Christopher Thomson, 1st Baron Thomson
Encyclopedia
Christopher Birdwood Thomson, 1st Baron Thomson PC (13 April 1875 - 5 October 1930) was a British Army
officer who went on to serve as a Labour
minister
and peer
. He served as Secretary of State for Air
under Ramsay MacDonald
in 1924 and between 1929 and 1930, when he was killed in the R101
disaster.
to a military family, Thomson attended Cheltenham College
. His father was Major-General David Thompson, Royal Engineers
, and his mother was the daughter of Major-General Christopher Birdwood; William Birdwood, 1st Baron Birdwood
was another grandson of Major-General Birdwood.
in 1894, Thomson joined the Royal Engineers
. He served first in Mauritius
and then saw action during the Second Boer War
(1899-1902), where he was detailed to help with the RE Balloon Section outside Kimberley.
In World War I
he first served at the British Expeditionary Force Headquarters, and was Chief Military Interpreter between Sir John French
and General Joffre
. In 1915 Thomson, a fluent French speaker, was sent to Bucharest
as military attaché on Kitchener's
initiative to bring Romania
into the war. But when there he quickly formed the view that an unprepared and ill-armed Romania facing a war on three fronts against Austria-Hungary
, Turkey
and Bulgaria
would be a liability not an asset to the allies. This view was brushed aside by Whitehall, and he signed a Military Convention with Romania on 13 August 1916. By the end of 1916 he had to alleviate the consequences of Romania's capitulation, and he supervised the destruction of the Romanian oil wells to deny them to Germany.
After a distinguished wartime career both behind and in front of the lines, most famously at Jericho
in the Palestine Campaign, Thomson formed part of the British delegation at the Versailles conference, but condemned the Versailles terms as containing the seeds of another war. As in Romania where he followed a policy (of making Romania an ally) that he did not agree with, he found both experiences profoundly negative.
. He stood as Labour candidate in two Tory strongholds, Bristol Central
in 1922 and St Albans
in 1923, but failed to win either seat. In 1924, however, newly elected Labour Prime Minister Ramsay Macdonald
elevated him to the peerage as Baron Thomson, of Cardington in the County of Bedford. He was sworn of the Privy Council at the same time. He served as Secretary of State for Air
in Macdonald's first short lived Labour administration of 1924
- interrupting briefly Sir Samuel Hoare's seven year grip on the post. The fall of the government meant that it was not until 1929 that he regained the position, once again serving under Macdonald. In the interim he had maintained his air interests acting as chairman of the Royal Aeronautical Society
and the Royal Aero Club
, and patron of the Air League
.
, and remained devoted to her for the rest of his life. They corresponded regularly. She dedicated four books to "C.B.T." and visited the site of the R101
accident with their mutual friend the Abbé Mugnier in December 1930.
airship, a government designed dirigible, on its maiden flight
to Karachi
in October 1930. The accident claimed the lives of almost 50 and caused the cancellation of the British airship programme by Thomson's successor as air minister Lord Amulree. It was Thomson himself who had initiated the programme in 1924 and he who had rushed through the development of the R101
: the privately (Vickers
) built R100
was demonstrably more reliable. Thomson's vision of a uniquely British form of intercontinental
passenger travel would only be realised by subsequent Labour governments' development of the Concorde
.
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
officer who went on to serve as a Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
minister
Minister (government)
A minister is a politician who holds significant public office in a national or regional government. Senior ministers are members of the cabinet....
and peer
Peerage
The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...
. He served as Secretary of State for Air
Secretary of State for Air
The Secretary of State for Air was a cabinet level British position. The person holding this position was in charge of the Air Ministry. It was created on 10 January 1919 to manage the Royal Air Force...
under Ramsay MacDonald
Ramsay MacDonald
James Ramsay MacDonald, PC, FRS was a British politician who was the first ever Labour Prime Minister, leading a minority government for two terms....
in 1924 and between 1929 and 1930, when he was killed in the R101
R101
R101 was one of a pair of British rigid airship completed in 1929 as part of a British government programme to develop civil airships capable of service on long-distance routes within the British Empire. It was designed and built by an Air Ministry-appointed team and was effectively in competition...
disaster.
Early life
Born in Nasik (now Nashik) in the Bombay Presidency of IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
to a military family, Thomson attended Cheltenham College
Cheltenham College
Cheltenham College is a co-educational independent school, located in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England.One of the public schools of the Victorian period, it was opened in July 1841. An Anglican foundation, it is known for its classical, military and sporting traditions.The 1893 book Great...
. His father was Major-General David Thompson, Royal Engineers
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....
, and his mother was the daughter of Major-General Christopher Birdwood; William Birdwood, 1st Baron Birdwood
William Birdwood, 1st Baron Birdwood
Field Marshal William Riddell Birdwood, 1st Baron Birdwood, GCB, GCSI, GCMG, GCVO, GBE, CIE, DSO was a First World War British general who is best known as the commander of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps during the Gallipoli Campaign in 1915.- Youth and early career :Birdwood was born...
was another grandson of Major-General Birdwood.
Military
After graduating from SandhurstRoyal Military Academy Sandhurst
The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst , commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is a British Army officer initial training centre located in Sandhurst, Berkshire, England...
in 1894, Thomson joined the Royal Engineers
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....
. He served first in Mauritius
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
and then saw action during the Second Boer War
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
(1899-1902), where he was detailed to help with the RE Balloon Section outside Kimberley.
In World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
he first served at the British Expeditionary Force Headquarters, and was Chief Military Interpreter between Sir John French
John French, 1st Earl of Ypres
Field Marshal John Denton Pinkstone French, 1st Earl of Ypres, KP, GCB, OM, GCVO, KCMG, ADC, PC , known as The Viscount French between 1916 and 1922, was a British and Anglo-Irish officer...
and General Joffre
Joseph Joffre
Joseph Jacques Césaire Joffre OM was a French general during World War I. He is most known for regrouping the retreating allied armies to defeat the Germans at the strategically decisive First Battle of the Marne in 1914. His popularity led to his nickname Papa Joffre.-Biography:Joffre was born in...
. In 1915 Thomson, a fluent French speaker, was sent to Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
as military attaché on Kitchener's
Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener
Field Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, ADC, PC , was an Irish-born British Field Marshal and proconsul who won fame for his imperial campaigns and later played a central role in the early part of the First World War, although he died halfway...
initiative to bring Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
into the war. But when there he quickly formed the view that an unprepared and ill-armed Romania facing a war on three fronts against Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
, Turkey
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
and Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
would be a liability not an asset to the allies. This view was brushed aside by Whitehall, and he signed a Military Convention with Romania on 13 August 1916. By the end of 1916 he had to alleviate the consequences of Romania's capitulation, and he supervised the destruction of the Romanian oil wells to deny them to Germany.
After a distinguished wartime career both behind and in front of the lines, most famously at Jericho
Jericho
Jericho ; is a city located near the Jordan River in the West Bank of the Palestinian territories. It is the capital of the Jericho Governorate and has a population of more than 20,000. Situated well below sea level on an east-west route north of the Dead Sea, Jericho is the lowest permanently...
in the Palestine Campaign, Thomson formed part of the British delegation at the Versailles conference, but condemned the Versailles terms as containing the seeds of another war. As in Romania where he followed a policy (of making Romania an ally) that he did not agree with, he found both experiences profoundly negative.
Politics
After Versailles Thomson made the decision to enter politics, and joined the Labour Party and Fabian SocietyFabian Society
The Fabian Society is a British socialist movement, whose purpose is to advance the principles of democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist, rather than revolutionary, means. It is best known for its initial ground-breaking work beginning late in the 19th century and continuing up to World...
. He stood as Labour candidate in two Tory strongholds, Bristol Central
Bristol Central (UK Parliament constituency)
Bristol Central was a parliamentary constituency in the city of Bristol. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
in 1922 and St Albans
St Albans (UK Parliament constituency)
St Albans is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Established in 1885, it is a county constituency in Hertfordshire, and elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.From 1554 to 1852 there was a...
in 1923, but failed to win either seat. In 1924, however, newly elected Labour Prime Minister Ramsay Macdonald
Ramsay MacDonald
James Ramsay MacDonald, PC, FRS was a British politician who was the first ever Labour Prime Minister, leading a minority government for two terms....
elevated him to the peerage as Baron Thomson, of Cardington in the County of Bedford. He was sworn of the Privy Council at the same time. He served as Secretary of State for Air
Secretary of State for Air
The Secretary of State for Air was a cabinet level British position. The person holding this position was in charge of the Air Ministry. It was created on 10 January 1919 to manage the Royal Air Force...
in Macdonald's first short lived Labour administration of 1924
Labour Government 1924
See also First Labour Government Members of the Cabinet are in bold face.Source: D. Butler and G. Butler, Twentieth Century British Political Facts 1900-2000...
- interrupting briefly Sir Samuel Hoare's seven year grip on the post. The fall of the government meant that it was not until 1929 that he regained the position, once again serving under Macdonald. In the interim he had maintained his air interests acting as chairman of the Royal Aeronautical Society
Royal Aeronautical Society
The Royal Aeronautical Society, also known as the RAeS, is a multidisciplinary professional institution dedicated to the global aerospace community.-Function:...
and the Royal Aero Club
Royal Aero Club
The Royal Aero Club is the national co-ordinating body for Air Sport in the United Kingdom.The Aero Club was founded in 1901 by Frank Hedges Butler, his daughter Vera and the Hon Charles Rolls , partly inspired by the Aero Club of France...
, and patron of the Air League
Air League
For the Air League , see Australian Air LeagueThe Air League is an aviation society in the United Kingdom, founded in 1909.The aims and mission of the Air League are to promote the cause of British aviation by:...
.
Private life
Thomson was known as Kit to his family and C. B. to his friends. In March 1915 while British military attache in Bucharest, he met the (married) French-Romanian author Princess Marthe BibescoMarthe Bibesco
Marthe, Princess Bibesco was a Romanian-French writer of the Belle Époque...
, and remained devoted to her for the rest of his life. They corresponded regularly. She dedicated four books to "C.B.T." and visited the site of the R101
R101
R101 was one of a pair of British rigid airship completed in 1929 as part of a British government programme to develop civil airships capable of service on long-distance routes within the British Empire. It was designed and built by an Air Ministry-appointed team and was effectively in competition...
accident with their mutual friend the Abbé Mugnier in December 1930.
Death
His second term in office was cut short by tragedy as Thomson died in the crash of the R101R101
R101 was one of a pair of British rigid airship completed in 1929 as part of a British government programme to develop civil airships capable of service on long-distance routes within the British Empire. It was designed and built by an Air Ministry-appointed team and was effectively in competition...
airship, a government designed dirigible, on its maiden flight
Maiden flight
The maiden flight of an aircraft is the first occasion on which an aircraft leaves the ground of its own accord. This is similar to a ship's maiden voyage....
to Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
in October 1930. The accident claimed the lives of almost 50 and caused the cancellation of the British airship programme by Thomson's successor as air minister Lord Amulree. It was Thomson himself who had initiated the programme in 1924 and he who had rushed through the development of the R101
R101
R101 was one of a pair of British rigid airship completed in 1929 as part of a British government programme to develop civil airships capable of service on long-distance routes within the British Empire. It was designed and built by an Air Ministry-appointed team and was effectively in competition...
: the privately (Vickers
Vickers
Vickers was a famous name in British engineering that existed through many companies from 1828 until 1999.-Early history:Vickers was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by the miller Edward Vickers and his father-in-law George Naylor in 1828. Naylor was a partner in the foundry Naylor &...
) built R100
R100
HM Airship R100 was a privately designed and built rigid airship made as part of a two-ship competition to develop new techniques for a projected larger commercial airship for use on British empire routes...
was demonstrably more reliable. Thomson's vision of a uniquely British form of intercontinental
Intercontinental
Intercontinental may refer to:* anything spanning several continents* Intercontinental ballistic missile* the InterContinental hotel chain* InterContinental Hotels Group* Intercontinental Cup * Intercontinental Championship...
passenger travel would only be realised by subsequent Labour governments' development of the Concorde
Concorde
Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde was a turbojet-powered supersonic passenger airliner, a supersonic transport . It was a product of an Anglo-French government treaty, combining the manufacturing efforts of Aérospatiale and the British Aircraft Corporation...
.