Ronald Cuthbert Thompson was granted an emergency commission in the South Wales Borderers in June 1942 and volunteered for The Parachute Regiment towards the end of 1943.He qualified as a military parachutist on course 99 which ran at RAF Ringway in January 1944 and subsequently served with 8th Parachute Battalion in the campaigns of NW Europe in 1944-45.

Thompson initially commanded the Mortar and Machine Gun Platoon in HQ/Support Company during the Normandy campaign in 1944 and was serving as Adjutant by the time the battalion deployed for Operation Varsity, the Rhine Crossing into Germany, in March 1945.

He was awarded a Mention in Despatches for gallantry in NW Europe while serving as a Temporary Major.