THOMSON, MARTIN
Martin Thomson was born November 18, 1921 in Dundalk, Ontario, the son of Willard and Emmeline (Craig) Thomson. After his father died, the family moved back to Dunchurch where Emmeline Craig had grown up.
Martin is understood to have enlisted in 1942. He joined the Royal Canadian Medical Corps and remained with the Corps until discharged in 1945 because of a severe injury suffered in the Italian Campaign.
Martin is understood to have seen service in Canada, England, Italy and possibly Africa with the Medical Corps.
Violet Walters recalls that Martin was injured when a truck rolled over and broke his arm. It was a severe break and he ended up in hospital and a plate put in his arm. (It is not know if the truck was hit by a mortar, hit a road mine, or the driver just made a mistake – although the latter is believed to be the case.) Since he was still mobile, Martin helped care for Charles ‘Dick’ Saunders while he was in the hospital. (Martin had been one of the paramedics who assisted Dick when he was first wounded.)
Despite the fact that the army had sent a telegraph to Dick’s wife telling her that Dick was coming home, Dick knew he was dying and put together a small box with his ring, watch and other memorabilia and asked Martin to give them to Mable when Martin returned home.
Violet (Brear), Martin’s first wife, remembers going up to visit Dick’s wife Mabel with Martin.
Violet recalls that Martin had nightmares after the war – waking up thinking he was still in action. But like so many other Canadian soldiers, what bothered Martin most was marching through towns and the hungry children reaching out for food. But, like many who saw action he did not talk about his experiences even when pressed by one of his children.
One story Martin did tell was being flown out of Italy in a Red Cross plane with his arm in a sling above his head. He looked out of the plane window and a German fighter plane approached. The fighter pilot apparently could see that Martin’s arm was immobilized, that he was truly injured, and the plane was indeed on a Red Cross mission. The two men nodded at each other and the fighter pilot flew away.