7565 Major Frederick Sleigh Robert "Ted" Thomson MC, MID, 25/8/1912-28/3/1943.

Frederick Thomson makes his first appearance in the Official History of the 23rd Battalion, 2NZEF, as a Lieutenant in Britain in 1940, setting up a tank-hunting ection, taking advice from British soldiers who had faced German armoured forces in Europe before being evacuated from Dunkirk.  He commanded a Company of the 23rd when they went to Greece, left Greece, and defended Crete from the best the Germans could throw at them.

  He is next mentioned in a remarkable, small piece of action at Fort Capuzzo, an Italian base in Libya from colonial times.

Lieutenant-Colonel Leckie of 23 Battalion was then told to send out a reinforced company to patrol the approaches to Fort Capuzzo and, if possible, cut the water pipeline between Bardia and Sollum.With reasonable luck this company might be able to test the defences of the Fort to pave the way for a full battalion attack before dawn on the 22nd. But luck was even more plentiful. By a miscalculation the company set out from a point a mile and a half nearer the fort than it supposed and soon found itself inside what had been regarded as outlying defences without sight or sound of enemy. The company commander, Captain Thomson, saw no reason to draw back and with quick precautions against ambush marched into the heart of the fort and captured it with scarcely a shot fired. The small Italian garrison was surprised not by stealth but by noise: Thomson's company, thinking itself out of enemy earshot, had given such loud warning of its approach that the handful of defenders had no thought of hostile intrusion. Two 105-millimetre guns and their crews were captured. Thomson brought up his carriers and anti-tank guns and soon laid out his own defences. He now possessed the main telephone exchange of the frontier area and within a few minutes (with the help of a co-operative Italian officer) the water pipeline was cut. At 5 a.m. on the 22nd two lorries loaded withrations drove in from Bardia and three Italians were killed and a dozen captured. Further exploitation of the seizure of this track junction and communications centre followed after dawn, the enemy on the northern hinge of the frontier line taking some time to grasp what had happened.

Thomson was lucky at Fort Capuzzo on November 22 - but his luck changed the following month, as again described in the Official History:  The advance continued in the afternoon with C Company's ‘flag’ — a West Coast football jersey — showing the way on Captain Thomson's ‘pick-up’. About 2 p.m. the trucks came under fire again. Captain Thomson ordered the infantry to debus and advance in open order. The trucks screeched to a halt, the infantry jumped down and deployed in their sections just as they had done in the October manoeuvres. Then they advanced resolutely through the flying shrapnel and dust and smoke. The Bren carriers with the advanced guard did their best to help the attack: Sergeant Ernie Hobbs raced his carrier forward and out to a flank where he set up a Spandau machine gun and fired belt after belt of bullets into the enemy positions. He stopped firing only when the advancing infantry masked his target. Captain Thomson was wounded and Lieutenant Len Stubbs took over. He, too, was badly wounded as the company approached its objective, but the attack went on.

PERSONAL

Captain F. S. R. Thomson who was seriously wounded in the left lung during the advance on Benghazi at Christmas, is now reported off the seriously wounded list. He is at No. 3 New Zealand General Hospital, Cairo.  -Timaru Herald, 7/2/1942.

It was on December 17, 1942, that Captain Thomson performed the action which won him the military Cross.  The Battalion were ordered to block a road along which German forces were expected to arrive in retreat.  They were not able to achieve this - or, rather, their commanding General, Kippenberger, decided that the cost of sending his infantry against tanks was not worth the price.  "Nevertheless," reports the Official History, "the pressure exerted would appear to have speeded the enemy's departure."  

The citation for the Military Cross, held in the National Archives in Britain, reads as follows: "On the night of 17 Dec. at Nofilia Capt. F. S. R. Thomson was commanding a company which was given the task of occupying a feature overlooking the road. Enemy tanks were bringing down heavy and concentrated fire on the ground in front of the feature to prevent its occupation. Capt. Thomson by skilfull and determined handling of his Coy succeeded in occupying the ground without any casualties. Capt. Thomson has an outstanding record for devotion to duty and courage in battle. He has fought in Greece, Crete, Libya and Egypt and by his tremendous energy, high qualities of leadership and utter disregard for his own safety he has set a splendid example for both his officers and men to follow."

DEATH ON ACTIVE SERVICE

Major F. S. R. Thomson

POPULAR TIMARU OFFICER

A casualty list received last night announces the death in the Middle East of Major Frederick S. R. Thomson, of Timaru.

Major Thomson, who was 30, was the third son of the late Mr and Mrs T. Thomson, of Timaru. Educated at the Timaru Boys’ High School, he was subsequently employed on a sheep station in the Wairarapa, but owing to an illness he returned to Timaru. On regaining his health he entered the business of T. and J. Thomson, where he was engaged up till the time of his enlistment. He was wounded on three previous occasions and was mentioned in dispatches during the Battle of El Alamein. 

Major Thomson, who enlisted when the call for service was made, was posted to the medical corps and was later selected for the first officers’ training corps in the present war at a North Island camp. Gaining his commission, he was drafted to the Second Echelon which remained in England for about a year. After serving in Egypt for some months he was promoted to lieutenant. He served in Greece, where he was slightly wounded. After the Crete Campaign, he was promoted to captain. Major Thomson was badly wounded in a lung during the fighting when the Eighth Army broke through to Benghazi, but he made a good recovery and returned to his unit to take part in the El Alamein battle, in which he was mentioned in dispatches. He was promoted acting-major some months ago and was recently confirmed in this rank. Popular with his colleagues, Major Thomson was held in high esteem by the men under his command. 

A keen athlete, Major Thomson was a South Canterbury representative Rugby and cricket player and he was a former captain in the Old Boys’ Rugby team. Major Thomson represented the New Zealand Army in a number of matches in England, and he also played for the Army in several cricket matches.  -Timaru Herald, 7/4/1943.

The circumstances of "Ted" Thomson's death are detailed in the 23rd Battalion's Official History - as are the reactions of the men he fought beside: The battalion's losses were by no means high for an infantry daylight attack — 3 officers and 8 other ranks killed and 1 officer and 29 other ranks wounded. From the military point of view, the loss of such experienced company commanders as Captains Ted Thomson and Grant Robertson was serious.

Thomson died of the wounds he received when a low-flying fighter shot up his truck some distance behind the battle area. A fearless and natural leader of tremendous energy, he had frequently galvanised his men into action in the most trying circumstances. The sight of Ted with his floppy ‘cheese-cutter’ cap worn at a rakish angle over his inimitable happy grin invariably stirred the C Company men to follow his lead, while his slogan in battle or on the rugby field of ‘Get cracking’ always produced the desired response. Grant Robertson had been in command of B Company from

C Company played a more prominent part in this attack than was to be expected of a reserve company. Somehow the word that their much respected company commander, Ted Thomson, had been badly wounded reached the men as they were leaving their slit trenches. As Bob Wilson said later: ‘Our respect and admiration for Ted were such that C Coy joined battle from start to finish in a spirit of vengeful purpose’. The first objective was taken in such copybook style in this practically model attack that C Company men did not get the opening they sought. But thereafter, when D Company swerved towards the road on the left boundary and a gap appeared between B and D, C surged forward. To quote Wilson again: ‘We had a legitimate axe to grind coupled with a human desire to miss no fun. C Coy, Sandy Slee in charge, with Ted on our minds, bee-lined up the centre gap and joined the front. Max Cross, our platoon commander, led a pack alongside and sometimes in front of the tanks, on to Jerries in slit trenches, despite their defiance.’

Timaru Cemetery.