Thompson, Alfred Burke Jr.

  • From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: See full biography at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_B._Thompson
  • Wiki Biography:
    • Alfred Burke Thompson (1915–1985), was an officer in the Royal Air Force and then the Royal Canadian Air Force, was the first Canadian taken prisoner in World War II, was a participant in the ‘Great Escape’, and was the Canadian who was the longest ever held as a prisoner of war.
    • Alfred Burke Thompson was born on August 8, 1915, at Penetanguishene, Ontario, Canada, a small town on Georgian Bay about 82 miles (132 km) north of Toronto. His father, who was also named Alfred Burke Thompson was a prominent lawyer and politician in the area. At the time of Thompson’s birth, his father, aged 53, was the sitting Member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario (or MLA, known today as MPP) for the riding of Simcoe Centre.
    • On September 3, 1939, Britain declared war on Nazi Germany. Thompson flew his first operational sortie on the night of September 4–5, dropping propaganda leaflets on Germany. His second operational mission, another leaflet-dropping raid to the Ruhr Valley in Germany, was a few days later on the night of September 8–9. That night he was flying as second pilot in a Whitley Mk III, no. K8950 (code letters DY-M); the pilot and aircraft commander was Squadron Leader Stephen S. Murray. Several hours into the trip, Thompson’s aircraft developed engine trouble and was unable to maintain altitude.Because the pilots were not able to make a forced landing (given that the earth’s surface could not be clearly seen in the night’s darkness), all five crewmen safely parachuted to the ground near Kassel, Germany. (Both at the time and over the subsequent years, there have been various contradictory narratives of why the aircraft went down, but Thompson himself maintained that engine trouble was the reason.) The crewmen were all soon captured. Thompson was the first Canadian to be taken as a prisoner of war (PoW) in World War II.At the time of his capture, Britain had been at war for six days; Canada would not enter the war until the following day.
    • The most notable event in which Thompson was involved during his years in captivity was the mass escape of PoWs from the Stalag Luft 3 prison camp, an event that was later dubbed ‘the Great Escape.’ Through meticulous planning, ingenuity, determination and much hard work, the PoWs over eleven months had dug a tunnel a distance of 336 horizontal feet (102 m), reaching out of the camp. On the night of March 24–25, 1944, 76 PoWs escaped through this tunnel. Thompson was the 68th man to go out through it. The plan was for 200 PoWs to break out that night; but in the midst of the escape, due to problems and delays that were experienced, this was reduced to a maximum of about 100. As it turned out, 76 PoWs got away before the escape came to a premature end, when a German guard came across a PoW outside the wire and raised the alarm.
    • Thompson, after being apprehended, was taken to a prison in Sagan and then, within a day or two, was moved, together with several other re-captured escapees, to a prison in Görlitz. At Görlitz, Thompson was interrogated by the Gestapo. Following that, he was in due course returned to Stalag Luft III, where he spent some time in the “cooler.”
    • In the aftermath of the escape, the Gestapo, acting on an order that had originated with Hitler himself, shot to death 50 of the 73 recaptured officers (including six Canadians). This was a violation of international treaties to which Germany was a party and of customary international law – it was in law murder. Like Thompson, Flight Lieutenant Bill Cameron, with whom Thompson had paired up after clearing the tunnel, survived. However, the two British escapees whom Thompson and Cameron came across, Flight Lieutenants Evans and Hall, were among those murdered by the Gestapo. Only three of the escapees succeeded in ultimately reaching the United Kingdom.
    • Thompson remained a PoW until almost the end of the war in Europe, having spent almost every day of the war in captivity. He was held longer as a PoW – more than five-and-a-half years – than any other Canadian ever.
    • Thompson was honourably released from active service in the RCAF on November 16, 1945. He was awarded three medals to recognize his war service: the 1939-45 Star, the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal (with overseas clasp), and the War Medal 1939-45. (In early 2013 – almost 68 years after the end of the war! – the British government authorized a “Bomber Command” clasp for the 1939-45 Star; Thompson presumably qualifies for this clasp too, rather than Canada’s similar Bomber Command bar, as he met the criteria for it while serving as a member of the RAF.)
  • Second Great Grandson of United Empire Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory: https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=8382
  • Find A Grave:
  • https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/154692942/alfred_burke-thompson