Joe Thompson (pilot)

Nicknamed "Tiger Joe", Major Thompson flew 90 combat missions in 1944 for the Allied forces in Europe, most behind German lines, performing aerial reconnaissance.Thompson published a book in 2006 entitled, Tiger Joe: A Photographic Diary of a World War II Aerial Reconnaissance Pilot.His great-great-grandfather, Thomas Thompson (1759–1837), was one of middle Tennessee's earliest settlers, arriving from North Carolina in the winter of 1779 to a site that would become the city of Nashville.[7]: 236 Thompson was skilled in obtaining specialized aerial photographs of enemy positions using a new and highly secret technique which made it possible for Allied artillery to hit a target accurately with the first round.[9] It involved risk for a pilot to obtain such photographs; he had to fly at 3000 feet over enemy positions for about three minutes on a straight and level path (within the ideal range of anti-aircraft fire).[7]: 237 The footage he obtained using the Merton grid allowed unparalleled accuracy for Allied artillery, a complete surprise to the enemy forces who believed there must have been some sort of secret weapon guiding the ordnance.[12] Two days before the Allied invasion date known as D–Day (June 6, 1944), Thompson flew a mission that included photographing a list of sites over France, one of which was called "Grandcamp".[6] On one of his missions over France, anti-aircraft fire penetrated his P-51 Mustang aircraft just behind his cockpit; it destroyed his camera equipment, severed the hydraulic lines and stopped the engine.About 1995, Lucas G. Boyd conducted a series of interviews with Thompson in a photo-by-photo format in preparation for an exhibit as part of this lectureship,[a] which was later presented at the Tennessee State Museum.[14]: 16 In 2004 and 2005, Alice Swanson, a library volunteer, conducted a total of over five hours of additional interviews in which Thompson provided a story-by-story recollection of his military experiences.He published these photos in a book in 2006 entitled, Tiger Joe: A Photographic Diary of a World War II Aerial Reconnaissance Pilot.