Service Details
- Branch of Service
- Navy
- Conflict
- World War I (1914-1918)
- Date of Enlistment
- 01/11/1916
Personal Details
- Gender
- Male
- Date of Birth
- 08/03/1885
- Place of Birth
- Dubbo NSW
- Address (at enlistment)
- Canberra ACT
- Occupation
- Methodist Minister
- Next of Kin
- Edith Thompson (wife)
Unit and Rank Details
- Final Rank
- Chaplain
- Final Unit
- HMAS Penguin
Commemoration
AWM Commemorative Area Panel 5, Canberra ACT
Queanbeyan Methodist Church Roll of Honour
Notes
Rev. Thompson replaced Richard Boyer on the Canberra circuit of the Methodist Church in 1915 and stayed for a year before joining the navy as a chaplain. His first posting was to HMAS Encounter. His 1918 assessment by his Captain rated him as satisfactory and though he "was a pleasant mess mate, does not appear to take full advantage of his opportunities as Chaplain in getting in touch with the ships company and has little or no influence on them. Has worked hard as censor and coding officer". His appointment to HMAS Encounter ended on 31 July 1919.
Rev. Thompson remained with the navy serving on various ships and bases including HMAS Brisbane, Cerberus, Penguin, Adelaide, Sydney, Platypus, Albatross, and Australia. He was on board the Sydney when she sank the Italian cruiser the Bartelomeo Colleoni in the Mediterranean in July 1940. The Captain of HMAS Sydney stated in his final assessment of Thompson that he was a "conscientious and serious minded Chaplain. He is old for his years (56) and this fact combined with a frail constitution has been a handicap to him in the exacting conditions of a cruiser in war". Thompson was transferred from HMAS Sydney to the naval base at HMAS Penguin in December 1940. His health deteriorated particularly after the sinking of HMAS Sydney in November 1941, and he died in Sydney on 9 January 1943. He was interred in Northern Suburbs Crematorium in Sydney in the Florentine Wall, Niche 46CC.
Sources
WWII Nominal Roll http://www.ww2roll.gov.au
Queanbeyan Age - 23 November 1915, 23 May 1916, 16 June 1916
James Udy, 'Living Stones: The Story of the Methodist Church in Canberra', 1974 (p.55)
Stories from the ACT Memorial, 'Dangerous Seas', ACT Heritage Library www.library.act.gov.au/find/history/stories_from_the_act_memorial
NAA RecordSearch - Series B2455 (First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920)