Gordon Lindsay Thomson (27 March 1884 – 8 July 1953) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

rower Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is di ...

who competed in the

1908 Summer Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an International sport, international multi-sport event held in London, England, United Kingdom, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. Th ...

for Great Britain. During the First World War he served as a pilot in the

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps t ...

and

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

Early life and rowing career

Thomson was born in

Battersea Battersea is a large district in south London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and extends along the south bank of the River Thames. It includes the Battersea Park. History Batte ...

, Surrey, the second of four children of Benjamin Thomas Lindsay Thomson and his wife Esther Florence (née Bowker). He was educated at

University College School ("Slowly but surely") , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day school , religion = , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Mark Beard , r_head_label = , r_he ...

in Hampstead and

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is the fifth-oldest surviving college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by ...

. Thomson partnered John Fenning at stroke in the

coxless pair A coxless pair is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for two rowers, who propel the boat with Sweep (rowing), sweep oars. The crew consists of a pair of rowers, each having one oar, one on the stroke (rowin ...

s to win the gold medal for Great Britain

rowing at the 1908 Summer Olympics At the 1908 Summer Olympics, four rowing events were contested, all for men only. Races were held at Henley-on-Thames. The competitions were held from 28 to 31 July. There was one fewer event in 1908 than 1904, after the double sculls was drop ...

. Later in the same afternoon he and Fenning were in the Leander

coxless four A coxless four is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four persons who propel the boat with sweep oars, without a coxswain. The crew consists of four rowers, each having one oar. There are two rowers on t ...

with

Philip Filleul Philip Rowland Filleul (15 July 1885 – 29 July 1974) was a British rower who competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics. Filleul was born at Bath, Somerset. He was strokeman in the Leander coxless four with John Fenning, Gordon Thomson and Ha ...

and

Harold Barker Harold Barker may refer to: *Harold Barker (rower) (1886–1937), British rower *Harold H. Barker (1889–1949), American politician *Gregg Barton (1912–2000), real name Harold Barker, American actor See also *Harry Barker (disambiguation) Harry ...

which won a silver medal, losing to the Magdalen College, Oxford crew. In 1909, Thomson was a member of the

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge beca ...

crew in

the Boat Race The Boat Race is an annual set of rowing races between the Cambridge University Boat Club and the Oxford University Boat Club, traditionally rowed between open-weight eights on the River Thames in London, England. There are separate men' ...

, and won his rowing

blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when ...

. In 1910, he won

Silver Goblets The Silver Goblets & Nickalls' Challenge Cup is a rowing event for men's coxless pairs at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. It is open to male crews from all eligible rowing clubs. Two clubs may ...

Henley Royal Regatta Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It differs from the thr ...

partnering John Burn to beat

Albertus Wielsma Albertus Wielsma (19 December 1883, in Amsterdam – 26 March 1968, in Amsterdam) was a Dutch rower. After a four months training period, he competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olym ...

and

Bernardus Croon Bernardus Hermanus Croon (11 May 1886, in Amsterdam – 30 January 1960, in Amsterdam) was a Dutch rower who competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics. After a four months training period, he competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics The 1908 ...

. He was also a rugby player who played for UCS Old Boys, London Scottish and Surrey.

World War I

At the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

Thomson learned to fly, being granted

Royal Aero Club The Royal Aero Club (RAeC) is the national co-ordinating body for air sport in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1901 as the Aero Club of Great Britain, being granted the title of the "Royal Aero Club" in 1910. History The Aero Club was fou ...

Aviators' Certificate No. 873 on 20 August 1914 after soloing a Bristol biplane at the Bristol School at

Brooklands Brooklands was a Auto racing, motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's fir ...

. He joined the

as a probationary flight sub-lieutenant on 24 August, and was confirmed in his rank on 30 October, and posted to HMS ''Pembroke III''. On 1 January 1915 he was promoted to flight lieutenant, seeing active service during the Gallipoli Campaign between April 1915 and January 1916, and on 14 March 1916 received a

mention in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

from the Vice-Admiral Commanding the Eastern Mediterranean Squadron, and also the award of the Distinguished Service Cross for his low altitude photographic reconnaissance flights over enemy territory. On 30 June 1916 he was promoted to flight commander, and a year later, on 30 June 1917, to squadron commander. 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". 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 The Handley Page Type O was a biplane bomber used by Britain during the First World War. When built, the Type O was the largest aircraft that had been built in the UK and one of the largest in the world. There were two main variants, the Hand ...

heavy bomber at

RAF Andover RAF Andover is a former Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force station in England, west of Andover, Hampshire. As well as RFC and RAF units, units of the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps, Royal Canadian Air Force, United States Army Air ...

. On 24 May 1918 Thomson was appointed commander of No. 207 Squadron which returned to France on 7 June to be based at

Ligescourt Ligescourt is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography Ligescourt is situated on the D12 road, some north of Abbeville. Population See also *Communes of the Somme department The following is ...

as part of No. 54 Wing of the

Independent Air Force The Independent Air Force (IAF), also known as the Independent Force or the Independent Bombing Force and later known as the Inter-Allied Independent Air Force, was a First World War strategic bombing force which was part of Britain's Royal Air ...

, to mount night-bombing operations. However his tenure was short as Thomson was promoted to the temporary rank of lieutenant colonel on 27 July, and transferred to command of

No. 215 Squadron RAF No. 215 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force aircraft squadron formed as a night bomber squadron in the First and Second World Wars, becoming a transport squadron near the end of the Second World War. History ;First World War No. 215 Squadron was ...

. 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." Thomson left the RAF after the end of the war, being transferred to the unemployed list on 1 March 1919. 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 stick A walking stick or walking cane is a device used primarily to aid walking, provide postural stability or support, or assist in maintaining a good posture. Some designs also serve as a fashion accessory, or are used for self-defense. Walking s ...

s 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 The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1 ...

which brought the war to an end. Thomson died at

Staplehurst Staplehurst is a town and civil parish in the borough of Maidstone in Kent, England, south of the town of Maidstone and with a population of 6,003. The town lies on the route of a Roman road, which is now incorporated into the course of the ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, at the age of 69.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, Gordon 1884 births 1953 deaths Sportspeople from Battersea People educated at University College School Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge British male rowers Olympic rowers for Great Britain Rowers at the 1908 Summer Olympics English Olympic medallists Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Olympic medalists in rowing Medalists at the 1908 Summer Olympics Royal Naval Air Service personnel of World War I Royal Air Force personnel of World War I Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Military personnel from Surrey