Lodewijk Willem Johan Karel Thomson (11 June 1869 – 15 June 1914) was a Dutch military commander and politician. He served as a member of the

Dutch parliament The States General of the Netherlands ( nl, Staten-Generaal ) is the supreme bicameral legislature of the Netherlands consisting of the Senate () and the House of Representatives (). Both chambers meet at the Binnenhof in The Hague. The State ...

between 1905 and 1913. In 1914, he became the commander of a newly created

International Gendarmerie The International Gendarmerie was the first law enforcement agency of the Principality of Albania. It was established by the decision of the ambassadors of the six Great Powers that participated in the London Peace Conference. This decision was ...

force in the

Principality of Albania The Principality of Albania ( al, Principata e Shqipërisë or ) refers to the short-lived monarchy in Albania, headed by Wilhelm, Prince of Albania, that lasted from the Treaty of London of 1913 which ended the First Balkan War, through ...

. He was killed during fighting in the town of Durrës on 15 June 1914, becoming the first Dutch soldier to be killed during a peacekeeping mission.

Early life

Lodewijk Thomson was born in

Voorschoten Voorschoten () is a village and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. It is a smaller town in the Randstad, enclosed by the cities of Leiden, Wassenaar and The Hague. The municipality covers an area of of whi ...

on 11 June 1869. His father, Bernard Heidenreich Thomson, was a navy medical officer of British origin, while his mother a member of the noble Pompe van Meerdervoort family. Thomson studied at a Hogere Burgerschool in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

Political career

In the 1905 general election, Thomson was elected to the Dutch House of Representatives for the constituency of

Leeuwarden Leeuwarden (; fy, Ljouwert, longname=yes /; Town Frisian: ''Liwwadden''; Leeuwarder dialect: ''Leewarden'') is a city and municipality in Friesland, Netherlands, with a population of 123,107 (2019). It is the provincial capital and seat of the ...

on a Liberal Union ticket. He was re-elected in the 1909 general election, but lost his seat in the 1913 general election.

Military career

Thomson joined the army in 1884, and studied at the

Koninklijke Militaire Academie The Royal Military Academy ( nl, Koninklijke Militaire Academie or ''KMA'') is the service academy for the Dutch Army, the Dutch Air Force and the Royal Marechaussee. Located in Breda, Southern Netherlands, the KMA has trained future officers sin ...

Breda Breda () is a city and municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Brabant. The name derived from ''brede Aa'' ('wide Aa' or 'broad Aa') and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. Breda has ...

, holding the rank of a second lieutenant of the infantry. From 1891, he joined a reconnaissance unit and studied cartography. Between 1894 and 1896, he served in the Dutch colonial forces and took part in the

Aceh War The Aceh War ( id, Perang Aceh), also known as the Dutch War or the Infidel War (1873–1913), was an armed military conflict between the Sultanate of Aceh and the Kingdom of the Netherlands which was triggered by discussions between represen ...

, where he was awarded the grade of a Knight 4th class of the

Military Order of William The Military William Order, or often named Military Order of William (Dutch: , abbreviation: MWO), is the oldest and highest honour of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is named after St. William of Gellone (755–814), the first Prince of Oran ...

. In the following years he published various articles on matters of cartography in military journal. Between 1899 and 1900 he served as a military attaché in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. In 1903, back in the Netherlands, he was given command of the military administration of railways around

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

during a rail workers' strike. This earned him another decoration, the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau ( nl, Orde van Oranje-Nassau, links=no) is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has ...

, and promotion to the rank of captain. During the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...

of 1912 and 1913, Thomson again served as a military attaché, this time in Greece. In 1914, now holding the rank of major, he was selected as head of the new

force which was to work under the command of Dutch officers in Albanian service in a peacekeeping function to stabilize the newly independent

Death

On 15 June 1914, his unit was engaged in fighting around the port of

Durrës Durrës ( , ; sq-definite, Durrësi) is the second most populous city of the Republic of Albania and seat of Durrës County and Durrës Municipality. It is located on a flat plain along the Albanian Adriatic Sea Coast between the mouths of ...

in central Albania, during which he was killed. According to sources, it is probable that an Italian sniper was behind his death. Thomson was initially buried in Albania. His remains were transferred to the Netherlands a month later and re-buried with great public ceremony in

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

. As a reaction to Thomson's death and the general failure of the peacekeeping project, the Dutch activity in the Albanian gendarmerie was discontinued a short time later.

Legacy

A street in Groningen as well as a street and a square in The Hague are named after Thomson. Public statues commemorating him were also erected in both Dutch cities, as well as in Durrës, near the Venetian tower overlooking the port. On Dutch Veterans' Day, 28 June 2014, a replica of the Groningen Statue was unveiled in the Dutch parliament building to mark the 100th anniversary of Thomson's death.Bust of Lieutenant- colonel Lodewijk Thomson unveiled
Dutch Senate website, June 28, 2014

Awards and decorations

* Knight of the

– 1887 * Knight of the

Order of the Netherlands Lion The Order of the Netherlands Lion, also known as the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands ( nl, De Orde van de Nederlandse Leeuw, french: L'Ordre du Lion Néerlandais) is a Dutch order of chivalry founded by King William I of the Netherlands on ...

– 1913 * Knight of the

with Swords – 1903 * Silver Honorary Medal for Merit possessed against Public Collections – 1912 * Long Service Medal for Officers * Officer of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

– 1911 * Officer of the

Order of the Redeemer The Order of the Redeemer ( el, Τάγμα του Σωτήρος, translit=Tágma tou Sotíros), also known as the Order of the Saviour, is an order of merit of Greece. The Order of the Redeemer is the oldest and highest decoration awarded by the ...

– Greece * Medal for the Greek–Turkish War of 1912–1913 * Knight of the

Order of the Sword The Royal Order of the Sword (officially: ''Royal Order of the Sword''; Swedish: ''Kungliga Svärdsorden'') is a Swedish order of chivalry and military decoration created by King Frederick I of Sweden on February 23, 1748, together with the Or ...

– Sweden, 1913 * Knight of the

Order of Prince Danilo I The Order of Prince Danilo I ( cnr, Орден Књаза Данила I, translit=Orden Knjaza Danila I) was an order of the Principality and later Kingdom, of Montenegro. It is currently a dynastic order granted by the head of the House of P ...

– Montenegro * Knight of the

Order of the Black Eagle The Order of the Black Eagle (german: Hoher Orden vom Schwarzen Adler) was the highest order of chivalry in the Kingdom of Prussia. The order was founded on 17 January 1701 by Elector Friedrich III of Brandenburg (who became Friedrich I, King ...

– Albania, 1914 *

Golden Medal of the Eagle Orders, decorations and medals of Albania are state decorations regulated and bestowed by the Republic of Albania. History The first decoration to be given in modern Albania is considered to be the Order of the Black Eagle, which was granted by th ...

– Albania, 2004

Footnotes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, Lodewijk 1869 births 1914 deaths Dutch military personnel killed in action Dutch people of British descent Graduates of the Koninklijke Militaire Academie Knights Fourth Class of the Military Order of William Knights of the Order of Orange-Nassau Knights of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Knights of the Order of the Sword Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Officiers of the Légion d'honneur People from Voorschoten Royal Netherlands Army officers Deaths by firearm in Albania