William Francis Kynaston "Sheriff" Thompson

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(12 November 1909 – 6 June 1980) was a British soldier and journalist. Born in

Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...

, London in 1909 Thompson served in the army for 30 years before becoming the defence correspondent of the ''

Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was foun ...

''.

Early life

Thompson was educated at

Cheltenham College Cheltenham College is a public school ( fee-charging boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18) in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The school opened in 1841 as a Church of England foundation and is known for its outstanding linguis ...

and then attended the

Royal Military Academy, Woolwich The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of Officer (armed forces), commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers o ...

before being commissioned into the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

in 1929. Promoted to

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

in 1932, Thompson was posted to India where he served in a

mountain artillery Mountain guns are artillery pieces designed for mountain warfare and other areas where wheeled transport is not possible. They are generally capable of being taken apart to make smaller loads for transport by horses, humans, mules, tractors, or t ...

battery. It was in India that Thompson developed a love of climbing and also acquired his nickname of ''Sheriff''. Returning to England Thompson was seconded to the Royal Artillery Training Battalion at the Military College of Science and later appointed

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an Officer (armed forces), officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of “human resources” in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed ...

at the College with the rank of

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Second World War

In 1940 Thompson was awarded the MBE "in recognition of distinguished services rendered in recent operations" and after various staff appointments by early 1943 he was a temporary

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

and second-in-command of 1st Airlanding Light Regiment. In May 1943 the regiment moved to Algeria but did not participate in the

Allied invasion of Sicily The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as the Battle of Sicily and Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allies of World War II, Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis p ...

unlike the infantry components of

1st Airlanding Brigade The 1st Airlanding Brigade was an airborne infantry brigade of the British Army during the Second World War and the only glider infantry formation assigned to the 1st Airborne Division, serving alongside the 1st Parachute Brigade and 4th Para ...

. During operations in Sicily the divisional artillery commander was killed and the commanding officer of the 1st Airlanding Light Regiment was appointed to the role. As a result, Thompson was promoted to acting (subsequently temporary) Lieutenant colonel and given command of the regiment. Thompson and the regiment landed in Italy in September 1943 and took part in operations in Italy throughout the remainder of 1943 and into January 1944 when the regiment was withdrawn to England.

Arnhem

The regiment spent the spring and summer of 1944 training in readiness for the invasion of Europe. In September the regiment took part in Operation Market. Taking off from

RAF Fairford Royal Air Force Fairford or more simply RAF Fairford is a Royal Air Force (RAF) List of Royal Air Force stations, station in Gloucestershire, United Kingdom. While being an RAF station, Fairford hosts United States Air Force personnel. Since 20 ...

on 17 September Thompson, most of his headquarters staff and two of the regiment's three batteries and his men landed by glider at west of

Oosterbeek Oosterbeek is a village in the eastern part of Netherlands. It is located in the municipality of Renkum in the province of Gelderland, about west of Arnhem. The oldest part of Oosterbeek is the Benedendorp (Lower Village), on the northern bank ...

Arnhem Arnhem ( ; ; Central Dutch dialects, Ernems: ''Èrnem'') is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands, near the German border. It is the capita ...

. Shortly after the landing Thompson is recorded as "C.O. "kicking" because there were no targets to fire on, he said we might just as well have come on the next day." The following day with the arrival of the remaining battery the regiment moved to positions around Oosterbeck church to support the attempt by

1st Parachute Brigade The 1st Parachute Brigade, or the Red Devils, was an airborne forces brigade formed by the British Army during the Second World War. As its name indicates, the unit was the first parachute infantry brigade formation in the British Army. Formed ...

to break through to Arnhem bridge. The attack by 1st Parachute Brigade failed and troops from the four infantry battalions started falling back towards Thompson's position. Thompson left his headquarters and went forward to try and get the retreating troops into defensive positions. Thompson organised about 400 men into positions along the road to protect the artillery positions and to block and German advance down the road, placing these men under the command of the most senior officer he could find, Major Robert Cain of the

South Staffordshire Regiment The South Staffordshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence for only 68 years. The regiment was created in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 38th (1st Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot a ...

, Thompson returned to his headquarters to report to his commanding officer, Brigadier Philip Hicks. Hicks sent Major

Richard Lonsdale Lieutenant Colonel Richard Thomas Henry Lonsdale, (27 December 1913 – 23 November 1988) was an officer of the British Army who served with the Parachute Regiment throughout much of the Second World War. Born in December 1913, Lonsdale init ...

of 11th Battalion, Parachute Regiment to assist Thompson. Thompson placed Londsale in command of the Parachute Regiment battalions while he took command of the

South Staffordshire South Staffordshire is a local government district in Staffordshire, England. Its council is based in Codsall. Other notable settlements include Brewood, Cheslyn Hay, Coven, Essington, Featherstone, Four Ashes, Great Wyrley, Huntington, ...

men in addition to his own regiment and the men of the

Glider Pilot Regiment The Glider Pilot Regiment was a British airborne forces unit of the Second World War, which was responsible for crewing the British Army's military gliders and saw action in the European theatre in support of Allied airborne operations. Establish ...

. The whole force was designated "Thompson Force" by 1st Airborne Divisional Headquarters. Thompson remained in command of this mixed force until 21 September when he was wounded and command of the force passed to Lonsdale. Due to the severity of his wounds Thompson was not able to be evacuated and with the defeat of the airborne forces he was taken prisoner by the Germans and spent the rest of the war in Spangenberg Castle

Oflag IX-A/H Oflag IX-A was a World War II German prisoner-of-war camp located in Spangenberg Castle in the small town of Spangenberg in northeastern Hesse, Germany. Camp history The camp was opened in October 1939 as Oflag IX-AMattiello (1986), p.206 to hou ...

. For his actions at Arnhem

Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands Wilhelmina (; Wilhelmina Helena Pauline Maria; 31 August 1880 – 28 November 1962) was Queen of the Netherlands from 1890 until her abdication in 1948. She reigned for nearly 58 years, making her the longest-reigning monarch in Dutch history, as ...

awarded Thompson the Bronze Cross. The citation ran:

Post–Second World War

On his release from captivity Thompson held various staff appointments before commanding 61st Light Field Regiment during the latter stages of the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

and was made an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in the

1954 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 1954 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The appointments were made to celebrate ...

. Thompson was promoted to

Brigadier Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

at the end of 1958 and ended his army career as deputy director of staff duties at the

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

retiring in 1959.

Journalism career

After leaving the army Thompson became defence correspondent of the ''Daily Telegraph'', a post he held until 1976. During his period as a journalist he reported from the front line of several wars including the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, the

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was fought from 6 to 25 October 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states led by Egypt and S ...

and the

Sino-Indian War of 1962 The Sino–Indian War, also known as the China–India War or the Indo–China War, was an armed conflict between China and India that took place from October to November 1962. It was a military escalation of the Sino–Indian border dispu ...

. Between 1970 and 1978 Thompson was Honorary Colonel of 289 Parachute Troop, Royal Artillery.

Personal life

Thompson married Rosemary Foster in 1937 and they had three children, all of whom survived him.

References

External links

1st British Airborne Division officers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, William Francis Kynaston Royal Artillery officers The Daily Telegraph people Officers of the Order of the British Empire Recipients of the Bronze Cross (Netherlands) 1909 births 1980 deaths People educated at Cheltenham College Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich British World War II prisoners of war English war correspondents Operation Market Garden 20th-century English businesspeople British Army personnel of World War II World War II prisoners of war held by Germany British Army personnel of the Korean War War correspondents of the Vietnam War Military personnel from the Royal Borough of Greenwich British Army brigadiers People from Greenwich