This appreciation was
written by Renzo Gagliardo
of the Servizio Civile Internazionale and has been translated from his Italian
He had a very handsome face with a
sincere smile behind the big beard of an old professor. His clear eyes were
watching the horizon, or would look straight into yours with that intelligent
look which searched your soul. He had a warm and spontaneous voice, at times
thundering, and a laughter which came like an unexpected shower. And a lucid
and lively mind ready for an exchange, a discussion in very precise English and
in an entirely Anglo-Saxon manner when it came to discussing his destiny in the
world.
The old pacifist passed away in a
hospital bed in his beloved
Born in
Anonymous cowards accused him of being
a coward (one of the many notes he had decided to keep having fought with pride
and rage is a small card on which is written anonymously: “Cowards die many times
before their deaths”). But he showed a great deal of courage: he joined the
squadron of volunteers who helped the Londoners during the Blitz, and he saved
many lives, every minute risking being swept off by a V2. And he voluntarily submitted
himself to all kinds of scientific experiments in order to help identify the
cure for diseases of yet mysterious origin.
In those years he decided to join
the IVSP, the International Volunteer Service for Peace, already then the English
branch of the SCI (which
later unfortunately was to lose its "P" and become the pedestrian IVS). And it was in
this uniform that at the end of the war he said good-bye to parents and friends
and, having taken leave from his post as classics teacher at a grammar school,
went off as a volunteer for the Reconstruction.
Prior to his embarking his
colleagues who had by now discovered his courageous and altruistic activities
during the war and regretted having unjustly isolated him, arranged a splendid
farewell party, and they presented him with the camera they had decided upon to
help him preserve the memories of the many things that were going to happen
subsequently.
Out of the huge devastated war zone
he was attracted to
From this period remain the most powerful
recollections of his enterprising and daring undertakings. One of the many
episodes he loved telling about concerned a man who had been blown up by a mine
and was now in danger of dying from loss of blood. Being short of time and
resources William, who had a blood group that made him a universal donor, did not
hesitate to carry out a transfusion instantly, under scarcely hygienic
conditions, without sterile equipment, and without medical help. The man was
saved, and William did not report the slightest infection.
Convinced that a peace operation
could have nothing to do with arms he constantly refused any military escort or
protection. At any time he preferred to risk his life rather than play with his
conscience.
He was not merely against war. !t
was clear that people should take positive steps for peace, not only through
reconstruction, but also by building up communal understanding and confidence.
And so in 1945 he went to
The involvement of the students was
particularly important: Frequenting the university were the children of the
Roman middle classes, destined to become the new ruling class. Young men and women growing up in well-off families who had never
done any manual work nor known at close quarters the consequences of war.
With a lively appeal in the middle
of an assembly William enthused his listeners and recruited
the members of the first work camp ever held in
Both men and women took part in the
camp, and they worked together with the British volunteers from the IVSP and
peasants from the region. What happened was a totally new experience for the
students and for
Those first volunteers became real
enthusiasts in spite of the many hours of hard labour under harsh conditions and
with the constant threat of an explosion from mines still scattered everywhere.
And it was put to William that they wanted something similar to appear also in
So one day in January 1946 a group
of those volunteers gathered in
William stayed on in
When he returned to his work as a
teacher he nevertheless stayed in regular contact with the IVS for almost all of
his long life.
By the time a good degree of
reconstruction of the history of the Italian branch was undertaken they had
lost track of this extraordinary personality and forgotten about him so that
his name was not mentioned.
It is due to Massimo Rubboli that William was traced. Rubboli
is another lover of peace, at that time teaching at the
It was Rubboli
who miraculously tracked down the now 84-year-old William Thompson and many of
the volunteers from the first work camp. And it was he also who organised the
delightful reunion at Francavilla where these people,
50 years later, could meet each other again and give each other a great hug.
In those days in the early summer of
June 1998 many from the Italian branch of SCI had the pleasure and privilege of
meeting William. With his imposing stature he was prominent, moving speedily
without regard for his venerable age, still strong and determined. He landed
with a heavy case of photos and souvenirs, and his recollections would happily
go on till late in the night; there was about him an indomitable enthusiasm.
He was very happy to see
It was a truly happy visit to the
headquarters of the national SCI. He was moved by the idealistic bonds between
these young people who now gathered round him attentively and those who so many
years earlier had rallied round him to lay the foundation stone of the
movement.
But most of all he was delighted to
return to Francavilla and see again those volunteers,
they now also being old, and embrace some of the “peasants”, who in 1945 had lovingly
assisted the volunteers. Those moments were moving and unforgettable for us
all.
The participants in the old camp
still remembered the experience as one of the most important in their lives,
decisive for their whole human development; so intense had been their
participation, so firm the ethical motivation that they had dared leave their
books for some weeks and take up pick and shovel. Somebody declared sincerely
that the values acquired, grasped and collected thanks to that camp had guided
them all through life.
After that wonderful return to Italy
William never cut the thread of this contact, but continued to write year after
year to us all in the still quite steady hand of an English professor, telling of
endless changes of which he saw the funny side.
In his last letter received just a short
while before the sad announcement of his death, he wrote about having lived
through a marvellous year with Anni at his side. Together
they had achieved 160 years – she 70, he 90. In
To tell the truth, all the accounts
from those years make you think of a continuous series of memorable years. First of all because he went on enjoying exploring, he kept his
enthusiasm for knowledge, and he was still able to wonder and in particular had
a great capacity for love. At times in old age cynicism and aridity
prevail, but that was certainly not the case with William, whom we have always
known to be gentle and attentive.
His convictions allied with a deep
spirituality never diminished, nor did he in his correspondence neglect to
thunder against those responsible for the “avoidable war”; he was particularly
embittered at his own country’s participation in new hostilities. William remained
a pacifist till his last breath.
When he came to visit the national
seat of the SCI he expressed the hope that someone might take the history of
the branch in hand, adding the details, the photos, the stories, the material that was collected on a shelf in his flat in