Thompson ( ; also transliterated ''Tompsan'', ''Tompsun'', ''Tompsǎn'' or ''Tompson'') is a village in central western

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

, part of

Svoge Svoge (, ) is a town in western Bulgaria, part of Sofia Province. It is located in the gorge of the Iskar River, at the place where the mountains Mala planina, Golema planina, and Ponor meet, 40 km north of the capital Sofia. Svoge is the main ...

municipality,

Sofia Province Sofia Province () is a province (''oblast'') of Bulgaria. The province does not include Sofia in its territories, but Sofia remains the seat of its administration. The province borders on the provinces of Pernik, Kyustendil, Blagoevgrad, Paz ...

. As of 2008, it has a population of 838
/sup> and the mayor is Kiril Tsvetanov. Thompson lies at , 729

metre The metre (or meter in US spelling; symbol: m) is the base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI). Since 2019, the metre has been defined as the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of of ...

above mean sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

. The village lies in the scenic

Iskar Gorge The Iskăr Gorge is a gorge passing through the Balkan Mountains (Stara Planina) in Bulgaria. It is the chief pass through the Balkans, which otherwise cross northern Bulgaria in a solid line. The pass connects the capital of Sofia with other major ...

of the western

Balkan Mountains The Balkan mountain range is located in the eastern part of the Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It is conventionally taken to begin at the peak of Vrashka Chuka on the border between Bulgaria and Serbia. It then runs f ...

. It is a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

on the

Bulgarian State Railways The Bulgarian State Railways (, abbreviated as БДЖ, BDZ or BDŽ) are Bulgaria's state railway company and former largest railway carrier in the country, established as an entity in 1888. The company's headquarters are located in the capital So ...

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

Mezdra Mezdra ( ) is a town in northwestern Bulgaria, part of Vratsa Province. It is located on the left bank of the Iskar River, just north of its gorge through the Balkan Mountains. History Although the area around it has been inhabited continuously s ...

railway line Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road ...

. It was founded shortly after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

through the merger of the neighbouring villages of Livage, Lipata, Tsarevi Stragi, Malak Babul, Babul and Zavoya. The village was named after

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

officer

William Frank Thompson Major William Frank Thompson (17 August 1920 – 10 June 1944) was a British officer who acted as a liaison between the British Army and the Bulgarian communist partisans during the Second World War. Early life, family and education Thompson ...

(1920–1944), who served as liaison officer between the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

and the

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

partisans during the war, who was captured by the

Bulgarian Gendarmerie The Bulgarian Gendarmerie (Жандармерия – ''Zhandarmeriya'') is part of the Bulgarian Ministry of Interior or "MoI"/"MVR". (Bulgarian: ''"Министерство на вътрешните работи"'' or "МВР", pronounced ''eve ...

and executed in nearby Litakovo on 10 June 1944. The village has two monuments to Major Thompson, one unveiled on 13 May 2007 in front of the mayor's office '
see photo
'' that uses

natural light Natural Light, formerly Anheuser-Busch Natural Light, nicknamed Natty, is an American reduced-calorie light lager brewed by Anheuser-Busch. Its ingredients are listed as water, barley malt, cereal grains, yeast, and hops. One serving contains ...

to project Thompson's image over a plaque, and one at the railway station.

References

* * Villages in Sofia Province {{Sofia-geo-stub