CAN YOU HELP?
Residents of a French village are looking for descendants of the British doctor who helped treat them during the First World War.
The people of Dainville in the northern French region of Pas- de- Calais, along with writer Frédéric Turner (author of the book Les Oubliés de 39-45), are looking for relatives and photos of Dr Robert Thomson which will form part of a tribute at a ceremony on Remembrance Day this year.
Dr Thomson was born on 9 December 1888 in Scotland and educated at Edinburgh University. When war broke out, he joined the British Expeditionary Force in France. He was awarded the Medaille d’Honneur de l’Assistance Publique for his services to French civilians.
He specialised in pathology and from 1923 onwards worked in St Paul’s Hospital in London. He died in Cornwall in 1963 and had one son, Gordon Crichton Thomson, since deceased. Anyone with any information is invited to email WDYTYA? reader Jane Evans at janese@talktalk.net.