Donald C. Thompson (1885–1947) was a war photographer, cinematographer, producer and director known primarily for his still and motion picture work during World War I. Thompson repeatedly risked his life to capture the war on film, and then would return to the United States to share his experiences and images in public lectures, bringing the horrors of the war to US audiences. His work was widely shown in the US prompting one magazine to note that "nearly every reader of news of the great European war is familiar with the name of Donald C. Thompson, known the world over as ‘The War Photographer from Kansas.’” War correspondent E. Alexander Powell said that Thompson had “more chilled-steel nerve than any man I know.”
Early life
Thompson was most likely born on 19 January 1885 in Kansas. Birth records do not exist for that time period in Kansas and Thompson often gave misleading birthdates and places and the name of his father on official documents like passport applications. He was the second son of Sarah Alice Conkling (Conklin). Conkling, who lived in Thompsonsville in Jefferson County, married Thomas A. Thompson, a physician and widower from Kentucky, who was living in nearby Grantville. It does not appear that Thompson lived with Conkling for long. By 1885, Sarah was living with her parents in Thompsonville and listed as "Sarah Hofman" in the Kansas Census. She had a five-month old son named "Donilan Hofman" and a three-year-old named "Harry Thompson." Thompson later lived with his Conklin kin in the rural community of Parsons in Labette County, Kansas. With no father around, Donald Thompson was sent to live with a more settled family and as a teenager he primarily lived with his uncle Cory E. Conklin and aunt in Chanute, Kansas. Poet Esther M. Clark was his neighbor in those days and published an article in the local newspaper (Coffeyville Journal of May, 18, 1918), debunking Thompson's self-promoted background from Topeka. By 1900, Thompson and his mother had moved to Topeka. Thompson was raised by his mother and maternal grandparents and never had a father present in his life. His mother divorced Thomas Thompson in 1914 after claiming he had deserted her 20 years earlier.
Thompson dabbled as a freelance photographer for the Topeka Daily Capital and made some notes and took some photos of the Kansas River flooding in 1903.
He was arrested in 1909 for presuming to be an officer of the US Army and referred to as "one of the smoothest swindlers in the country." After serving two years in Leavenworth, he was released and then immediately re-arrested and brought to Washington DC. Owing to his good conduct while in prison, he was granted parole.
By late 1911, he began working as a correspondent for The Washington Herald and covered the 1912 Democratic Convention in Baltimore and the 1913 Colorado miners’ strike.
War in Europe
When World War I broke out in Europe, Thompson was commissioned by the Montreal newspaper, Cartier Centenary, to film Canadian troops. During the first year of the war, Thompson shot stills for American and British newspapers and magazines such as the New York World, the Chicago Tribune, Leslie’s Illustrated Weekly, the London Daily Mail, and the Illustrated London News. He also shot film for the major newsreel companies. He was arrested nine times while attempting to reach the front from Paris. He succeeded on this 10th attempted and photographed the Battle of Mons. He was wounded while dining with Germans in Diksmuide.
Thompson made his first trip to Russia in 1915. Thompson’s footage was released by the Chicago Tribune as a feature-length film, With the Russians at the Front, in August 1915.
While in Russia, Thompson met Czar Nicholas II who commissioned Thompson as a captain in the Czar's Cossack regiment so he could more easily take photos in Russia.
Thompson was able to move about on instinct, being able to access the battlefield regardless of the British, the French and the Germans. He often lied about his identity, a useful tactic that also got him into trouble whether at war or peace. He found being a photographer exciting work, and it appears he thoroughly enjoyed the deception he often used to film the scenes he wanted to capture.
In 1916, he joined the French army as an official cinematographer. He filmed at the siege of Verdun and Battle of the Somme, where he was wounded. His second feature, War As It Really Is was released in December 1916. Its premiere at the Rialto Theater in New York City broke the box office record.