John Anderson-Thomson was born in Glengairn, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 and enlisted in the Royal Flying Corps.

Royal Flying Corps

The Royal Flying Corps was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. During the early part of the war, the RFC's responsibilities were centred on support of the British Army, via artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance...

 at 16 during World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. In 1920, he came to Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, working as a sheep farmer in Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

. In 1926, Anderson-Thomson returned to Scotland, meeting and marrying Janet Grant of Braemer Village. They moved back to the Prairies in 1932, with Anderson-Thomson graduating from the University of Saskatchewan in 1936 as a Geological Engineer. In 1942, he joined the RCAF and was posted to Rivers, Manitoba, as a navigation instructor until 1944. John and Janet moved to Yellowknife

Yellowknife, Northwest Territories

Yellowknife is the capital and largest city of the Northwest Territories , Canada. It is located on the northern shore of Great Slave Lake, approximately south of the Arctic Circle, on the west side of Yellowknife Bay near the outlet of the Yellowknife River...

, Northwest Territories

Northwest Territories

The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada.Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south...

 in 1944. Anderson-Thomson worked as a Dominion Land Surveyor, selecting the route for the Mackenzie Highway between Yellowknife and Hay River, as well as the locations of the Distant Early Warning (DEW) stations, accompanied more often than not by Janet, who contributed to the travels by sketch mapping as they went. He was also commissioned as the Captain and Commanding Officer of No. 7 Company of the Canadian Rangers

Canadian Rangers

The Canadian Rangers are a sub-component of the Canadian Forces reserve that provide a military presence in Canada's sparsely settled northern, coastal, and isolated areas. Formally established on May 23, 1947, a primary role of this part-time force is to conduct surveillance or sovereignty...

 based out of Yellowknife, as well as the Justice of the Peace

Justice of the Peace

A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...

 and acting Magistrate

Magistrate

A magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...

. He was the leader of the No. 7 Rangers in Operation Bulldog III

Operation Bulldog III

Operation Bulldog III was a military exercise held in 1955 by the Canadian Army at Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada.-Purpose:During the Cold War, the Yellowknife Airport was a strategic point crucial to the defence of North America in the event of a Soviet invasion...

. Anderson-Thomson died in 1985.