Walter H. Thompson

Thompson grew up in the working-class neighbourhood of Brixton in south London. One of a family of thirteen children, he was employed in a number of jobs before becoming a PC in Bayswater. He initially operated out of the Paddington Green Police Station. When the suffragette movement gained momentum, the police expanded the Special Branch. Thompson took the admission test and passed. He later became part of a large Special Branch surveillance operation on the suffragettes, during which he got to know most of the women's rights leaders. He eventually moved on to tracking anarchists, communists and other foreign threats before he moved to the protection detail. ==Protection detail==

When it was discovered that terrorists intended to kidnap government ministers, Detective Constable Thompson was assigned to Winston Churchill as his bodyguard. He occupied that function on and off between 1921 and 1932 until his initial retirement in 1935. While working at a grocer's shop he had bought with his family, on 22 August 1939 he received a telegram that called him back into service as Churchill's bodyguard. On the same day, Thompson resumed his official duties with Scotland Yard, when Churchill rejoined the Cabinet on the outbreak of war. He was with Churchill so much that he was a "perpetual annoyance" to Churchill's wife, Clementine. For his service protecting Churchill and his country, Thompson was awarded the British Empire Medal in the 1943 Birthday Honours by George VI. Thompson unexpectedly resigned as Churchill's bodyguard and from Scotland Yard duties following VE Day celebrations in May 1945. Churchill's gratitude to Thompson was evident when he presented him with his own personal cheque to reward the man who kept him safe during the war years and he graciously extended an open invitation for him to visit "when and wherever I am." ==Retirement==

In June 1945, with Churchill out of office and Thompson about to retire for a second time from the Metropolitan Police, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police and Downing Street decided that it would be improper for him to publish his memoirs for the foreseeable future and threatened Thompson with the loss of his police pension if it was published, even though he had nearly completed a 350,000-word manuscript. An expurgated version, ''I was Churchill's Shadow'' was published in the 1950s. After his book was published he became quite famous and embarked on a book tour across the UK. When the American version of his book was released in America he did over 400 lectures with his wife and made a number of TV appearances on shows like To Tell the Truth, an American TV game show where he beat the panel and won $300 (US$ in ). Thompson died of cancer on 18 January 1978 in Yeovil, Somerset, aged 87 years. After Thompson's death, his great-niece, Linda Stoker, discovered the full memoir manuscript inside a suitcase in a Somerset farmhouse loft. ==In media==

• - Total pages: 255 • - Total pages: 200 • - Total pages: 92 • - Total pages: 144 • In 2005 13-part television series, on UKTV History, with Dennis Waterman reciting excerpts from Thompson's journal (originally broadcast between November and December 2005). On DVD, the documentary series is entitled ''Churchill's Bodyguard''. ==Bibliography==