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Auction: 21002 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 160

(x) Three: Lance-Corporal T. L. 'Tommo' Thomson, Patrols Platoon, 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment, a member of the 3-man WMIK Jeep crew with Jake Scott, a comrade who recalled their remarkable tour of Afghanistan in 2006 in the book Blood Clot

General Service 1962-2007, 1 clasp, Northern Ireland (25144958 Pte T L Thomson Para); Iraq 2003-11, no clasp (25144958 Pte T L Thomson Para); Operational Medal 2000, for Afghanistan, 1 clasp, Afghanistan (25144958 Pte T L Thomson Para), all with their named boxes of issue, nearly extremely fine (3)

Thomas Laurie Thomson - or 'Tommo' to his friends and comrades - joined the British Army in December 2001 and joined the 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment. He served on the final tour of both Northern Ireland and Iraq by the unit and thence served on Operation Herrick 4. This bloody tour by the 3rd Battalion saw no less than 500 ‘contacts’, while the Brigade fired 13,000 rounds of artillery and mortar and half a million rounds of small arms ammunition. Some 170 were taken wounded or injured, whilst 53 were killed in action, included in that last count were the gallant Corporal Bryan Budd, who earned a Victoria Cross and Corporal Mark Wright, who earned a George Cross at the Kajaki Dam.

Thomson was himself in the thick of the action, his name being laced throughout Blood Clot - In combat with the Patrols Platoon, 3 Para, Afghanistan, 2006 by Jake Scott. In fact, Thomson provided a good number of the illustrations used in the book, which was given a glowing review by Damien Lewis:

'The story of 3 Para's 2006 Afghan operations has already, and rightly, passed into British military legend. Rendered in the raw language of a true fighting man, this book adds to a growing body of literature about a series of epic engagements against a resolute and fanatical enemy - the Taliban. This is a tale of true British grit, and epic endurance, and it is most definitely the real thing.'

Advanced Lance-Corporal in December 2006, Thomson left the Army in April 2009; sold together with copied Certificate of Service, a plethora of images, besides a copy of Blood Clot.

Subject to 5% tax on Hammer Price in addition to 20% VAT on Buyer’s Premium.

Sold for
£2,300

Starting price
£400