Christopher Birdwood Thomson, 1st Baron Thomson, (13 April 1875 – 5 October 1930), was a

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 ...

officer who went on to serve as a Labour minister and peer. He served as

Secretary of State for Air The Secretary of State for Air was a secretary of state position in the British government that existed from 1919 to 1964. The person holding this position was in charge of the Air Ministry. The Secretary of State for Air was supported by ...

under

Ramsay MacDonald James Ramsay MacDonald (; 12 October 18669 November 1937) was a British statesman and politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The first two of his governments belonged to the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, where he led ...

in 1924 and between 1929 and 1930, when he was killed in the

R101 R101 was one of a pair of British rigid airships completed in 1929 as part of the Imperial Airship Scheme, a British government programme to develop civil airships capable of service on long-distance routes within the British Empire. It was d ...

disaster.

Early life

Born in Nasik (now

Nashik Nashik, formerly Nasik, is a city in the northern region of the Indian state of Maharashtra situated on the banks of the river Godavari, about northeast of the state capital Mumbai. Nashik is one of the Hindu pilgrimage sites of the Kumbh ...

) in the Bombay Presidency of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

to a military family, Thomson attended

Cheltenham College Cheltenham College is a public school ( fee-charging boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18) in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The school opened in 1841 as a Church of England foundation and is known for its outstanding linguis ...

. His father was Major-General e

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

. After the war, he became an instructor at the School of Military Engineering at Chatham and then in

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

. He was promoted to captain and brevet major in 1904, and in 1909 joined the Army Staff College in

Camberley Camberley is a town in north-west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. It is in the Surrey Heath, Borough of Surrey Heath and is close to the county boundaries with Hampshire and Berkshire. Known originally as "Cambridge Tow ...

. In 1911, he went to the

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

, and in 1912 Thomson was appointed military attaché with the Serbian army during the first and

Second Balkan War The Second Balkan War was a conflict that broke out when Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia and Kingdom of Greece, Greece, on 1 ...

s, after which he returned to the War Office in 1913.Onslow, rev. Robin Higham "Thomson, Christopher Birdwood, Baron Thomson (1875–1930)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 201
accessed 2 June 2014
/ref> During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Thomson first served at the British Expeditionary Force Headquarters and was Chief Military Interpreter between Sir John French and General Joffre. In 1915 he was sent to

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

military attaché A military attaché or defence attaché (DA),Defence Attachés
''Geneva C ...

on Kitchener initiative to bring the

Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania () was a constitutional monarchy that existed from with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King of Romania, King Carol I of Romania, Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian royal family), until 1947 wit ...

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, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

and

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 ...

would be a liability rather than 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 the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

. From 27 August 1917 to 27 May 1918, Thomson served as Commander, Royal Engineers (CRE), of

60th (2/2nd London) Division The 60th (2/2nd London) Division was an infantry Division (military), division of the British Army raised during World War I. It was the second line-formation of the 47th (1/2nd London) Division, and was the second of two such Territorial Force ...

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

, commanding the divisional engineers in the Battle of Beersheba, the attack on the Sheria position, and the Capture of Jerusalem. He distinguished himself at the Capture of Jericho. After a distinguished wartime career both behind the lines and at the front, Thomson formed part of the British delegation at the

Versailles conference The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

, 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) with which he did not agree, he found the experience to be profoundly negative.

Politics

After Versailles Thomson made the decision to enter politics, and joined the Labour Party and

Fabian Society The Fabian Society () is a History of the socialist movement in the United Kingdom, British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in ...

. He stood as Labour candidate in two Tory strongholds, Bristol Central in 1922 and

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

in 1923, but failed to win either seat. In 1924, however, newly elected Labour Prime Minister

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

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 The Royal Aeronautical Society, also known as the RAeS, is a British multi-disciplinary professional institution dedicated to the global aerospace community. Founded in 1866, it is the oldest Aeronautics, aeronautical society in the world. Memb ...

and the

Royal Aero Club The Royal Aero Club (RAeC) is the national co-ordinating body for air sport in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1901 as the Aero Club of Great Britain, being granted the title of the "Royal Aero Club" in 1910. History The Aero Club was foun ...

, and patron of the Air League.

Private life

Lord Thomson was known as Kit to his family and C. B. to his friends. In March 1915, while British military attache in

, he met the (married) French-Romanian author Princess Marthe Bibesco, 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

accident with their mutual friend, the ''

Abbé ''Abbé'' (from Latin , in turn from Greek , , from Aramaic ''abba'', a title of honour, literally meaning "the father, my father", emphatic state of ''abh'', "father") is the French word for an abbot. It is also the title used for lower-ranki ...

'' Mugnier, in December 1930.Masefield 1982, pp. 18–20, 36, 415

Death

His second term in office was cut short by tragedy as Thomson died in the crash of the

airship, a government-designed dirigible, on its

maiden flight The maiden flight, also known as first flight, of an aircraft is the first occasion on which it leaves the ground under its own power. The same term is also used for the first launch of rockets. In the early days of aviation it could be dange ...

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

in October 1930. The accident, caused partly by pressure put on by Lord Thomson to make the maiden flight before safety checks were complete and adequate flight testing, claimed the lives of 48 people and led to the cancellation of the British airship programme by Thomson's successor as air minister, Lord Amulree.

Selected works

Works in the National Archives
* ''Smaranda. A Compilation in Three Parts'', Lord Thomson of Cardington (Christopher Birdwood Thomson), Jonathan Cape, 1926. * ''Lord Thomson of Cardington: A memoir and some letters'', Martha Bibescu, Jonathan Cape, 1932.

References

Bibliography

*
Obituary
* Col P.H. Dalbiac, ''History of the 60th Division (2/2nd London Division)'', London: George Allen & Unwin, 1927/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2003, . * Maj D.K. Edwards, ''A History of the 1st Middlesex Volunteer Engineers (101 (London) Engineer Regiment, TA) 1860–1967'', London, 1967.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, Christopher Birdwood Thomson, 1st Baron 1875 births 1930 deaths Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley British military attachés Royal Engineers officers British Army personnel of the Second Boer War British Army personnel of World War I Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich Labour Party (UK) hereditary peers Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in France Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1930 Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People from Nashik People from Cardington, Bedfordshire Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Military personnel of British India Barons created by George V Secretaries of State for Air (UK)