Service Details
- Branch of Service
- Army
- Conflict
- World War I (1914-1918)
- Date of Enlistment
- 01/07/1915
- Place of Enlistment
- Royal Military College, Duntroon ACT
Personal Details
- Gender
- Male
- Date of Birth
- 03/01/1895
- Place of Birth
- West Wyalong NSW
- Address (at enlistment)
- Royal Military College, Duntroon ACT
- Occupation
- Soldier
- Next of Kin
- Mrs. E.J. Thompson (mother), Glebe NSW
Unit and Rank Details
- Final Rank
- Major
- Final Unit
- 2 Division Artillery AIF
Awards and Honours
Distinguished Service Order (Commonwealth of Australia Gazette: 23 May 1918)
Military Cross (Commonwealth of Australia Citation: 23 May 1918)
Mentioned in Despatches (Commonwealth of Australia Gazette: 24 October 1918)
Notes
There is no service file for Thompson at the National Archives. He entered the Royal Military College, Duntroon in March 1913 where he and his classmates became spectators at the naming ceremony for Canberra on 12 March 1913. Thompson graduated from RMC on 28 June 1915 along with the rest of his class and was appointed as a Lieutenant with the 13th Battery, 5th Field Artillery Brigade. According to Lee he was wounded twice during the war.
He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his work on the night of 15/ 16 October 1917 near Westhoek in Belgium. His Battery (the 3rd Battery, 1st Field Artillery Brigade), was subjected to heavy shell fire and gas and suffered heavy casualties. Thompson got one wounded man away and arranged treatment for another. Despite suffering from the gas, Thompson ensured that all his men got away to safety. The following day he was ordered to get treatment for the effects of gas but seeing his Battery being shelled, he immediately returned to ensure the safety of his men. He was seriously wounded while trying to "put out exploding ammunition".
Thompson was also recommended for a Military Cross when, on 28 July 1917 near Ypres in Belgium, he was at an observation post whilst with the 11th Battery, 4th Field Artillery Brigade. Despite being under fire and "twice blown in", Thompson continued the work of registering his guns "with most excellent results". He died in Sydney on 11 November 1967.
Sources
AWM First World War Unit Embarkation Rolls
AWM Honours & Awards
Colonel J.E. Lee, 'Duntroon: The Royal Military College of Australia 1911-1946', 1952
Sydney Morning Herald - 13 November 1967