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{{short description|Dutch politician}}
{{notability}}
{{Under construction}}
[[File:William of Wied, Isa Boletini, Duncan Heaton-Armstrong and Colonel Thomson, Durrës, Albania - 19140613.jpg|thumb|300px|Prince [[Wilhelm of Wied]], [[Isa Boletini]] and officers of the International Gendarmerie: Duncan Heaton-Armstrong and [[Lodewijk Thomson|Colonel Thomson]] near Durres in June 1914]]
'''Lodewijk Willem Johan Karel Thomson''' ([[Voorschoten]], [[11 juni]] [[1869]] – [[Durrës]] ([[Albania]]) [[15 juni]] [[1914]]) was an [[Dutch]] militairy commander and [[politician]].<ref>http://www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2844/Archief/archief/article/detail/501076/1997/04/21/Een-Nederlandse-held-in-Albanie.dhtml</ref>


{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
Thomson is best known as the first Dutch soldier on a [[peacekeeping]] was killed. Lodewijk Thomson was a child of Bernard and Mary Heidenreich Thomson Wilhelmina Carpenter Meerdervoort and comes from a family of English origin.
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = Lodewijk Thomson
|image = Thomson, LWJK.jpg
|caption = Thomson in 1905
|office = Member of the [[House of Representatives (Netherlands)|House of Representatives]]
|term = {{start and end dates|1905|06|16|1913|06|16|df=y}}
|1blankname = Political&nbsp;party
|1namedata = [[Liberal Union (Netherlands)|Liberal Union]]
|constituency = [[Leeuwarden]]
|birth_name = Lodewijk Willem Johan {{nowr|Karel Thomson}}
|birth_date = {{birth date|1869|06|11|df=y}}
|birth_place = [[Voorschoten]], Netherlands
|death_date = {{death date and age|1914|06|15|1869|06|11|df=y}}
|death_place = [[Durrës]], [[Principality of Albania]]
|education = [[Koninklijke Militaire Academie]]
|allegiance = {{ubl|{{flagu|Netherlands|size=20px}}|{{flagu|Principality of Albania|size=20px}}}}
|branch_label = Branch
|branch = {{ubl|[[Royal Netherlands Army]]|[[Colonial Reserve Corps]]|[[International Gendarmerie]]}}
|serviceyears_label = Service&nbsp;years
|serviceyears = 1884–1914
|rank = Major
|battles_label = Conflicts
|battles = {{plainlist|
* [[Dutch intervention in Lombok and Karangasem|Lombok Intervention]]
* [[Second Boer War]] (attaché)
* [[First Balkan War]] (attaché)
* [[Muslim Uprising in Albania]]{{KIA}}}}
|military_blank1 = Awards
|military_data1 = {{ubl|[[Order of William]]|[[Order of the Netherlands Lion]]|[[Order of Orange-Nassau]]}}
}}


'''Lodewijk Willem Johan Karel Thomson''' (11 June 1869&nbsp;– 15 June 1914) was a Dutch military commander and politician. He served as a member of the [[Parliament of the Netherlands|Dutch parliament]] between 1905 and 1913. In 1914, he became the commander of a newly created [[International Gendarmerie]] force in the [[Principality of Albania]]. He was killed during fighting in the town of Durrës on 15 June 1914, becoming the first Dutch soldier to be killed during a peacekeeping mission.
== Life ==
* In [[1888]] Thomson graduated affect the [[Royal Military Academy]]. In [[1891]], he began training as a cartographer.
* In [[1893]] Thomson left with the rank of first lieutenant of infantry to [[Batavia (Dutch East Indies) | Batavia]]. In the East Thomson has been involved in the fighting in [[Aceh]].
* On [[November 29]] [[1895]] he married [[Arnhem]] with Lamberhurst Tine Henriette Slotemaker (In the family were born two daughters, a young daughter is deceased).
* In [[1896]] he returned to the Netherlands.
* In [[1900]] Thomson spent some time in South Africa as a military attaché of the Dutch government during the [[Second Boer War | Boer War]].


== Early life ==
Probably because of its efficient approach for the monitoring of the track during the [[railroad strikes of 1903]] the same year he was promoted to captain.
Lodewijk Thomson was born in [[Voorschoten]] on 11 June 1869. His father, Bernard Heidenreich Thomson, was a navy medical officer of British origin, while his mother a member of the noble Pompe van Meerdervoort family.


Thomson studied at a [[Hogere Burgerschool]] in [[Rotterdam]].
== Political career ==
Because of fighting him to the ground was so hot for, that he is the [[Liberal Union]] election suggested that the [[1905 parliamentary elections | Lower House elections of 1905]] for the District of Leeuwarden. In this election, he defeated the Socialist [[Floor Wibaut | Wibaut]] (post ballot). Four years later he defeated [[Pieter Troelstra Jelles]] (again after the ballot). In [[1913]] the latter was then at the expense of Thomson in the House. Louis Thomson was defense specialist in the House and was in favor of democratization in the army.


== Political career ==
==Albania==
In the [[1905 Dutch general election|1905 general election]], Thomson was elected to the Dutch House of Representatives for the constituency of [[Leeuwarden]] on a [[Liberal Union (Netherlands)|Liberal Union]] ticket. He was re-elected in the [[1909 Dutch general election|1909 general election]], but lost his seat in the [[1913 Dutch general election|1913 general election]].<ref>{{cite web|title=L.W.J.K. Thomson|url=http://www.parlement.com/9291000/biof/01359}}</ref>


== Military career ==
Following the election of [[1912]] in the [[Ottoman Empire]] by the [[Young Turks]] were fraudulently won 215 of the 222 seats in parliament, broke into [[Albania] ] a revolution. This led to calls for greater autonomy. Because in 1912 the [[First Balkan War]] broke, which caused the Ottoman possessions in [[Europe (continent) | Europe]] (except [[Thrace]]) were lost, were the Albanians do nothing else than the declare independence. The European great powers essentially, then [[Wilhelm zu Wied]], a cousin of Queen [[Wilhelmina of the Netherlands | Wilhelmina]], as ruler of Albania.
Thomson joined the army in 1884, and studied at the [[Koninklijke Militaire Academie]] in [[Breda]], holding the rank of a second lieutenant of the infantry. From 1891, he joined a reconnaissance unit and studied cartography. Between 1894 and 1896, he served in the Dutch colonial forces and took part in the [[Aceh War]], where he was awarded the grade of a Knight 4th class of the [[Military Order of William]]. In the following years he published various articles on matters of cartography in military journal.


Between 1899 and 1900 he served as a military attaché in [[South Africa]]. In 1903, back in the Netherlands, he was given command of the military administration of railways around [[The Hague]] during a rail workers' strike. This earned him another decoration, the [[Order of Orange-Nassau]], and promotion to the rank of captain.<ref name="BWN">{{cite encyclopedia|title = Thomson, Lodewijk Willem Johan Karel (1869–1914)|url = http://www.inghist.nl/Onderzoek/Projecten/BWN/lemmata/bwn1/thomson|encyclopedia = [[Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland]]}}</ref>
On [[August 1]] asked by the International Control Commission established powers to [[Netherlands]] to a gendarmerie corps to set up and officers there to deliver, so as to restore order in Albania. Albania was a powder keg right where domestic groups to feed on men stood and foreign powers such as Italy and Turkey were ready to pick in the country. At the request of Secretary of War [[Hendrikus Colijn | Colijn]] Thomson was, by now promoted to major, with Colonel [[Willem de Veer]], to Albania.


During the [[Balkan Wars]] of 1912 and 1913, Thomson again served as a military attaché, this time in Greece. In 1914, now holding the rank of major, he was selected as head of the new [[International Gendarmerie]] force which was to work under the command of Dutch officers in Albanian service in a peacekeeping function to stabilize the newly independent [[Principality of Albania]].
Thomson and several Fier were clashing personalities. Yet they stayed together, until May 21, 1914 on a piece appeared in''The New Courant''which De Veer was accused of a high order of a conference envoy to have ignored by, unbeknownst to Thomson, the Minister of Interior Essad Pasha allowed to have their own police force to set up. The spring had this not exactly popular, but not much later,''Thomson Director de la force armée''which he Fier was outdated. This demanded that Thomson would declare on their honor that he masterminded the allegations''was''The New Courant. Thomson did not honor that. The spring was so upset that he even demanded the resignation of commander Thomson in a fire on June 6 letter to the Minister of War. However, there was not. The spring went on leave. <ref>a Dutch hero in Albania''. De Volkskrant, April 21, 1997.</ Ref>
== Death ==
[[File:Durrës - Lodewijk Thomson.JPG|thumb|Monument of Lodewijk Thomson in Durrës]]
On 15 June 1914, his unit was engaged in fighting around the port of [[Durrës]] in central Albania, during which he was killed. According to sources, it is probable that an Italian sniper was behind his death.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.albanianphotography.net/en/dmm.html | title= Albania under Prince Wilhelm von Wied | first= Robert | last= Elsie | authorlink= Robert Elsie | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110717003848/http://www.albanianphotography.net/en/dmm.html |quote=..rumoured, an Italian sniper was behind his death ... |archive-date= July 17, 2011 | url-status = dead | access-date= January 25, 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The six month kingdom: Albania 1914 |first1=Duncan |last1=Heaton-Armstrong|first2=Gervase |last2=Belfield |first3=Bejtullah D. |last3=Destani |page=177 |publisher=[[I. B. Tauris]] |year=2005 |isbn=1-85043-761-0 |quote=According to the most detailed analysis of the circumstances ... he was probably killed by an unidentified Italian sniper, not Moslem rebels. (Goslinga, Gorrit T A. ''The Dutch in Albania''. Rome, 1972, pp. 42–45) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LqXn2WqOzgwC&q=Lodewijk+Thomson+sniper%29&pg=PA177}}</ref>


Thomson was initially buried in Albania. His remains were transferred to the Netherlands a month later and re-buried with great public ceremony in [[Groningen (city)|Groningen]]. As a reaction to Thomson's death and the general failure of the peacekeeping project, the Dutch activity in the Albanian gendarmerie was discontinued a short time later.
In defending the city of Durres on June 15, 1914 Colonel Thomson was at 05:50 hours by a rifle bullet hit. This had the effect of an arterial bleeding, which he died within half hour. About the place of storage was disagreement in the media: the Italian''[[Corriere della Sera]]''Thomson was hit in the chest, according to''[[The Times]]''in his neck and under [[ The Telegraph]] in the shoulder. <ref>[[Beno Hofmann | Beno's City]] [[EYE | EYE TV]], October 13, 1999.</ref> Furthermore, the shot came from the direction of the rebels, but the city itself, which gave substance to speculation about possible Italian involvement.


=== Legacy ===
A street in Groningen as well as a street and a square in The Hague are named after Thomson. Public statues commemorating him were also erected in both Dutch cities, as well as in Durrës, near the Venetian tower overlooking the port.


On Dutch Veterans' Day, 28 June 2014, a replica of the Groningen Statue was unveiled in the Dutch parliament building to mark the 100th anniversary of Thomson's death.<ref>[http://www.eerstekamer.nl/nieuws/20140628/onthulling_borstbeeld_luitenant Bust of Lieutenant- colonel Lodewijk Thomson unveiled]. [[Senate (Netherlands)|Dutch Senate website]], June 28, 2014</ref>{{full short|date=July 2019}}
Thomson was initially buried in Albania, but after a few weeks, on [[July 15]], Thomson was reburied under intense public interest in the [[Southern Cemetery (London) | Southern Cemetery]] in Groningen. His widow did not address her husband's request to be buried in The Hague. During the funeral a raging storm, the lightning struck next to the cemetery.


== Awards and decorations ==
==Comments on Thomson's death==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
Because the foreign powers could offer no guarantees for the safety of the Dutch officers, decided Foreign Minister [[John Loudon]] to all officers from Albania to recover.
* Knight of the [[Military Order of William]] – 1887
* Knight of the [[Order of the Netherlands Lion]] – 1913
* Knight of the [[Order of Orange-Nassau]] with Swords – 1903
* Silver Honorary Medal for Merit possessed against Public Collections – 1912
* Long Service Medal for Officers
* Officer of the [[Legion of Honour]] – 1911
* Officer of the [[Order of the Redeemer]] – Greece
* Medal for the Greek–Turkish War of 1912–1913
* Knight of the [[Order of the Sword]] – Sweden, 1913
* Knight of the [[Order of Prince Danilo I]] – Montenegro
* Knight of the [[Order of the Black Eagle, Albania|Order of the Black Eagle]] – Albania, 1914
* [[Golden Medal of the Eagle]] – Albania, 2004
{{div end}}


== Footnotes ==
On September 1914 Wilhelm zu Wied also left the Balkan country. Through the turbulent times the area over which he ruled in fact, limited to the cities [[Vlore (city) | Vlora]] and Durres.
{{reflist|30em}}


{{Authority control}}
==Memory==
[[Image: Borstbeeld_thomson.jpg | thumb | Bust of the Thomson Hereweg Groningen]]


{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, Lodewijk}}
The [[Trees and Bloemenbuurt]] of The Hague in 1914 were the Square and the Thomson Thomson Avenue named after him. On September 14, 1918 revealed his daughter Marie Thomson at Thomson Place a memorial to her father, designed by the sculptor [[Charles van Wijk]] and after his death completed by [[Eagle Ode]]. The monument was funded from a collection by a national committee, supported by local subcommittees.
[[Category:1869 births]]

[[Category:1914 deaths]]
In Groningen, the Thomson Street to Thomson said. This was around the end of 2000 created and built at the site of the former Rabenhaupt Barracks. Close the street on the [[Hereweg (London) | Hereweg]], is a bust of Thomson, which from 1919 to 2002 at the Southern Cemetery was.
[[Category:Dutch military personnel killed in action]]

[[Category:Dutch people of British descent]]
At a central place in the city of [[Durrës]] in [[Albania]] is also a bust of Thomson. This bust comes with both Albanian and Dutch caption that reads: Tribute to the Dutch hero of Durazzo (Italian Durazzo is the name of Durrës). The downstream café with terrace is also named after Thomson.
[[Category:Graduates of the Koninklijke Militaire Academie]]

[[Category:Knights Fourth Class of the Military Order of William]]
==References==
[[Category:Knights of the Order of Orange-Nassau]]
<references/>
[[Category:Knights of the Order of the Netherlands Lion]]
*[http://www.inghist.nl/Onderzoek/Projecten/BWN/lemmata/bwn1/thomson Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland - biografie]
[[Category:Knights of the Order of the Sword]]
*[http://www.parlement.com/9291000/bio/01359 Parlement & Politiek - L.W.J.K. Thomson]
[[Category:Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands)]]
*[http://www.jandezeeuw.nl/homeTF.html Website Thomson Foundation]
[[Category:Officers of the Legion of Honour]]

[[Category:Albania]]
[[Category:People from Voorschoten]]
[[Category:Royal Netherlands Army officers]]

[[Category:Deaths by firearm in Albania]]
[[nl:Lodewijk Thomson]]
[[Category:Foreign volunteers in the Second Boer War]]
[[pl:Lodewijk Thomson]]
[[sq:Lodewijk Thomson]]

Latest revision as of 16:17, 2 September 2024

Lodewijk Thomson
Thomson in 1905
Member of the House of Representatives
In office
16 June 1905 – 16 June 1913 (1905-06-16 – 1913-06-16)
Political partyLiberal Union
ConstituencyLeeuwarden
Personal details
Born
Lodewijk Willem Johan Karel Thomson

(1869-06-11)11 June 1869
Voorschoten, Netherlands
Died15 June 1914(1914-06-15) (aged 45)
Durrës, Principality of Albania
EducationKoninklijke Militaire Academie
Military service
Allegiance
  •  Netherlands
  •  Principality of Albania
Branch
Service years1884–1914
RankMajor
Conflicts
Awards

Lodewijk Willem Johan Karel Thomson (11 June 1869 – 15 June 1914) was a Dutch military commander and politician. He served as a member of the Dutch parliament between 1905 and 1913. In 1914, he became the commander of a newly created International Gendarmerie force in the Principality of Albania. He was killed during fighting in the town of Durrës on 15 June 1914, becoming the first Dutch soldier to be killed during a peacekeeping mission.

Early life

[edit]

Lodewijk Thomson was born in Voorschoten on 11 June 1869. His father, Bernard Heidenreich Thomson, was a navy medical officer of British origin, while his mother a member of the noble Pompe van Meerdervoort family.

Thomson studied at a Hogere Burgerschool in Rotterdam.

Political career

[edit]

In the 1905 general election, Thomson was elected to the Dutch House of Representatives for the constituency of Leeuwarden on a Liberal Union ticket. He was re-elected in the 1909 general election, but lost his seat in the 1913 general election.[1]

Military career

[edit]

Thomson joined the army in 1884, and studied at the Koninklijke Militaire Academie in Breda, holding the rank of a second lieutenant of the infantry. From 1891, he joined a reconnaissance unit and studied cartography. Between 1894 and 1896, he served in the Dutch colonial forces and took part in the Aceh War, where he was awarded the grade of a Knight 4th class of the Military Order of William. In the following years he published various articles on matters of cartography in military journal.

Between 1899 and 1900 he served as a military attaché in South Africa. In 1903, back in the Netherlands, he was given command of the military administration of railways around The Hague during a rail workers' strike. This earned him another decoration, the Order of Orange-Nassau, and promotion to the rank of captain.[2]

During the Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913, Thomson again served as a military attaché, this time in Greece. In 1914, now holding the rank of major, he was selected as head of the new International Gendarmerie force which was to work under the command of Dutch officers in Albanian service in a peacekeeping function to stabilize the newly independent Principality of Albania.

Death

[edit]
Monument of Lodewijk Thomson in Durrës

On 15 June 1914, his unit was engaged in fighting around the port of Durrës in central Albania, during which he was killed. According to sources, it is probable that an Italian sniper was behind his death.[3][4]

Thomson was initially buried in Albania. His remains were transferred to the Netherlands a month later and re-buried with great public ceremony in Groningen. As a reaction to Thomson's death and the general failure of the peacekeeping project, the Dutch activity in the Albanian gendarmerie was discontinued a short time later.

Legacy

[edit]

A street in Groningen as well as a street and a square in The Hague are named after Thomson. Public statues commemorating him were also erected in both Dutch cities, as well as in Durrës, near the Venetian tower overlooking the port.

On Dutch Veterans' Day, 28 June 2014, a replica of the Groningen Statue was unveiled in the Dutch parliament building to mark the 100th anniversary of Thomson's death.[5][incomplete short citation]

Awards and decorations

[edit]

Footnotes

[edit]
  1. ^ "L.W.J.K. Thomson".
  2. ^ "Thomson, Lodewijk Willem Johan Karel (1869–1914)". Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland.
  3. ^ Elsie, Robert. "Albania under Prince Wilhelm von Wied". Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 25 January 2011. ..rumoured, an Italian sniper was behind his death ...
  4. ^ Heaton-Armstrong, Duncan; Belfield, Gervase; Destani, Bejtullah D. (2005). The six month kingdom: Albania 1914. I. B. Tauris. p. 177. ISBN 1-85043-761-0. According to the most detailed analysis of the circumstances ... he was probably killed by an unidentified Italian sniper, not Moslem rebels. (Goslinga, Gorrit T A. The Dutch in Albania. Rome, 1972, pp. 42–45)
  5. ^ Bust of Lieutenant- colonel Lodewijk Thomson unveiled. Dutch Senate website, June 28, 2014
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