Harry Gordon Thompson Sergeant R/256225 Royal Canadian Air Force June 3, 1925 Manchester, England May 18, 1943 Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton, Ontario 17 5 feet, 6 ½ inches Medium Brown Blue Single Machine Operator, Welder United Church Mildred May Thompson (Mother) April 23, 1944 18 Brookwood Military Cemetery, Surrey, England Section 48, Row H, Grave 8

Name: Rank: Service No: Service: Date of Birth: Place of Birth: Date of Enlistment: Place of Enlistment: Address at Enlistment Age at Enlistment: Height: Complexion: Eye Colour: Hair Colour: Marital Status: Trade: Religion: Next of Kin: Date of Death: Age at Death: Cemetery: Grave Reference:

Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Harry Gordon Thompson was the son of Frank Thompson (b. 1900) and Mildred May (Williams) Thompson (b. 1898), and the brother of John Clifford Thompson, Eric Williams Thompson, Joan Esther Thompson, Constance Joyce Thompson, Dorothy Alwyn Thompson, Gladys Bernice Thompson, Beatrice Marilyn Thompson, and Mildred May Thompson. Both his parents were born in England, and his father was a baker. Harry played hockey and basketball during the school term, attending the Ballard Public School in Hamilton from 1930-1938, and then pursued electrical studies at the Hamilton Technical School in 1938-39. He worked as a butcher for two different employers from 1939-1940 and 1940-41, before working as a laborer for the Wallace Barnes Company in Hamilton, Ontario. Harry trained in Edmonton and Quebec and was then transferred to the RCAF Y Depot in Halifax December 10, 1943, where he remained until January 20, 1944, before departing for the UK. He embarked January 21st and disembarked England January 31, 1944. During his training, it was noted he was a good student and had no trouble with the course, had sufficient self assurance, and occasionally takes the lead. In England, he trained with No. 13 Operational Training Unit (13 OTU) from February 23 - March 28, 1944, and was subsequently taken on strength with 180 RAF Squadron. Sergeant Harry Thompson was the Air Gunner of Mitchell II bomber FV915 engaged in a non-operational night bombing practice from the airfield at Swanton Morley, in Norfolk. Wing Commander John J Castle, commanding G Squadron, wrote to Harry’s family after his death on May 1, 1944, “[…] He was gunner on an aircraft taking off on a night exercise. Unfortunately, just after it was airborne, it lost height and crashed at great speed – none of the crew escaped.” “Sgt. Thompson had been with us only a few days, but we have many of his friends from OTO and Conversion Unit with us, so he was not among strangers. He had already made his mark as a cheerful and efficient gunner. […]”