Alfred B. Thompson

Alfred Burke Thompson (1915 in Penetanguishene, Ontario – 1985 in Penetanguishene), was a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force, the first Canadian taken prisoner in World War II, and a survivor of Stalag Luft III escape.

Life

Thompson joined the RCAF in 1936. He was a member of an RAF crew taken prisoner on Sept. 8, 1939, when their plane was shot down over eastern Germany. Canada was not officially at war with Germany until the following day.Thompson was taken to Berlin and made to pose in propaganda photos with Luftwaffe chief Hermann Goerring. Those pictures may later have saved his life.

Thompson was sent to several POW camps before ending up at Stalag Luft III near Sagan. There, he was recruited for the Great Escape. Thompson made it through tunnel "Harry" but was recaptured soon after. As a single man with no children, Thompson was vulnerable to execution, but he carried with him the propaganda photo.

Thompson spent every day of the war as a POW.

He returned to university after the war. He became a lawyer, and later a Crown prosecutor, in Simcoe County, Ontario. He died at his home town of Penetanguishene.