° 7 Sqn DFC, MC, 175967 another number 656876. But I don't know if this is his army number.
I was wondering if he ever fought in the area where he would crash four years later.
I would be grateful if anyone could give advice.
With kind regards from Flanders,
Jef

 

Welcome to the forum Jef. This is all I could find
https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/search/results?basicsearch="hugh wallace thomson"&phrasesearch=hugh wallace thomson&retrievecountrycounts=false&sortorder=score

Others more knowledgeable than myself will be along to help. Good luck with your research. Cheers - Maria (Scotland)

 

Hi Jef

Forces War Records shows him in the RAF but no H W Thomson in the Royal Artillery, only a couple of H Thomsons...

There ia a H W Thompson listed but he was a Major...

Not sure if any help?

Quis Separabit

 

Dear Amberdog, I'm not use to work with such sites, but will try if iI'm able to get in. Thank you.
@ Dear Quis separabit, Thank you for your effort . It's the first Thomson that's for sure.Who knows if the two last entry's match. After all he got an MC and I don't know why. MC is a medal for army officers, not for RAF. I will see what I can do with that seniority dates. London Gazetted.... Commisioned....?

Thank you both. Stay safe and stay well.
Jef

 

Hi Jef,

Did he die in Britain? If you could find his death record you could apply for a basic copy of his service record for £30 here
Get a copy of military service records

If they can't find an Army record, they will return the £30. There's quite a long wait for records at the moment. I doubt the MOD office in Glasgow is open yet.

All the best. Maria

 

90824 Was Hugh Thomson according to POW records.

Surrey & Sussex Courier, Saturday, June 2, 1945


Probate

 

Hi Tony,

There's an H. W. Thomson in the Army Casualty Lists on Find My Past. 2 entries for 1944 and 1 in 1945.

Find My Past says he was born Nowshera, Bengal 1917. That's in the British India Office Births & Baptisms.

Found his Probate too. Hugh Wallace Thomson M.C., D.F.C. of 113 Queens Road, East Grinstead, Sussex died 19th Sept 1948 at Wunstorf, Germany. Administration London 27 Nov to Joan Irene Thomson, widow.

OK, got date of death, but how do you get a copy of Death Certificate from Germany?

 

Evening, Maria - These are T1836995 H W Thomson, Driver, RASC.

 

Thanks for ruling out those Army Casualty entries Tony. I wasn't convinced they were him, but you never know.

Looks complicated to get a copy of the death certificate. Stadt Wunstorf

How To Germany - FAQ - Birth and Death Certificates

I wonder if the MOD would accept a copy of his Probate as proof of death Tony. Any thoughts? £1.50 for a copy of his Will would be easier than getting a death certificate, along with his exact date of birth. Don't know if MOD would accept that.

 

Birth

GRO Army Death Indices (1881 To 1955)
Archive reference DARM
Record set British Armed Forces And Overseas Deaths And Burials

 

Fantastic Tony, many thanks for all the records. Hope you've been OK through the Covid lockdown?

 

Appointment to commission. As Plt. Offs. on prob. (emergency): 9th May 1944.656876 Hugh Wallace THOMSON (175967).
Page 2920 | Supplement 36570, 16 June 1944 | London...

DFC as Acting Flight Lieutenant – 22 May 1945
Page 2625 | Supplement 37088, 18 May 1945 | London ...

MC as Acting Flight Lieutenant – 2 October 1945
Page 4859 | Supplement 37291, 28 September 1945 | L...

The MC is relatively unusual to members of the RAF and I wonder if this relates to VARSITY, where RAF pilots were attached to the Gilder Pilot Regiment.

I suspect that Thomson would not have been a commissioned gunner or senior NCO previously – why waste that training and experience? So identifying his unit and where precisely he served in 1940 will probably be difficult until you receive his service record.

 

It looks to me that F/L Thomson died while in service, postwar at RAF Wunstorf,a former Luftwaffe airfield which post war housed RAF fighter squadrons.

As stated by Amberdog, P/O H W Thomson's service record should be available. RAF Cranwell holding the RAF service records and I would think that his D.C should be available via the MOD.His army service record would complete his military service.

The eligibility of the award of a MC was common to all commissioned officers of all three services.Jimmy McCairns, (later to serve on No 161 Squadron as a clandestine commissioned Lysander pilot ) as a Sgt Pilot was awarded the non commissioned equivalent award of the MM when he escaped from a German POW Camp.F/L H W Thomson's MC award might have been related to his act of evasion when he was the sole survivor of Lancaster JB 455 MG-N...unfortunately there is no citation added in the LG.

Bill Chorleys publication from No 7 Squadron ORB for the night of 15/16 June 1944.

Lancaster 111 JB 455 MG-N... only No 7 Squadron aircraft FTR

Up from Oakington at 2303...target rail communications at Lens rail yards.

Crashed at location as already recorded,6 crew dead buried in the local communal cemetery.

Crew

P/O H W Thomson...evaded
W/O J Devlin +
P/O D R Cooles +
F/S C Nicholson +
F/S C J Weston +
F/S J E Watts +
F/S S D Muir RNAF +

H W Thomson's RAF airman service number of 656876 indicates that he was a transfer from the army to the RAF.The number is in a batch 655000 to 679899 which were issued to transfers starting in January 1939 and ending in December 1944.Only his service record will indicate the date of his transfer from the army to the RAF and he probably joined as direct entries, as an AC2

His RAF service number 175967 was the number issued to him as was the normal procedure to change a service number when an airman was commissioned.

As regards P/O Thomson's evasion he must have evaded for almost two months.Official record WO 208 shows him leaving France for the UK on 9 September 1944 and arriving on the same day.His evasion account would no doubt be interesting and as many accounts highlight the support he must have received from resisters and the like.

No 7 Squadron,a Pathfinder squadron from the summer of 1942 has an active squadron association and Dave Cheetham,the squadron archivist might be able to supply further information about P/O H W Thomson's time on the squadron

Home

Correction as listed in the following post.F/L Thomson left France for the UK on the 12th not the 9th September 1944.

 

7 Squadron Lancaster III JB455 MG-N P/O. Thomson, RAF Oakington, Anzegem, Belgium

Confirms MC was for evasion and that he was killed during the Berlin airlift.

 

Dear Friends, Amberdog, Tony, Richelieu
Thank you all for your answers and newspaper notes. In 2004 my friends and I of the researchgroup Lancaster JB455 erected a memorial for the crashed Lanc ..... with the money of the commune of Anzegem. Thank you again Anzegem. A lot of relatives were attending. Indeed, Flt/Lt Thomson crashed with an Avro York during the airlift Berlin (1948)in Germany and is buried now in Hanover military cemetery. Joan remarried later with a RAF friend of Hugh Wallace. Joan and the son of Hugh Wallace passed away a few years ago but were both attending the unveiling of the memoriaL It was a real pleasure and previlege to have met them and to have known them.
Joan told me about Hugh's service in artillery but couldn't tell me details. Because Hugh Wallace was involved in the fightings near the Escaut during the Blitz, I was wondering if he knew the area where he later would crash with his aircraft.
Again thank you fou all your efforts.
Still take care ,Stay safe, it's not over yet.
kind regards from Flanders,
Jef

 

Dear friends, Forgot to thank Harry Ree for his answer. I'm a non native speaker and sometimes I oversee things. Apologies Harry
Jef

 

Jef

Do you have an account of P/O Thomson's evasion?

Thanks for remembering P/O Thomson and revealing his unique military career.

Per Ardua ad Astra

 

Hello Harry,
I don't have the information of his debriefing. All I know , when Flt/Lt Thomson was trew out of the Lanc he came down with his parachute. During the dark he went West along the railway Brussels -Kortrijk ( Courtrai) At a certain point he was seen by someone when it already was daylight. That person adviced him to go to a farm in the other direction. There he got food, civilian clothes and shoes, as he lost a boot during the explosion. When he got shoes he left the remaining boot in the farm ( By the way that boot is here in my possesion now, will take a pic this evening, have to go now) . As coincedence, relatives of the farm owns the farm where is Lanc crashed so hugh Wallace went with the farmer to see his aircraft which lay burning in the fields. He stayed there hidden in that farm for a few days, because the area was full of Germans. When possible someone of the family took him to the Tournai area with a bicycle. The résistance took him further to allied lines. So there ends the story.....in a few words. Will post a pic of the boot this evening.
Jef

 

I'm curious about Hugh's father. Does his christening entry say his father, Harold Harry Thomson, is a Lieutenant in S & J Corps in 1917. Am I reading S & J Corps correctly?

Familysearch.org reveals Harold married Catherine May Browne in Allahabad, Bengal 24 Mar 1915. Harold was 26 years old, born 1889, his father was John Thomson. Catherine was 24, born 1891, her father was Robert Charles Browne.

Daughter, Dorothy Noel Thomson, was born 25 Dec 1915 and was christened in Lahore 29 Jan 1916.

Another daughter was born 30 Oct 1922 and christened 30 Oct 1922 Bombay Presidency, India.

 

S & T, I think, according to FIBIS:

Entry from Indian Army Reserve of Officers: Jan 1917
Serial Number 2067
Date of Rank & Appointment 14 August 1916
Date of Joining -
Surname Thomson
First Names Harold Harry
British Regiment with which trained -
Indian Regiment to which Attached Supply and Transport Corps
Previous Service Volunteer. Head Assistant, Office of Inspector General of Police, Punjab
Languages Urdu