Lodewijk Thomson
| Lodewijk Thomson | |
|---|---|
First lieutenant Thomson in 1910
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| Birth name | Lodewijk Willem Johan Karel Thomson |
| Born |
June 11, 1869 Voorschoten, Netherlands |
| Died | June 15, 1914 (aged 45) Durrës, Albania |
| Allegiance | Royal Netherlands Army |
| Years of service | 1884–1914 |
| Rank | Major |
Lodewijk Willem Johan Karel Thomson (June 11, 1869 in Voorschoten, Netherlands – June 15, 1914 in Durrës, Albania) 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.
Lodewijk Thomson was born in Voorschoten, Netherlands on June 11, 1869. His father was navy medical officer of British origin, while his mother a member of the noble Pompe van Meerdervoort family. After studying at a Hogere burgerschool in Rotterdam he joined the army in 1884 and studied at the Royal Military Academy 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 William Order. 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.
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