b. 1977 Rustington, near Littlehampton, West Sussex.
DATE OF CGC ACTION: 09/08/2004 Basra, Iraq.
Terrence A Thomson CGC
Terrence Thomson was born in Rustington, near Littlehampton, West Sussex, and joined the Army aged 18 in 1995. He passed through basic training and and joined the 1st Battalion, Princess of Wales’ Royal Regiment. He then undertook parachute training in 5 Airborne, and did an operational tour in both Ireland and Kosovo, before returning to depot as a Section Commander in charge of new recruits. In April 2004, he was deployed with B Company, 1st Battalion, Princess of Wales’ Royal Regiment to Iraq as part of Operation Telic 4.
They were originally based in Basra, whereas the rest of the battle group went to Al Amarah, during which two of their members, Johnson Beharry and Chris Broome would be awarded the Victoria Cross and Conspicuous Gallantry Cross respectively on the tour.
Tommo, as he became known, soon found himself in the thick of the action. On 9 August 2004 in Basra, all changed for Corporal Thomson, in an action which would lead to his own Conspicuous Gallantry Cross. His citation describes his actions clearly:
“On 9th August 2004 Cpl Thomson was commanding a Warrior AFV in central Basra City as part of a company action to rescue eight stranded soldiers who were cut-off, their vehicles destroyed, and running low on ammunition, being engaged by enemy militia. The Company had been tasked to rescue these soldiers; an action during which a soldier from the company was killed and the company commander’s entire Tactical Headquarters Group was injured.
On deployment to the stranded soldiers Cpl Thomson’s Warrior was attacked and struck by RPG and small arms fire from close range. The RPG strike caused internal and external communications failure which did not deter Cpl Thomson’s focus in engaging the enemy and providing flank protection for other vehicles to attempt to rescue the cut-off soldiers. The only means of communication available to Cpl Thomson were hand-signals which meant continuously exposing himself to direct fire from the militia whilst engaging the enemy, fighting his vehicle, and communicating with another Warrior vehicle in the immediate area. Having defeated the RPG and small arms teams, and still using only hand signals, Cpl Thomson lead the two vehicles to an area to provide flank support to other call signs attempting to rescue the stranded soldiers. Whilst still under small arms fire he regained communications via a control station and relayed the enfolding situation. He was informed that the stranded soldiers were suspected of being in the area of the Old Ba’ath Party Headquarters, a complex within a perimeter with minimal entrances and exits and dominated by high buildings. Focused only on rescuing the stranded soldiers, and now acting as a single vehicle, Cpl Thomson manoeuvred and fought his way into the compound, continually being engaged by small arms and RPG fire. He saw that there were enemy positions within the compound, some of whom were engaging his vehicle. His turret jammed, restricting his ability to return fire. With no thought for his own safety, and realising he was the only person able to fight back whilst his gunner rectified the turret problem, he stood fully exposed to the enemy, engaging individual gunmen with his personal weapon. On realising the stranded troops were not within the compound, he had to exit the compound close to an enemy position within a fortified sangar. As the vehicle approached the position Cpl Thomson fired his personal weapon into it and posted two grenades, destroying the position and the three gunmen within, thus guaranteeing his exit from the compound.
At this point in the battle the stranded soldiers had been rescued by another Warrior. Cpl Thomson married up his vehicle with the platoon commander and was able to extract, fighting his way out of the killing area, still using hand-signals and fighting as an individual from his turret.
Cpl Thomson exemplary personal bravery, razor sharp initiative, and dynamic action whilst under continuous small arms and RPG fire for a period in excess of two hours in an urban environment were absolutely superb, especially as he was largely unsupported for a great deal of the engagement. His actions were an inspiration to his men and the remainder of the company over what was an especially difficult period and are worthy of the highest possible recognition.”
As a result of the gallantry displayed in TELIC 4 the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment became one of the most decorated regiments in the British Army – adding a V.C. and two C.G.C.’s, amongst other awards, to their roll of honour.
Thomson advanced to Sergeant, and returned for another tour of Iraq during TELIC 8 in 2006. He served with A Company, and was the only member of the company who had been in Basra at the time. As such he was tasked with leading the company in to Basra when a Lynx helicopter crashed in May 2006 – resulting in five personnel dead. In total Thomson spent 14 months on operational service in Iraq. On 25 September 2019, he chose to sell his medals at auction at Noonan’s, Mayfair. His group sold for a hammer price of £140,000.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: PRIVATELY HELD.
