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THE INTELLIGENCER, Saturday, August 31, 1985-9 Lpcal photographer spent war career shooting with camera • «»t ___ _1_ __iJ A. __ 1_ _ 1 __ - 1 __ I» By MARG HAYLOCK When an air raid took place, heStaff Reporter followed instructions, assuming thetrench was about two feet deep. That PICTON - Nationally recognized was his first mistake, portrait photographer Lloyd E. In fact, the trench was six feet Thompson is widely known for his deep and to add insult to injury he striking shots of poets, politicians was nearly decapitated by his tin hat and celebrities but, in the early days (steel helmet), of his career, he focused on much dif- The rim of the hat caught on the ferent subjects. edge of the slit trench and the in- A war-time photographer with the trepid photographer was nearly Royal Canadian Air Force, Thomp- strangled. son, this week, shared his recollec- On another occasion, Thompson tions with members of the Picton was startled by a rustling in the Kiwanis Club. bushes and picked up his gun to in- In the Second War, there were two vestigate. He was somewhat taken mobile field photographic sections - aback when he discovered that he Number Five and Number Six units, was preparing to jam the weapon in- he said and he served in the latter. to the side of a cow. Each unit consisted of 80 men, 40 of to enemy lines and "as very inex- them photographers and the perienced servicemen, we were aw- balance, support staff. ed by the number of troops and sup- Early in 1944, a number of RCAF plies being landed." photographers, including Thompson, The first night was quiet, but in the were sent to Number One Photo- following weeks, the ground shook, graphic Establishment at Rockcliffe, each night with heavy gunfire and in Ottawa, to learn how to handle the beach was either bombed or new, rapid photographic processing straffed. machines. "They were far in ad- "From one location, we watched vance of anything we had ever seen the destruction of Caen, during a and still on the secret list," Thomp- thousand-plane air raid. The sight son said. was unforgettable." He and fellow photographers were Thompson said the unit followed then sent to England for further the army through the breakthrough training and, just before D-Day, join- at Falaise Gap and it was difficult to ed the invasion convoy at Ports- get photographs processed and back mouth Harbor. to the army, because of the rapid The giant, photographic machines pace. were placed in huge trucks and The a i r c r a f t were tak ing trailers and loaded onto a landing photographs and landing the film for barge, which broke down in the mid-processing in the trailors. Prints die of the English Channel. "There were made and rushed to the front we were, left adrift, while the rest of lines so that the army could be mads the convoy proceeded to Nor-1 aware of what was ahead, mandy," said Thompson. The unit arrived in Holland and "We were later towed to the beach spent the winter outside Eindhoven, by a tug sent from England." billetted in a school formerly oc- Thompson recalled that bat- cupied by the Germans, tleships were firing over their heads, "We spent Christmas and New Year's there and at nine o'clock on New Year's morning, 50 German Messerschmidtts attacked the air- field. It was a complete surprise and ~. many personnel and aircraft were- The narrowest escapejlost » > * - recalls, as a war-i On March 30 Thompson's unit was air rai er' camu ™ m , g aj* among the first air force personnel toraid m Bournemouth, England, rross the Rhine when he almost "lost his head" in the C1 Thompson returned to Canada to lost his head ttom photographer, working , „.„.. Malek Karsh and later and lie on the! operating his own studios. He sold his Picton studio, approx- imately eight years ago and retired in Belleville, with his wife, Hilda. LLOYD THOMPSC