Tommy Thompson (rugby union)
| Birth name | Gerald W. Thompson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 4 October 1886 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | 20 June 1916 (aged 29) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | Kangata, German East Africa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Rondebosch Boys' High School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Buried | Dar es Salaam War Cemetery, Tanzania | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Allegiance | South Africa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Service | South African Infantry | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Battles / wars | East African Campaign (World War I) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gerald "Tommy" W. Thompson (4 October 1886 – 20 June 1916) was a South African rugby union player who played for Somerset West Rugby Club. He was selected for the provincial team of Western Province in 1912. He was selected to participate in the 1912–13 South Africa rugby tour to the British Isles and France, and was capped in three tests, against Scotland, Ireland and Wales, all in 1912. He played in a further 12 matches against club sides. He was considered one of the two best of an outstanding pack of South African forwards.
At the outbreak of the First World War, Thompson willingly volunteered for service, first in South West Africa, and then in the German East Africa campaign, with the 5th South African Infantry. He was killed in action at Kangata, taking a bullet in the neck. He is buried in the Dar es Salaam War Cemetery, near his fellow countryman and teammate Jacky Morkel, who died a few weeks before him.