Guy George Egerton Wylly

Infobox Military Person
name=Guy George Egerton Wylly
lived=17 February 1880 – Death date and age|1962|01|09|1880|02|17|df=yes


caption=Major Guy Wylly c.1920
nickname=
placeofbirth=Hobart, Tasmania
placeofdeath=Camberley, Surrey, England
religion=
spouse=
allegiance=British Empire (Tasmania); Great Britain
branch=Tasmanian Colonial Forces
British Army
serviceyears=1900-1933
rank=Colonel
unit=
commands=
battles= Second Boer War
World War I
awards=Victoria Cross
Companion of the Order of the Bath
Distinguished Service Order
Mentioned in Despatches (3)
relations=
laterwork=aide-de-camp to the Commander in Chief, India (1906-1909); aide-de-camp to King George V (1926-1933).

Guy George Egerton Wylly VC, CB, DSO (17 February, 1880 - 9 January, 1962) was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces, for actions during the Second Boer War.

Early life

Wylly was born on 17 February 1880 in Hobart, Tasmania to Edward Arthur Egerton Wylly; an officer in the Indian Army, and his wife Henrietta Mary, née Clerk.

As an infant Wylly went to India with his parents, before settling at Sandy Bay, Hobart in 1885, where he attended The Hutchins School before completing his education at the Collegiate School of St Peter, Adelaide.

Military service

He was 20 years old, and a Lieutenant in the Tasmanian Imperial Bushmen, during the Second Boer War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross.

On 1 September 1900 near Warm Baths, Transvaal, South Africa, Lieutenant Wylly was one of the advance scouting party passing through a narrow gorge, when the enemy suddenly opened fire at close range and six out of the party of eight were wounded, including Lieutenant Wylly, who, seeing that one of his men was badly wounded in the leg and that his horse was shot, went back to him. He made the wounded man take his horse while he, the lieutenant, opened fire from behind a rock to cover the retreat of the others, at the imminent risk of being cut off himself.

In 1906 he was appointed the aide-de-camp to the Commander in Chief, India, before fighting in World War I, where he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and Mentioned in Despatches three times. Between 1926 and 1933 he was the aide-de-camp to King George V.

He died on 9 January 1962 in Camberley, Surrey.

His medal is on display at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart.

References

* Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
* The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
*Victoria Crosses of the Anglo-Boer War (Ian Uys, 2000)

External links

* [http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/images/portraits/A120658.jpgPhoto of Colonel Wylly]
* [http://www.homeusers.prestel.co.uk/stewart/wokingcr.htm Location of grave and VC medal] "(Woking Crematorium)"
* [http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A120658b.htm Extensive Biography at Australian Dictionary of Biography]