Henry Maitland Wilson
Field Marshal Henry Maitland Wilson, 1st Baron Wilson, GCB, GBE, DSO (5 September 1881 – 31 December 1964), also known as Jumbo Wilson, was a senior British Army officer of the 20th century. He saw active service in the Second Boer War and then during the First World War on the Somme and at Passchendaele. During the Second World War he served as General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) British Troops in Egypt, in which role he launched Operation Compass, attacking Italian forces with considerable success, in December 1940. He went on to be Military Governor of Cyrenaica in February 1941, commanding a Commonwealth expeditionary force to Greece in April 1941 and General Officer Commanding (GOC) British Forces in Palestine and Trans-Jordan in May 1941.
For his uncle, see Henry Fuller Maitland Wilson.
The Lord Wilson
"Jumbo"
31 December 1964 (aged 83)
Chilton, Buckinghamshire, England
United Kingdom
1900–1947
17547
British 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)
Wilson became GOC Ninth Army in Syria and Palestine in October 1941, GOC Persia and Iraq Command in August 1942 and GOC Middle East Command in February 1943. He was Supreme Allied Commander in the Mediterranean from January 1944 and Chief of the British Joint Staff Mission in Washington D. C. from January 1945 until 1947.
Second World War[edit]
Egypt (1939–1941)[edit]
On 15 June 1939, Wilson was appointed General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the British Troops in Egypt, with the rank of lieutenant-general,[20] in which role he was also responsible for giving military advice for a range of countries from Abyssinia to the Persian Gulf. He made his HQ in Cairo and undertook successful negotiations with the Egyptian government at their summer quarters in Alexandria. 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 the 7th Armoured Division) and eight British battalions. He concentrated his defensive forces at Mersa Matruh some 100 miles from the border with Libya.[21]
Early in August, Sir Archibald Wavell was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Middle East Command, and he sent reinforcements which had been sought by Wilson, initially the 4th Indian Infantry Division and advanced elements of 6th Australian Division[22] and, as the buildup at Mersa Matruh continued, Richard O'Connor and his staff at 7th Infantry Division in 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 redesignated Western Desert Force in June 1940.[23]
On 10 June 1940, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini declared 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 forces invaded Egypt in September 1940, and advanced some 60 miles (97 km) to occupy Sidi 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 with Anthony Eden and Wavell in October and rejecting Wavell's suggestion for a two-pronged attack, Wilson launched Operation Compass on 7 December 1940. The strategy was outstandingly successful and very quickly the Italian forces were cut in half.[24]