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Henry Maitland Wilson

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For his uncle, seeHenry Fuller Maitland Wilson.

Field MarshalThe Right Honourable

The Lord Wilson
Wilson in 1944
Nickname(s)"Jumbo"
Born(1881-09-05)5 September 1881
London,England[note 1]
Died31 December 1964(1964-12-31)(aged 83)
Chilton, Buckinghamshire,England
Buried
St. George's,Stowlangtoft,Suffolk,England
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchBritish Army
Years of service1900–1947
RankField Marshal
Service number17547
UnitRifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own)
Commands heldBritish Joint Staff Mission to Washington(1944–47)
Supreme Allied Commander Mediterranean Theatre(1944)
Middle East Command(1943–44)
Persia and Iraq Command(1942–43)
Ninth Army(1941–42)
British Forces in Palestine and Trans-Jordan(1941)
Cyrenaica(1941)
British Troops in Egypt(1939–41)
2nd Infantry Division(1937–39)
6th Infantry Brigade(1934–35)
1st Battalion, Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) (1927–30)
Battles/warsSecond Boer War
First World War

North-West Frontier
Second World War

AwardsKnight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath[2]
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire[3]
Distinguished Service Order[4]
Mentioned in Despatches(5)[5]
War Cross(Greece)[6]
Virtuti Militari(Poland)[7]
Army Distinguished Service Medal(United States)[8]
Legion of Merit(United States)[9]
Other workConstable of the Tower of London[10]

Field MarshalHenry Maitland Wilson, 1st Baron Wilson,GCB,GBE,DSO(5 September 1881 – 31 December 1964), also known asJumbo Wilson,was a seniorBritish Armyofficerof the 20th century. He saw active service in theSecond Boer Warand then during theFirst World Waron theSommeand atPasschendaele.During theSecond World Warhe served asGeneral Officer Commanding-in-Chief(GOC-in-C)British Troops in Egypt,in which role he launchedOperation Compass,attackingItalian forceswith considerable success, in December 1940. He went on to be Military Governor ofCyrenaicain February 1941, commanding aCommonwealthexpeditionary force toGreecein April 1941 andGeneral Officer Commanding(GOC)British Forces in Palestine and Trans-Jordanin May 1941.

Wilson became GOCNinth Armyin Syria and Palestine in October 1941, GOCPersia and Iraq Commandin August 1942 and GOCMiddle East Commandin February 1943. He wasSupreme Allied Commanderin theMediterraneanfrom January 1944 and Chief of theBritish Joint Staff Mission in Washington D. C.from January 1945 until 1947.

Early life and military service[edit]

Born inLondon,England,[11]the son of Captain Arthur Maitland Wilson and his wife Harriet Wilson (née Kingscote), Wilson was educated atEton CollegeandSandhurst.[1]He was commissioned into theRifle Brigadeas a2nd lieutenanton 10 March 1900.[12][13]He served with the 2nd Battalion in South Africa in theSecond Boer War,and having taken part in operations there in August 1900, was promoted tolieutenanton 18 March 1901.[1]He served in South Africa throughout the war. Following the end of hostilities, he leftPort Natalon the SSMaltain late September 1902, together with other officers and men of the 2nd battalion Rifle Brigade who were transferred to Egypt.[14]He was posted with his battalion to Egypt and then in 1907 to India.[1]Promoted tocaptainon 2 April 1908 he served with the 3rd Battalion atBordoninHampshireand then inCounty Tipperaryin Ireland, and in 1911 became Adjutant of the OxfordOTC.[15]

Wilson, a lieutenant colonel at the time, as a staff officer with the New Zealand Division, May 1918

Wilson served in theFirst World War,being appointedbrigade majorof the48th Brigadeon 15 October 1914; having been promoted to the rank of actingmajorin December 1914 and then to the substantive rank of major on 15 September 1915, he was sent to France to serve on theWestern Frontin December 1915.[1]His capabilities as a staff officer led to him being moved to becomeGeneral Staff Officer(GSO) 2 of the41st Divisionon theSommeand of theXIX CorpsatPasschendaele.[1]In October 1917 he was appointed GSO 1 of theNew Zealand Divisionwith promotion to temporarylieutenant colonelon 28 October 1917.[1][16]For his war service he was awarded theDistinguished Service Orderin 1917 and was thricementioned in despatches.[1]

After being promoted to brevet lieutenant colonel on 1 January 1919 and being hand-picked for the first post-war staff course atCamberley,Wilson was given command of a company of cadets at Sandhurst.[17]He then became second-in-command of the 2nd Battalion, the Rifle Brigade atAldershotin August 1923.[17]Next he took command of his regiment's 1st Battalion on theNorth-West Frontierin January 1927, receiving promotion to the substantive rank of lieutenant colonel on 15 June 1927.[18]

Group portrait of Major GeneralAndrew Hamilton Russell(front row, centre), commanding the New Zealand Division, with staff officers at division headquarters in Leverkusen, Germany, March 1919. Present also is Lieutenant Colonel H. M. "Jumbo" Wilson, the division's GSO1, is sat to Russell's right.

Returning to be an instructor at Camberley in June 1930, Wilson spent 9 months on half pay in 1933.[17]Promoted to temporarybrigadier,he became Commander of6th Infantry Brigadein 1934 and having been promoted tomajor-generalon 30 April 1935, he becameGeneral Officer Commanding2nd Divisionin August 1937.[19][17]

Second World War[edit]

Egypt (1939–1941)[edit]

On 15 June 1939, Wilson was appointedGeneral Officer Commanding(GOC) of theBritish Troops in Egypt,with the rank oflieutenant-general,[20]in which role he was also responsible for giving military advice for a range of countries fromAbyssiniato thePersian Gulf.He made his HQ inCairoand undertook successful negotiations with the Egyptian government at their summer quarters inAlexandria.The Treaty of 1936 called for the Egyptian army to fight under British command in the event of war and to supplement the limited force then at his disposal – an armoured division then being formed (later to be the7th Armoured Division) and eight British battalions. He concentrated his defensive forces atMersa Matruhsome 100 miles from the border withLibya.[21]

Early in August,Sir Archibald Wavellwas appointedCommander-in-Chiefof theMiddle East Command,and he sent reinforcements which had been sought by Wilson, initially the4th Indian Infantry Divisionand advanced elements of6th Australian Division[22]and, as the buildup at Mersa Matruh continued,Richard O'Connorand his staff at7th Infantry Divisionin Palestine were moved to Egypt to reinforce Wilson's command structure there. O'Connor's HQ, initially designated British 6th Infantry Division, was activated in November and became responsible for the troops at Mersa Matruh. It was redesignatedWestern Desert Forcein June 1940.[23]

On 10 June 1940, Italian dictatorBenito Mussolinideclared war. Immediately Wilson's forces invaded Libya. However, their advance was reversed when on 17 June France sought an armistice and the Italians were able to move their forces from the Tunisian border in the West and reinforce with 4 divisions those that opposed Wilson in the East. The Italian forcesinvaded Egyptin September 1940, and advanced some 60 miles (97 km) to occupySidi Barrani.Wilson was facing very superior forces. He had 31,000 troops to the Italians' 80,000, 120 tanks against 275, and 120 artillery pieces against 250. He realised that the situation was one where the traditional text books would not provide a solution. As with other 1940s commanders he had been well-schooled in strategy, and in thorough secrecy; he planned to disrupt the advance of the superior forces by attacking their extended lines at the right spots. After a conference withAnthony Edenand Wavell in October and rejecting Wavell's suggestion for a two-pronged attack, Wilson launchedOperation Compasson 7 December 1940. The strategy was outstandingly successful and very quickly the Italian forces were cut in half.[24]

Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Maitland Wilson, Commander in Chief Cyrenaica, inspects men of the captured Tripolitanian Camel Corps, Libya.

While Operation Compass continued successfully in 1941 and resulted in the complete defeat of the Italian Army in North Africa, Wilson, who was already highly regarded by his First World War regimental colleague and nowSecretary of State for War,Anthony Eden,had also won the confidence ofChurchillhimself. In a broadcast Churchill said, "General Wilson, who actually commands the Army of the Nile, was reputed to be one of our finest tacticians, and few will now deny him that quality."[25]

Wilson was recalled to Cairo in February 1941 where he was offered and accepted the position of Military Governor ofCyrenaica.[17]

Greece (April 1941)[edit]

Wilson was appointed to lead aCommonwealthexpeditionary force ( "W Force") of two infantry divisions and an armoured brigade to help Greeceresist Italyand the subsequentGerman invasionin April 1941. Although the Allied forces were hopelessly inadequate Churchill's War Cabinet had thought it important to provide support for the only country outside the Commonwealth which was resisting the Axis advance. Wilson completed the evacuation of British troops from Greece on 29 April 1941.[17]He was appointed aGBEon 4 March 1941[3]and promoted to fullgeneralon 31 May 1941.[26]

Syria, Iraq and Palestine (1941–1943)[edit]

A convalescentWinston Churchillmeets the outgoing and incoming Supreme Commanders in the Mediterranean,Dwight D. Eisenhower,to Churchill's right, and Henry Maitland Wilson, to his left. Behind them stand (from left to right),John Whiteley,Air MarshalArthur Tedder,BrigadierG. S. Thompson,AdmiralSir John Cunningham,unknown,Sir Harold Alexander,CaptainM. L. Power,Humfrey Gale,Leslie Hollis,and Eisenhower'schief of staff,Walter Bedell Smith.

In May 1941, on his return from Greece, Wilson was appointed GOCBritish Forces in Palestine and Trans-Jordanand oversaw the successfulSyria-Lebanon campaign,in which predominantly Australian, British, Indian, andFree Frenchforces overcameVichy Frenchforces in fierce fighting.[27]In July 1941 Churchill recommended Wilson to take command of theWestern Desert Forceto lead it in its upcoming offensive operation against the Afrika Korps, what would becomeOperation Crusaderof November 1941, but GeneralSir Claude Auchinleckpreferred instead Lieutenant-GeneralSir Alan Cunningham.[28]In October 1941 Wilson took command of theNinth Armyin Syria and Palestine and was appointed to the honorary title ofAide-de-Camp Generalto the King.[29]

Wilson enjoyed the confidence ofWinston Churchill[30]and he was Churchill's choice to succeed Auchinleck as commander of theEighth Armyin August 1942; however at the urging of theChief of the Imperial General Staff,GeneralSir Alan Brooke,GeneralSir Bernard Montgomerywas appointed to the post. Instead, Wilson was appointed to command the newly created independentPersia and Iraq Commandon 21 August 1942.[31]This command, which had been part ofMiddle East Command,was created when it appeared that Germany, following successes in southern Russia, might invade Persia (Iran).[note 2]

C-in-C Middle East (1943)[edit]

In February 1943, after Montgomery's success atAlameinand the expulsion of Axis forces fromNorth Africa,Wilson was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Middle East.[27]The Middle East was by this time comparatively removed from the main centres of fighting. However, on orders from London to create a diversion during the fighting in Italy, in September 1943 he organised anunsuccessful attemptto occupy the small Greek islands ofKos,LerosandSamos.The British forces suffered large losses to German air attacks and subsequent landings.[27]

Supreme Allied Commander Mediterranean (1944)[edit]

Wilson with Lieutenant-GeneralSir Oliver Leese,Italy, 30 April 1944

Wilson succeededDwight D. "Ike" EisenhoweratAllied Forces Headquarters (AFHQ)as the Supreme Allied Commander in the Mediterranean on 8 January 1944 based at Algiers.[27]As such he exercised strategic control over the campaign in Italy. He strongly advocated the invasion of Germany via theDanubeplain, but this did not take place when the armies in Italy were weakened to support other theatres of war.[33]Jumbo Wilson was keen to follow through with the deception plan Undercut, when unexpectedly the Germans decided to withdraw from Greece altogether. Although advised byDudley Clarkethat it might backfire and was unnecessary, Wilson was aware of the strategic complexities of the political situation. Every plan the General Staff had a shadow, integrated by 1944 with the American allies at all strategy levels; even to employ an actor imitating Monty arrive at Jumbo's HQ in Algiers.[note 3]

Washington Mission (1945–1947)[edit]

Secretary of War,Henry L. Stimson(centre) with Field Marshals SirHarold Alexander(left) and SirHenry Maitland Wilson(right)

In December 1944, following the death of Field MarshalSir John Dill,Wilson was relieved as Supreme Commander, promoted tofield marshalon 29 December 1944,[34]and sent to Washington to be Chief of theBritish Joint Staff Mission,a post he took up in January 1945.[27]One of Wilson's most secret duties was as the British military representative on theCombined Policy Committeewhich dealt with the development, production and testing of theatom bomb.[27]Wilson continued to serve as head of the British Joint Staff Mission until 1947, to the satisfaction of Britain and the United States.President Trumanawarded him theDistinguished Service Medalin November 1945.[8]

Post-war[edit]

In January 1946 he was appointedaide-de-camptoGeorge VI of the United Kingdomand was then createdBaron Wilson,of Libya and ofStowlangtoftin the County ofSuffolk.[35]From 1955 to 1960 he wasConstable of the Tower of London.Wilson had married Hester Wykeham (1890–1979) in 1914 and had one son and a daughter.[36]The son, Lieutenant-Colonel Patrick Maitland Wilson, accompanied his father in the Middle East during the Second World War as an intelligence officer. The son's memoirs,Where the Nazis Came,provide anecdotes and descriptions of important events in his father's war service. Never a rich man, when Field Marshal Lord Wilson died on 31 December 1964 inChilton, Buckinghamshire,[11]his estate wasprovedat only £2,952 (roughly £100,000 in 2013[37]). He was buried at St. George's,Stowlangtoft,Suffolk and was succeeded in the barony by his only son Patrick.[38]

From his arrival in Egypt in 1939 to his return to England in 1947 from Washington, Jumbo Wilson spent eight years overseas. Few wartime commanders gave such unstinting and unremitting service. Of all Churchill's generals, his relationship with the Prime Minister was probably the closest. Though he is unlikely to be remembered in history as one of the great wartime field commanders, he deserves to be remembered, like Eisenhower, as a leader who moved nations to work together in a common cause.[39]

References[edit]

Notes
  1. ^One source claims that he was born atStowlangtoftHall,Suffolk.[1]
  2. ^TheChief of the Imperial General Staff,GeneralAlan Brooke,had been reluctant to make this appointment because he thought Wilson was too old and tired for the job. However, he later wrote "...I was totally wrong as I soon discovered, and he was still capable of giving the most valuable service. An exceptionally clear brain, a strong personality and an imperturbable character."[32]
  3. ^The deception operation on 26 May 1944 began in London.
Citations
  1. ^abcdefghHeathcote, p.308
  2. ^"No. 36544".The London Gazette(Supplement). 6 August 1944. p. 2567.
  3. ^ab"No. 35094".The London Gazette.4 March 1941. p. 1304.
  4. ^"No. 29886".The London Gazette(Supplement). 1 January 1917. pp. 19–28.
  5. ^"No. 36065".The London Gazette(Supplement). 22 June 1943. p. 2853.
  6. ^"No. 35519".The London Gazette(Supplement). 7 April 1942. p. 1595.
  7. ^"No. 36828".The London Gazette(Supplement). 5 December 1944. p. 5616.
  8. ^ab"No. 37442".The London Gazette(Supplement). 24 January 1946. p. 651.
  9. ^"No. 37521".The London Gazette(Supplement). 2 April 1946. p. 1726.
  10. ^"No. 40557".The London Gazette.9 August 1955. p. 4559.
  11. ^ab"Encyclopædia Britannica".Retrieved1 August2009.
  12. ^"No. 27172".The London Gazette.9 March 1900. p. 1632.
  13. ^Keegan 1999,p. 166.
  14. ^"The Army in South Africa – Troops returning Home".The Times.No. 36887. London. 1 October 1902. p. 8.
  15. ^"No. 28544".The London Gazette.24 October 1911. p. 7707.
  16. ^Keegan 1999,p. 181.
  17. ^abcdefHeathcote, p. 309
  18. ^"No. 33284".The London Gazette.14 June 1927. p. 3838.
  19. ^"No. 34155".The London Gazette.30 April 1935. p. 2823.
  20. ^"No. 34639".The London Gazette.23 June 1939. p. 4244.
  21. ^"No. 37628".The London Gazette(Supplement). 25 June 1946. p. 3261.
  22. ^Mead (2007), p. 489
  23. ^"Chapter 3 – Western Desert Force".University of Wellington.Retrieved28 April2013.
  24. ^"No. 37628".The London Gazette(Supplement). 25 June 1946. p. 3264.
  25. ^"Churchill Broadcast Takes Stock of War".Jewish Virtual Library.9 February 1941.Retrieved28 April2013.
  26. ^"No. 35175".The London Gazette(Supplement). 27 May 1941. p. 3071.
  27. ^abcdefHeathcote, p. 310
  28. ^Churchill vol 3 pp. 405–406
  29. ^"No. 35372".The London Gazette.5 December 1941. p. 6981.
  30. ^Mead (2007), pp. 495–496
  31. ^Alanbrooke Diaries, 21 August 1942
  32. ^Alanbrooke diaries, postscript to entry of 21 August 1942
  33. ^Fisher, p. 258
  34. ^"No. 36861".The London Gazette(Supplement). 29 December 1944. p. 5936.
  35. ^"No. 37498".The London Gazette.12 March 1946. p. 1339.
  36. ^"Henry Maitland Wilson, 1st Baron Wilson".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/36956.Retrieved28 April2013.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)
  37. ^"Measuring worth".Archived fromthe originalon 31 March 2016.Retrieved28 April2013.
  38. ^Heathcote, p. 311
  39. ^Keegan 1999,p. 180.

Sources[edit]

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

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Military offices
Preceded by GOC 2nd Division
1937–1939 		Succeeded by
Preceded by GOC British Troops in Egypt
1939–1941 		Succeeded by
New post Military Governor and GOC-in-C of Cyrenica
February 1941 		Succeeded by
Preceded by GOC British Forces in Palestine and Trans-Jordan
May–October 1941 		Succeeded by
New post GOC Ninth Army
1941–1942 		Succeeded by
New post C-in-C Persia and Iraq Command
1942–1943 		Succeeded by
Preceded by C-in-C Middle East Command
1943–1944 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Supreme Allied Commander Mediterranean Theatre
January–December 1944 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chief of the British Joint Staff Mission to Washington
1944–1947 		Succeeded by
Honorary titles
Preceded by Constable of the Tower of London
1955–1960 		Succeeded by
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation Baron Wilson
1946–1964 		Succeeded by
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