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COMMANDER C. R. THOMPSON AT CHURCHILL'S SIDE IN THE WAR | |
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Commander Charles Ralfe Thompson, C.M.G., O.B.E., R.N., who was personal Assistant to the Prime Minister from 1940 until Churchill left office in 1945, died yesterday at his home in London. He was 71. Second son of R. C. Thompson, member of a Durham shipbuilding family, he was born at Shiney Row, co. Durham, in 1894 and went through Osborne 
and Dartmouth, first going to sea as a midshipman in the battleship Monarch in 1911. A fanatically keen pioneer airman, he was anxious to make flying his career in the Navy. But ironically enough his application to specialize in this new branch was turned down by Churchill, then first lord of the Admiralty, soon after the outbreak of the First World War on the grounds that Thompson had not put in enough sea time to volunteer. So Thompson became a submarine specialist and he was in command of submarines almost continuously until 1931.At a time of retrenchment in the service he was passed over for promotion and became flag lieutenant commander, first to the Commander in Chief Portsmouth, Admiral Sir Arthur Waistell, and then to his successor, Admiral Sir John Kelly. In 1936, when it was decided to create a new post of flag lieutenant to the Board of Admiralty the choice fell on Thompson and he was still carrying out these duties when war was declared and Churchill arrived at the Admiralty. Thompson, by now on the verge of retirement from the Active List was one of the Duty Officers at the Admiralty. Impressed by his unobtrusive efficiency, his tact and obvious discretion Churchill asked, when he moved to Downing Street, |
for Thompson to be permanently attached to his personal staff. Thompson remained at the Prime Minister's side for the rest of the war, organizing all his journeys by land, sea, and air and accompanying him everywhere. When Churchill had to fly home from Bermuda in 1942 after the Washington conference and the passenger list in the flying boat had to be cut to minimum to make room for extra fuel Thompson had to be left behind, "lamenting as bitterly as Lord Ullin in the poem . . . never before and never afterwards were we separated in these excursions", wrote Churchill afterwards. "Tommy", as he was always known to the Churchill family became an indispensable member of the Prime Minister's entourage. By nature a modest and extremely self-effacing man, he was content to remain always in the background. But his personal charm and ability to get things done with a minimum of fuss combined with complete unflappabilty under pressure considerably lightened the burden of the Prime Minister's daily life during those years of stress. In his younger days an accomplished amateur rider and polo player, he was keenly interested in racing and when he left the Prime Minister's staff he acted for some years as Clerk to the Stewards of the Jockey Club. In 1964 an account of his wartime experiences was given in The War and Colonel Warden, a book by Gerald Pawle, based on Thompson's recollections. Thompson, who was made an O.B.E. in 1939 and C.M.G. in the Prime Minister's list in 1945, was also made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor for his war services. He was unmarried. |