Detective Inspector Walter Henry Thompson BEM (3 December 1890 – 18 January 1978) was a British police officer who is best known as the bodyguard of Winston Churchill for eighteen years, between 1921 and 1935, and between 1939 and 1945 during World War II.

[3] When it was discovered that terrorists intended to kidnap government ministers, Detective Constable Thompson was assigned to Winston Churchill as his bodyguard.

Although at that time Churchill had no official position in government, as the leading anti-appeaser he was aware of the prevailing risk to his life from assassins (particularly the Nazis) and engaged Thompson to protect him in the pay of £5 per week (£392 in 2025).

[7] For his service in protection of Churchill and to his country, Thompson was awarded the British Empire Medal in the 1943 Birthday Honours by George VI.

[9] Churchill's gratitude to Thompson was evident when he presented his own personal cheque to reward the man who did most to keep him safe during the war years and he graciously extended an open invitation for him to visit "when and wherever I am.

[11] After Thompson's death, his great-niece, Linda Stoker, discovered the full memoir manuscript inside a suitcase in a Somerset farmhouse loft.