Alfred B. Thompson

Alfred senior and Alberta had wed just the year before, in 1914; it was a second marriage for Alfred, who was a childless widower, and a first marriage for Alberta.

Alfred junior was the couple's first child.

He was quickly followed by three others: Donald, Ruth and William John.

The growing family resided at 15 Water Street in Penetanguishene.

Alfred Burke Thompson (1915–1985), was an officer in the Royal Air Force and then the Royal Canadian Air Force, was the first Canadian taken prisoner in World War II, was a participant in the 'Great Escape', and was the Canadian who was the longest ever held as a prisoner of war.

Alfred Burke Thompson was born on August 8, 1915, at Penetanguishene, Ontario, Canada, a small town on Georgian Bay about 82 mi north of Toronto.

His father, who was also named Alfred Burke Thompson was a prominent lawyer and politician in the area.

At the time of Thompson's birth, his father, aged 53, was the sitting Member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario (or MLA, known today as MPP) for the riding of Simcoe Centre.

In 1921 (when Thompson was six years old), his mother died, reportedly from diabetes.

(Thompson's father later sat in Canada's House of Commons as the Member of Parliament for Simcoe East from 1925 to '35. ) His mother was Marie Alberta Thompson (née McFadyen), aged 30.

Thompson's first experience of military life was in April 1933, at the age of 17, when he enlisted as a part-time reservist in The Simcoe Foresters, a local infantry unit of the Canadian Non-Permanent Active Militia in which his father too had once served.

He joined as a private, but in December 1934 was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant.

In 1936, Thompson went to Britain to become a pilot in the Royal Air Force (RAF).

At the time, Canada's small air force had far more applicants than it could accept.

The RAF, however, was expanding in the face of the threat posed by Nazi Germany, providing another option for young air-minded Canadians like Thompson.

The following day, he was granted a short service commission in the RAF (General Duties Branch) as an acting pilot officer (on probation), committing him to four years of active service; his commission was retroactively effective from December 21, 1936.

(In December 1936, The Simcoe Foresters were amalgamated with The Grey Regiment to form The Grey and Simcoe Foresters. ) Thompson ultimately resigned his commission in The Grey and Simcoe Foresters, effective March 7, 1937, upon being granted a commission in the Royal Air Force.

(Allen John Blackwell of Penetanguishene, a longtime friend of Thompson's who had grown up on the same street, was another Canadian who, in 1937, joined the RAF as an officer and pilot trainee.) Thompson, under RAF sponsorship, began elementary flight training at a civil flying school in Hamble, Hampshire, in late December 1936.

Upon successfully completing this course, he formally resigned his commission in the Canadian militia on March 7, 1937.

On March 8, 1937, Thompson commenced initial officer's training at the RAF Depot.

In May 1937, he then started intermediate flight training at 5 Flying Training School, at RAF Sealand in northeastern Wales.

He was awarded the pilot's flying badge (or “wings”) on June 25, 1937.

In November 1937, Thompson was posted to 102 Squadron for flying duties.

At that time, 102 Squadron was a night bomber unit stationed at RAF Honington, Suffolk, and equipped with the Heyford, a large, twin-engined open-cockpit biplane bomber.

On the first anniversary of his service in the RAF (i.e. on December 21, 1937), Thompson was confirmed as a pilot officer.

In July 1938, 102 Squadron moved to RAF Driffield, Yorkshire, where in October it began conversion to the twin-engined Whitley Mk III, which by the standards of the day was a modern heavy bomber.

On September 3, 1939, Britain declared war on Nazi Germany.

Thompson flew his first operational sortie on the night of September 4–5, dropping propaganda leaflets on Germany.

His second operational mission, another leaflet-dropping raid to the Ruhr Valley in Germany, was a few days later on the night of September 8–9.

That night he was flying as second pilot in a Whitley Mk III, no. K8950 (code letters DY-M); the pilot and aircraft commander was Squadron Leader Stephen S. Murray.

Several hours into the trip, Thompson's aircraft developed engine trouble and was unable to maintain altitude.

Because the pilots were not able to make a forced landing (given that the earth's surface could not be clearly seen in the night's darkness), all five crewmen safely parachuted to the ground near Kassel, Germany.

(Both at the time and over the subsequent years, there have been various contradictory narratives of why the aircraft went down, but Thompson himself maintained that engine trouble was the reason.) The crewmen were all soon captured.

Thompson was the first Canadian to be taken as a prisoner of war (PoW) in World War II.

At the time of his capture, Britain had been at war for six days; Canada would not enter the war until the following day.

Captured RAF aircrewmen were somewhat of a novelty at this early point in the war.

This led to Thompson being taken for a brief meeting with Hermann Göring, commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe (i.e. the German air force).

Göring was surprised to learn that Thompson was a Canadian; they then conversed about Canadian ice hockey of which Göring was a fan.

Propaganda photos and film were taken of Thompson.

He was subsequently, over time, held at various PoW camps, ultimately ending up at Stalag Luft 3 near Sagan, Germany (today Żagań, Poland).