Harry B. Thompson III

Born in 1938 and Raised in Atlanta Ga , the 2nd Child ( behind sister Leila Thompson Taratus ) of Harry B Thompson Jr and Helen Cody Thompson.

Harry III started playing tennis at the age of 12 in 1950 at the Piedmont Driving Club under pro Jack Waters. At that time, all the good players in Atlanta either played there or the Atlanta Tennis Club on North Avenue. In 1951 at the age of 13, he won his first tournament, the 15 singles at Dan Magill’s Crackerland tournament in Athens. Harry was ranked #1 in the south and #8 in the nation in the 15 singles in 1953.

Harry teamed with Ned Neely in 1960 to lead Georgia Tech to SEC team championship. In 1959 they led Tech to a 19-2 team record and in 1960 Ned and harry won the #1 and #2 singles and #1 doubles and team championship in The Southeastern Conference. he and Ned placed 2nd in the NCAA doubles in Seattle, WA. In 1960 he and Dave Peake won the Georgia Intercollegiate. Some 50 years later Harry still holds the all-time singles and doubles (with Ned Neely) percentage record at GA tech.

In 1956, young men had to register for the Draft at age 18. As a Freshman at Georgia Tech , Harry signed up for Naval ROTC program at Tech which would occupy a good bit of his time not spent Studying or Playing Tennis. During Sophomore year at Tech, while already committed to 2 years of duty in the Navy , Harry enrolled in the Supply Core Branch of the Navy.

After graduating from Tech with a Degree in Industrial Engineering and then , four months later , from Athens Ga Based Naval Supply School , Harry was assigned into the Ensign Supply Core of US Naval Reserve. There were options : Carriers, Landing Ships, Fuelers, Ammunition, and Transport Ships to name a few. Duty Stations were also options, and chosen upon Graduation. Some of the options at the time were San Diego, Charleston, Norfolk, and Kodiac Alaska. Harry choose the North African station of Port Lyautey, Morocco.

In the Fall of 1960, Harry left the States from Charleston SC Air Force Base headed to Nourasseur AFB outside Casablanca with a stop in Bermuda and then the Azores. In a letter to his Mother, Harry wrote “About the Azores – it was a Portuguese island with many cliffs visible from the plane. It was really beautiful from the plane. It’s nearly all farmland with each field a different color green.”

In the Azores there was engine difficulty and the flight ended up getting cancelled so Harry reported to the Naval Office there where he was advised that it could be a few days before he could catch another NATS Flight but that they could put him on a P2V Patrol Plane . From the Azores, he flew direct to the Naval Air Station in tropical Port Lyautey, Morocco on a small P2V ( similar to a DC-3 ).

Harry was the only passenger aboard, plus eleven crew members . It was crowded so he sat in a small passageway next to the Navigator’s Desk. The cramped and uncomfortable seating was eased by the nice crew members. The Plane arrived to Port Lyautey at 9:15 PM during a Moroccan holiday – Independence Day- where Harry made his way to the Bachelor Officer Quarters then went to sleep not long thereafter. His bags got lost on the cancelled Flight from the Azores so there wasn’t any unpacking to do. ( the bags would eventually arrive several days later). All he had was his carry on Handbag complete with Toiletry Kit, raincoats, a few Lacoste Alligator shirts, shorts and Blue Officer Uniform.

He relieved Ed Mims a Cornell Graduate as Deputy Dispersing Officer and reported to a young man named Ted Prehodka from New Jersey 8 years his senior. Ed was kind enough to Harry some khakis . Ted’s title was Dispersing Officer US Naval Station Port Lyautey. Harry remembers him as a good boss and that Ted and his wife Grace included Harry for dinners at their home in the city of Kenitra about 3 miles southeast.

The Dispersing Office oversaw reimbursements for the 3,000 personnel stationed there. Though he had work hours from 8 am to 3 pm daily, he found time to travel around Morocco play tennis tournaments. Attire at Port Lyautey consisted of 3 uniforms: “Dress White” which is all white and a high collar; “Summer White”, which is white bottoms and an opened up white shirt. Both of these had shoulder boards, showing that he was an officer. There was also a khaki uniform, which consisted of khaki slacks and a khaki jacket but no shoulder boards. Finally, there was the outfit worn every day to work: an open neck khaki shirt with an emblem showing lieutenant rank and another emblem showing indicating Division of the Supply Corps.

The nearby city of Kenitra was a mix of the more modern western culture embodied by the Americans, French and Spanish people, coexisting with the dramatically different and very traditional Moroccan people. The two cultures could not have been more different than one another. For the Muslim dominated Moroccans , Alcohol was forbidden. Moroccan men often had many wives yet At the same time, their wives- and women in general- had few rights . Married women in particular had to wear long dresses and keep a veil covering their faces. The women were often tattoed to indicate whether they were single or married. Port Lyautey however was much more progressive, filled with young men and women that, while respectful of the traditional cultures around them, were also very modern and western in their thoughts and attitudes. Port Lyautey had been , until recently, Owned and run by the Vichy French – a breakaway French State that sided with Nazi Germany during the second World War. With Nazi Germany’s demise came the end of the Vichy French government. It was now however a US Naval Air Station that, during the 1950’s was a a significant Command Center for the United State’s main reconnaissance air fleet of the Cold War Years. For the 3,000 American personnel living there and covering 6 or 7 different commands, it had the feel of a college campus complete with baseball fields, gymnasiums , football fields, a large swimming pool and 4 hard surface Tennis Courts. It was home to FICEur, or Fleet Intelligence Center Europe and a fleet weather station, which would predict the weather around the world and at all the US naval bases throughout the globe. There were no Navy Fighters assigned to Port Lyautey during the early 1960’s. Being a Supply Base, planes assigned to base were Patrol and Transport planes.

The appeal of Port Lyautey for a 21 year old had a lot to do with it’s tropical climate in the summer and close proximity to skiing in the winter months. Not long after arriving Harry went to a town in the Middle Atlas Mountains called Ifrane. At 5400 foot elevation it was known for it’s ski slops and dense forests.

On January 16th, 1961 he wrote his mother “I got back from skiing last night and sure was tired. I fell down so many times I lost count. We left Saturday morning about 7 and got up there at 10. We rented the skis, poles, and a sled in Ifrane after we registered at the Grand Hotel. It was really beautiful up there, about 2 ft of snow, but the roads were cleared in most places by the snow banked up about 3 ft on either side of the road. The ski slope, Mesheflin, and El Jebel are about 20 KM up in the mountains from the town. Both have nice ski lifts and restaurants and porches overlooking the slopes. The first thing we did was take an hour lesson from the instructor to learn how to walk, climb uphill, stop, and turn. We sloped down the mountain at angles stopping and turning around and going back the other way because we couldn’t turn too good. The second day, Sunday, we got up at 8 and tried again, even tried turning but I fell down nearly every time. It didn’t hurt because I had on safety skis and they popped up whenever I fell – in other words I spent half my time getting up and putting on my skis. The ski lifts are fun to ride and in all I made about 10 runs down the slopes.” 

https://mybestplace.com/en/article/ifrane-the-cold-side-of-morocco

He would return to the area several more times . Another letter home “I went skiing Saturday and did a lot better – drove back the same day because I did not care to spend the night and the slopes are too crowded on Sunday. I went out to the skeet ramp this afternoon and saw a man shoot a perfect score. I might take it up so I can go hunting when I come home. I’m having a lot of fun taking up all these new sports . Also went sledding up at Ifrane and had a lot of fun – 3 of us would cram on the sled and when we turned over about killed ourselves, but it’s nearly impossible to get hurt in soft snow. I had on a jacket, sweater, and SAE jersey – it got so hot I took it all off except my jersey and rolled the sleeves up.”

During the summer months competitive Tennis was in abundance. About 4 months into his service he signed up to play in a Tennis Tournament in Sidi Slimane Air Base approx 50 miles outside of Port Lyautey. Winning the tournament made the local Arabic newspapers with the headline : “newcomer American Wins Tennis Tournament”. One of the Captains on the Base got wind of the article and thought it would be good for public relations for Harry to play in more in more of these tournaments alongside and against the best Moroccan tennis players. He called Harry into his office. “Are there any other tennis tournaments that you can go to around here?” . Harry said “I don’t know, I’ll find out.” There were and so that’s one way Harry got to see so much of North Africa .

Not long after arriving on Port , Harry had purchased a Volkswagon Beetle that he drove around Morocco for two years. It was a greenish color but color was not a choice. At that time, when you ordered a Volkswagon, you couldn’t choose a color. Instead, the color of the car was whatever was produced the month that they arrived on the ship. Harry wrote his mother on Jan 13, 1961 “I sure am enjoying my new car – I really like the color and everybody else compliments me on my choice of colors – of the thirty or forty VWs over here, it is the only one that color.”

First tournament was at a nice Tennis Club in Rabat, which was about 30 miles south, and the capital of Morocco. All of the top players from Morocco were there. Harry beat one of them and lost to one of them in the Semi Finals. It was at this tournament that he met Lieutenant Brian O’Leary who invited Harry to join the Olympic Tennis Club in Rabat and play on their tennis team. It was something very similar to the way ALTA is structured. Teams would go down to other tennis clubs, not having anything to do with the military, and play them. Harry’s team from Rabat would go play the team in Casablanca, or the team in Marrakesh and other surrounding cities.

Planning for Visit from Parents: On Feb 22,1961 wrote parents : “I went by the Mamora Hotel here in town and reserved y’all a room for April 18-19-20. It is a room with a double bed, a type of sitting room with a sofa bed and a bath. It is the nicest hotel and room in Kenitra but still doesn’t compare to American standards.”

Driving in this region meant navigating thru the Atlas Mountains , small and narrow roads with lots of twists and turns and steep overhangs that force the driver to pay close attention to the road and less on the majestic scenery. The Todra Gorge is on par with the Grand Canyon , carved out over many centuries from two Rivers – the Todra and Dades- that converge in the final 20 miles of the Atlas Mountains. Moving thru the Gorges of the Todra , one is surrounded by majestic walls of rock that seem to reach to the sky on all sides. Once out of the Gorges the land flattens out to the Todra Valley . About 8 miles from the Gorges lies the city of Tinerhir an old city full of history known for beautiful old towering fortresses or “Kasbahs” built during a period of time in which these fortified cities were common in parts of North Africa. Many of these fortresses, including the well known Kasbah of Marrakesh, were built in the 1100’s.

Harry mentioned the Base Captain’s request that he look for additional tournaments to play , so Brian O’Leary looked around and found out about a tournament in Agadir which was about four hundred miles south . Agadir now is a big tourist place, beautiful beaches but in 1960 in was in ruins from a a big earthquake the year before .The city had been completely destroyed; all the buildings had collapsed. But the still hosted the annual tennis tournament and Brian arranged for the two of them to fly down there on a navy plane and play singles and doubles. They stayed at some agricultural farm out in the city a little bit where they assigned you when you signed up for the tournament.

It was almost like a field house with cots or like an infirmary where you’d see a bunch of beds in one big room.

And there was a unisex bathroom and shower. But in Agadir, like many parts of Morocco at that time, toilets were very uncommon. Instead it was be a stand up type set up with 2 rows of bricks each of different levels where one would kneel down or squat .

In the Summer of 1961 Brian O’Leary set up to play in the Naval Fleet Intelligence Center Europe Tennis Tournament in London . Harry won the tournament. That same tournament, Harry and Brian played doubles together, and won. The two guys that they beat in the finals were a captain and a Rear Admiral. The Admiral was Noah Gayler who, at the time was the US Naval Attache in London. Admiral Gayler invited Harry over to his flat in London to a party with the job task of taking care of / escorting his daughters who were in town from college and attending this party. ( Admiral Gayler later became head of all naval forces in the Pacific during Vietnam; and later than that he was head of the NSA.)

In Mid June of 1961 it had been 1-1/2 years since Harry was last home on Chatham Road, years that most probably seemed much longer to his loyal , watchful and best playmate Champ. Since the average lifespan of a Saint Bernhard is 10 years , it was likely Harry knew that when he left Atlanta in November 1960, he might not see his dog again. In June 1961 his Dad wrote him to tell him that Champ had passed away. Harry wrote back on 6/14/61.

“I got your letter about Champ yesterday and really felt bad. I’m sure y’all did everything possible – I didn’t realize he was that old, was it just of old age or what that he died? I’m sure Dad will miss playing with him in the afternoons in the backyard.”

After the win at this All- Navy tournament, Harry qualified to fly back to Newport, Rhode Island to represent the Navy in the Armed Forces Tournament in Newport R.I. where he advanced to the Finals.

After the Rhode Island weekend, Harry flew directly from Newport to Port Lyautey on a Navy plane. He hadn’t been back long before he gets a call from his boss who said that the captain of the base wanted to see him with the news: “Admiral Gaylor is on his way down here on a plane. He wants to play tennis with you.”

June 3rd 1962 was a sad day for Atlanta as the Orly ( Paris) Plane Crash claimed the lives of all passengers on board. It was a list of Atlanta’s most active benefactors in Arts and Cultural endeavors. Harry’s letter to his Mom and Dad read ” Sure was sorry to see the casualty list from the plane crash, we sure did know a lot of them. I feel so sorry for the partial families that they left behind, especially Dr Benson . Feel sorry for Penny Armstrong by herself in Paris”. He recalls landing at the Naval Air Detachment located at Orly Field during a Paris trip, remembering the proximity of all the villages around the airport.

It was June 8th 1962 when Harry’s tour of duty was up, he packed up all of his belongings in 15 packages, 2 big trunks which then went inside one big wooden crate for shipment from the base back to Atlanta. His last two days at PL consisted up having his car washed and waxed, driving to Casablanca to pick up some Kodak film at Nouasseur Air Base. Back then Nouasseur was an Air Force base designed for B-36 and B-47 Bombers. It later became the Mohammed V International Airport. Back at PL, it was one more visit to the hospital – this time to get “shots”- polio, smallpox, typhoid and typhus. His stuff was returning to the States but Harry wasn’t until mid September. He was embarking on a tour of Europe with his volkswagon, meeting up with friends from Atlanta along the way.

Left PL at 0850 on the 10th of July and drove up to Ceuta, Morocco where he went thru customs and arranged for his car and person to take the Ferry across the Strait of Gibraltar to Marbella, Spain where he camped at nice campground by the sea with a store and wash facilities.

From Marbella, he headed to Granada, staying at the Sierra Nevada camp en route. While in Grenada he visited the Alhambra , a sprawling fortress like palace built in the 1200’s during the period when the Muslims ruled Spain. It remains today one of the most famous examples of Islamic Architecture in the world.

The campsites in this area had everything a young traveler would need- stores, showers, even swimming pools. Best of all though was all the other young travelers. “You get to a lot of interesting conversations” he wrote to his mom a few weeks later. The nights camping were beautiful. He wrote to his Mom that “sometimes I lay outside my tent on a big canvas which (he) placed on the ground and just watch everybody- it reminds me of Dad boating in Florida”. From the camp, he drove a “hot” 7 hours “through, around and between” the Sierra Nevada’s”. Once in Grenada he went straight to American Express to cash a travelers check and arrange a tour for the next morning – 100 pesatas.

Next stop was Madrid where he stayed at the Palace Hotel ( now a Westin property – the Westin Palace- located in the center of Madrid and walking distance to the Prado.)

From Madrid, Harry left out Saturday morning July 14th and drove north thru San Sabastian to Biarritz, a seaside town on the southwestern coast of France. “The drive was real pleasant and the Pyrennes ( Mountain Range) were pretty and green” he wrote his Mother. He arrived into Biarritz on Bastille Day, a French National Holiday celebrating the storming of the Bastille during the French Revolution. “They were dancing in the streets and having all sorts of gala activities”. Biarritz was rainy as he arrived but a beautiful resort town with sandy beaches and “rock formations sticking out into the Atlantic” he wrote his mother. He stayed at a campsite on the ocean then left for Cannes the next day.

From Biarritz, drove to the south of France where he was meeting up with 2 Atlanta friends, Frank Maier and M.E Johnson in Cannes on the French Riviera. From there the 3 traveled to nearby St Tropez and Monte Carlo where they gambled in the Casino and camped out just outside the city on a high cliff overlooking the sea. The next day toured the palace and museum , then drove down to Portofino, Italy

Harry stayed one night in Portofino then drove north through Italy staying 2 nights in Florence and 3 nights in Rome. At this point he had met up with Bob Nichols and his group. One highlight was seeing Aida one night in Rome. Harry and Bob played tennis ; afterwards swam in the Olympic pool.

After Venice, the guys travelled thru Switzerland, driving thru San Saffron known for the Crocus Sativus Plants and the Saffron spice that is cultivated from the plant’s red flowers. This spice referred to as Red Gold , is known the world over. From there, driving over the Furka Pass en route to Visp , a city in Switzerland at an elevation of 2100 ft near the foot of the Matterhorn where they would stay for 2 nights. The area receives about 300 days of sunshine annually and is the starting point for holiday travel to Zermatt and the beauty surrounding the iconic Matterhorn. Zermatt is where the climbers start their ascent of the Matterhorn. Switzerland is known for rail service on trains overlooking some of the most beautiful sights in Europe- as Harry wrote his Mom “tremendous gorges, snowcapped peaks, thousands of waterfalls and rolling green hills and mountains”.

On August 10th, 1962 Harry wrote his parents “I got my car today and it’s really beautiful – dark green with bright red upholstery and a beige top. The total cost was $4,400 – a lot of money but I think it will be worth it. Took my VW to a big VW garage and they did the 30,000 kilometer checkup. Took a tour through the Mercedes factory. It was a real education.”

We left Berektgaden Wed morning and spent Wed and Thur nights in Munich. Went to the big Hofbrauhaus which is a famous beer hall. It was really big and noisy. Thur morning drove out to Doehau where the biggest Nazi concentration camp was 1933-1945.

I recommend 2 books about Morocco.

1. A Cold War Story by Lt. Jim Conkey who was stationed at NOF

2.Stoles Lives by Malika Oufakir – the daughter who was imprisoned many years whose father Gen. Okifakir was said to be involved with one of the assassination attempts on the King.

Marriage to Eleanor Ashcraft

In 1967 Harry brought the 1967 Davis Cup Team to Atlanta to play in the Atlanta Invitational. It was that year John Skogstad had his famous match with then #1 ranked player Arthur Ashe. In 1982 Harry served as V.P. of the Southern Tennis Association and continued to serve ALTA in a board and advisory position. He along with John Skogstad and John Callen started the Ga Tennis Hall of Fame in 1982.

In his business career he served as president of Conklin Metal Industries, Atlanta Rotary Club, and Northwest Atlanta Young Life and on the board of Atlanta Speech School, the Summit Charter School, and Capital City Club.

Harry Thompson III , wife Eleanor Ashcraft Thompson and three children, Harry, Martie, and Robbie.

Newspaper Clippings over the years