George Thompson (VC)

George Thompson VC (23 October 1920-23 January 1945) was a Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Details

He was 24 years old, and a Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve Flight Sergeant in No. 9 Squadron during the Second World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

On 1 January 1945 in an attack on the Dortmund-Ems Canal, Germany, a Lancaster bomber, after releasing its bombs, was hit by two shells and a raging fire broke out. Flight Sergeant Thompson, wireless operator, seeing that both gun turrets were ablaze, went at once to help the two gunners to a place of relative safety, extinguishing their burning clothing with his bare hands. Then, despite his shocking state of burns and charred clothing, he went through the burning fuselage to report to the pilot. The crippled aircraft finally crash-landed; one of the gunners survived, the other died. Flight Sergeant Thompson died of his injuries three weeks later.

The medal

His Victoria Cross is displayed at the National War Museum of Scotland "(Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh, Scotland)".

References

*British VCs of World War 2 (John Laffin, 1997)
*Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
*The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
*Scotland's Forgotten Valour (Graham Ross, 1995)