Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

The superb ‘Operation Nimrod’ and ‘Operation Corporate’ group of five awarded to Warrant Officer J. V. Thompson, Special Air Service, formerly Royal Army Ordnance Corps, whose unique and extraordinary service saw him present during two of the ‘The Regiment’s’ most successful operations of the modern era, encompassing both the Iranian Embassy Siege in May 1980 as one of the four members of ‘A’ Squadron attached to what was a ‘B’ Squadron operation, and then two years later, as a result of his changing squadrons from ‘A’ to ‘G’ he took part in this Squadron’s covert intelligence gathering operations during the Falklands War, which saw his four-man patrol embedded on the Island some three weeks prior to the allied invasion - as it turned out had he remained with his old squadron he would have missed the Falklands War altogether as they were kept back on home duties

U.N. Medal, Cyprus; General Service 1962, 1 clasp, Northern Ireland (23739193 Sgt. J. V. Thompson RAOC); South Atlantic 1982, with rosette (23739193 Cpl J V Thompson RAOC (SAS)); Regular Army L.S. & G.C., E.II.R. (23739193 WO1 J V Thompson RAOC); Republic of Korea Service Medal, mounted court style as worn, generally nearly extremely fine (5) £8000-12000

John Vincent Thompson enlisted into the Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers Junior Leaders in 1959, aged 17, taking up his man service the following year. He successfully completed his parachute training, and, staying with the R.E.M.E. joined the Parachute Brigade in 1962, being posted to Cyprus on New Years day 1964. He was amongst the first British Paras to remove their red berets and exchange them for the light blue beret of the United Nations, when the U.N. took over responsibility for peacekeeping operations in Cyprus on 27 March 1964.

Thompson transferred to the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, Parachute Brigade in 1969 and five years later in 1974, together with his Brigadier, gained the rare distinction of being presented at a parade with the Republic of Korea Service Medal on the completion of a one-year posting in Korea on a Commonwealth Liaison Mission.

In 1978 he successfully applied for and completed his S.A.S. selection and was posted to Boat Troop, ‘A’ Squadron.

Operation Nimrod

On the morning of 30 April 1980 six armed gunmen took 26 people hostage at the Iranian Embassy in South Kensington. As a result a coded message was sent to S.A.S. H.Q. in Hereford requesting immediate assistance and ‘B’ Squadron, whose turn it was to act as the Counter-Terrorism Team were soon rushed to the scene. Thompson’s own involvement in the Siege happened quite by chance three days later when ‘B’ Squadron requested additional support. Thompson and three of his ‘A’ Squadron colleagues happened to be leaving camp on their way to watch Liverpool play Arsenal in a third replay of the F.A. Cup semi-final, when an M.O.D. Policeman stopped them and told them that they were to attach themselves to “B’ Squadron for the duration of the siege with immediate effect. They were taken to London by a Chinook helicopter and at the time were not at all impressed at missing the football match.

Two days later, on 5 May 1980 at 19:24hrs, following the shooting by the terrorists of one of the hostages the fifty-five men of the S.A.S. began their rescue mission. Thompson and his three ‘A’ Squadron colleagues were split into two pairs and assigned the important roll of assaulting the front and rear of the building from the ground level. Thompson and his partner were given the front of the building where they successfully fired numerous gas canisters through the four first floor windows. He and his partner had to be alert and ready at all times for the terrorists in case they tried try to shoot their way out of the building, and in the actual event had to deal with various guns and hand grenades that were thrown out of the windows by the terrorists as well as deal with the hostage reception. The raid lasted 17 minutes in total and by the end of it five of the six terrorists were dead. One hostage was killed by the terrorists in the raid and two others wounded.

The following year Thompson transferred from Boat Troop, ‘A’ Squadron to Boat Troop, ‘G’ Squadron, a somewhat fortuitous move as it turned out for an elite soldier seeking action, as the following year his old squadron were destined not to take part in the Falklands Conflict being kept back in the essential roll of homeland security.

The Falklands

During the Falklands War Thompson with the rest of ‘G’ Squadron were inserted by helicopter at night in four-man patrols, some three weeks prior to the invasion. Thompson’s Patrol Commander was awarded an M.M. for this action and his citation which was published in the London Gazette gives detail of their mission:

‘Inserted by helicopter from the Naval Task Force at a distance of 120 miles from the islands, he maintained observations of the enemy movement and dispositions in the Bluff Cove, West Stanley areas for a period of 28 days. In a totally hostile environment, with the only protection from ground and air search provided by the skill and stealth of his patrol, the reporting was both accurate and timely.

In order to obtain the detail of the enemy disposition he was required to move his observation position to close and often obvious positions to gain the intelligence required. This he did with great courage and skill knowing that if compromised his patrol could not have been extracted from any predicament caused by enemy action. In addition he communicated his information in an environment where the enemy were known to possess a Direction Finding capability.’

Following the success of this mission Thompson was employed in fighting patrols for the duration of the conflict. As well as the M.M. to his Patrol Commander, one other member of his four-man patrol received an M.I.D.

Warrant Officer I John Vincent Thompson left the Special Air Service on 13 January 1983, aged 40 on completion of 23 years and 77 days service. He immediately took up a job in the Royal Oman Police Special Task Force and also the Sultan’s Special Force Oman, with whom he served in the rank of Major between 1983 and 1988.

On returning to the UK he was active in the security industry, involved in the close protection of several well-known personalities, until retiring at 65.  During the last 5 years, he has remained reasonably fit by becoming a 1st Dan Black Belt in Martial Arts, a National Swimming Lifeguard and running several marathons, including the London and Snowdonia.  As well as running these for military charities, he also walked up to Everest Base Camp earning a reasonable amount for Help for Heroes.
 
However, as he himself says, the real reason for doing these was to ensure that his friends know that this is not YET an obituary!

Sold with twelve photographs including the recipient in diving gear, group shots with 16 Para Brigade, and others relating to the Embassy siege and the Falklands; also copies of official documents including Certificate of Service, Certificate of Qualifications, and Army Combat Survival Instructor’s Course Report (22 SAS Regiment at Hereford).