Alfred B. Thompson
Alfred Burke Thompson (born 1915 in Penetanguishene, Ontario, Canada – died 1985 in Penetanguishene), was a member of the Royal Air Force and Royal Canadian Air Force, was the first Canadian taken prisoner in World War II, and was a survivor of the 'Great Escape' (Stalag Luft III escape).
Life
Thompson joined the RAF in 1936. He was a member of an RAF crew taken prisoner on the night of Sept. 8-9, 1939, when their Whitley III bomber aircraft went down over Germany. Britain had been at war with Germany for only five days, and Canada was not officially at war with Germany until the following day. Thompson was taken to Berlin for propaganda photos and for a meeting with Luftwaffe chief Hermann Goering.
Thompson was sent to several POW camps before ending up at Stalag Luft III near Sagan. There, he was one of the participants in the Great Escape. When the escape occurred on the night of March 24-25, 1944, he was one of the men who got out through tunnel "Harry," but (like most of the escapers) was recaptured soon after. The Gestapo murdered 50 of the 73 recaptured escapers, but Thompson was not to share this fate.
He remained a POW until the end of the war, having spent almost every day of the war in captivity. He was held longer as a POW than any other Canadian ever.
While in captivity, in November 1944, he was transferred from the RAF to the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF).
After the war, Thompson returned to Canada and became a lawyer. He also married, and with his wife raised eight children. Professionally, he practised law in his hometown of Penetanguishene, where he also served on town council and as mayor. He later accepted an appointment as an Assistant Crown Attorney (i.e. a criminal prosecutor) in Simcoe County, Ontario, working from the court house in Barrie. He died at his home town of Penetanguishene. His remains are interred there in the cemetery at St. James-on-the-Lines Anglican Church. [1]