Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Sir William Montgomerie Thomson (1877–1963) was a senior

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer who became military governor of

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

in 1918.

Military career

Born on 2 December 1877, William Thomson was the fourth son of Captain William Thomson of the

78th Highlanders The 78th (Highlanders) Regiment of Foot was a Highland Infantry Regiment of the Line, raised in 1793. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with 72nd Regiment, Duke of Albany's Own Highlanders to form the Seaforth Highlanders in 1881. Hi ...

and Alice Broughton. His older brother was Henry Broughton Thomson; Gwyneth Bebb married another brother, Thomas Weldon Thomson. He was educated at Bedford School. In 1897 he joined the

Seaforth Highlanders The Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, The Duke of Albany's) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, mainly associated with large areas of the northern Highlands of Scotland. The regiment existed from 1881 to 1961, and saw servic ...

. He served in

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

in 1898. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he commanded the 1st

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...

between 1915 and 1916, 35th Indian Brigade between 1916 and 1917, and 14th Indian Division between 1917 and 1918. Between September 1918 and May 1919 he commanded the

North Persia Force North Persia Force (Norper force) was a British military force that operated in Northern Persia from 1918–1919. Composition The force was a large brigade which consisted of: * 1st Battalion, Royal Irish Fusiliers * 1st Battalion, 42nd Deoli Reg ...

and then British forces in the

South Caucasus The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Arme ...

. On 16 November 1918, in

Bandar-e Anzali Bandar-e Anzali ( fa, بندرانزلی, also Romanized as Bandar-e Anzalī; renamed as Bandar-e Pahlavi during the Pahlavi dynasty) is a city of Gilan Province, Iran. At the 2011 census, its population was 144,664. Anzali is one of the mos ...

, Thomson met with

Nasib Yusifbeyli Nasib bey Yusif bey oghlu Yusifbeyli ( az, Nəsib bəy Yusif bəy oğlu Yusifbəyli) or Usubbeyov ( az, Usubbəyov ; 5 July 1881, Ganja - 31 May 1920) - Azerbaijani publicist, statesman and major political figure in Azerbaijan Democratic Republic ...

Musa bey Rafiyev Musa bey Rafiyev Haji Mammadhuseyn oglu ( az, Musa bəy Rəfiyev Hacı Məmmədhüseyn oğlu; 1888–1938), also known as Musa bey Rafibeyli ( az, Musa bəy Rəfibəyli), was an Azerbaijani statesman who served as Special Minister in care of Socia ...

and Ahmet Ağaoğlu, representatives of

Musavat The Müsavat Party ( az, Müsavat Partiyası, from ar, مساواة ''musāwāt'', ) is the oldest existing political party in Azerbaijan. Its history can be divided into three periods: Early Musavat, Musavat-in-exile and New Musavat. Early Musa ...

, the governing party of the

Azerbaijan Democratic Republic The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic), or simply as Azerbaijan in Paris Peace Conference, 1919–1920,''Bulletin d'Information de l'Azerbaidjan'', No. I, September 1, 1919, pp. 6–7''125 H.C.Debs.'', 58., February 24, 1920, p. 1467. Caucasian Az ...

(ADR). He outlined his goals as (i) ensuring the evacuation of military units of the

Ottoman Army The military of the Ottoman Empire ( tr, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu'nun silahlı kuvvetleri) was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. Army The military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the ...

and the ADR from Baku, (ii) preventing Armenian troops from entering Baku, (iii) creating a

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

administration of local militia, (iv) facilitating the supply of oil from the Baku oilfields for the British, and (v) securing the eastern terminus of the

Transcaucasus Railway The Transcaucus Railway (russian: Закавка́зская желе́зная доро́га) was the first railway in South Caucasus.Большая Советская Энциклопедия. Гл. ред. Б. А. Введенский, 2-е � ...

. He denied that the

would interfere in internal affairs: "The principle of self-determination of peoples decided at the Paris Peace Conference from which Azerbaijan will not be excluded". Thomson arrived in

the next day with about 2,000 soldiers of the

British Indian Army The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which co ...

and a detachment of Russian troops commanded by

Nikolai Baratov Nikolai Nikolaevich Baratov (russian: Николай Николаевич Баратов) (February 1, 1865 – March 22, 1932) was an Imperial Russian Army general during World War I and the Russian Civil War. Early career Baratov was born i ...

. This was greeted with enthusiasm by the

Russians , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 ''Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...

of Baku. One of Thomson's first actions was to order the removal of the flag of the ADR. He also spoke in praise of

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, declaring "The Allies cannot return home without restoring order in Russia and placing her in a position to again take her proper place among the nations of the world." Thomson went on to become commander of the 154th Infantry Brigade in April 1920, General Officer Commanding the Presidency and Assam District in November 1924 and General Officer Commanding the

51st (Highland) Division The 51st (Highland) Division was an infantry division of the British Army that fought on the Western Front in France during the First World War from 1915 to 1918. The division was raised in 1908, upon the creation of the Territorial Force, as ...

in June 1925. Thomson retired from the

in 1934. He was given the Colonelcy of the

in 1939, holding the position until 1947. He died on 23 July 1963. He is buried in

Kinloss Abbey Kinloss Abbey is a Cistercian abbey at Kinloss in the county of Moray, Scotland. The abbey was founded in 1150 by King David I and was first colonised by monks from Melrose Abbey. It received its Papal Bull from Pope Alexander III in 1174, ...

but is also memorialised on a family stone within the eastern enclosure at St Machar's Cathedral.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, William Montgomerie 1877 births 1963 deaths Burials in Scotland British Army lieutenant generals People educated at Bedford School British Army generals of World War I Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Companions of the Order of the Bath Recipients of the Military Cross Seaforth Highlanders officers