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Colonel Edward Chamberlain THOMPSON (41174) OBE
19 Air Formation, Royal Corps of Signals Date of birth: 5th February 1905 Date of death: 11th October 1950 Killed on active service aged 45 Buried at Cheras Road Christian Cemetery in Penang
Edward Chamberlain Thompson was born at at Tai-Chow-Fu in China on the 5th of February 1905 the eldest son of the Reverend Edward Thompson MA BD and Clara Elizabeth (nee Illenden) Thompson later of Whitfield Vicarage near Dover and of 11 Riddlesdale, Avenue, Tunbridge Wells in Kent. He was educated at Lancing College from September 1918 to July 1924 where he was in Sandersons House. He achieved his School Certificate in 1923 and his Higher Certificate in 1924. He was a member of the Swimming Team in 1924 and served as a Sergeant in the Officer Training Corps. He went on to Caius and Gonville College Cambridge where he was admitted as an army University Candidate on the 1st of October 1925. He was a Choral Exhibitioner from 1925-1928 and achieved a BA in 1928. He was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant on the General List on the 26th of September 1928 and was appointed to the Royal Corps of Signals on the 2nd of May 1929, with seniority from the 5th of May 1926. He was promoted to Lieutenant on the 5th of May 1929 and served in India from 1931 to 1943. In early 1933 Edward Thompson, Lieutenant William R. Smyth -Wyndham, Sergeant N. Watt and Corporal W.J. Frawley, all of the Royal Signal Corps, travelled from Jubbulpore to Tibet to act as wireless officers for the 1933 Everest expedition which was to be led by Hugh Ruttledge. They joined the expedition at Darjeeling on the 6th of March 1933 and established a wireless tent at base camp, sending their first message to Darjeeling on the 20th of April. Two of the expeditions mountaineers made an attempt to reach the summit on the 30th of May but were forced to turn back and the expedition was a failure. He was married to Irene Margaret (nee Laidlaw) at Barielly in Bengal on the 14th of April 1934; they had a son, Anthony Chamberlain OL, born on the 9th of April 1935 and a daughter, Sally. He was promoted to Captain on the 5th of May 1937 and to Major in 1939. He was a member of the Himalaya Club in Simla in 1938 while he was based at the Royal Signals Mess at Quetta where he acted as assistant editor on one of the club’s publications. He was Staff Officer to the Chief Signals Officer (India) from 1939 to 1943 and then commanded the 6th (Indian) Air Formation Signals on their formation at Calcutta in September 1943. He was awarded the Order of the British Empire in the King's Birthday Honours List of the 1st of January 1944. He saw action at the battle for Imphal in March/April 1944, where the unit served 221 Group, as well as during the pursuit of the retreating Japanese into Burma. The unit was disbanded at Jubbulpore on the 31st of May 1946 after which he attended Staff College in Canada until 1947. He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in 1948. He commanded 19 Air Formation Malaya in 1949 and was appointed as Chief Signal Officer Malaya in 1950. He was killed in a motor car accident at Kuala Lumpur and his funeral took place on the 13th of October 1950.

Sandersons House