Arthur Wilson (Royal Navy officer)

Infobox Military Person
name =Sir Arthur Knyvet Wilson
lived=4 March 1842 – 25 May 1921


caption =Admiral Sir Arthur Wilson
placeofbirth = Swaffham, Norfolk, England
placeofdeath = Swaffham, Norfolk, England
allegiance=flagicon|United Kingdom United Kingdom
branch=
serviceyears=
rank= Admiral of the Fleet
battles=Crimean War
China War
Egyptian Campaign
Sudan Campaign
commands=
awards=VC, GCB, OM, GCVO
relations=
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Arthur Knyvet Wilson VC, GCB, OM, GCVO (4 March 1842 – 25 May 1921), was an English Admiral and First Sea Lord. He received 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 during the war in Sudan.

Early life

He was born on 4 March 1842 in Swaffham in Norfolk, the son of Rear-Admiral George Knyvet Wilson. He was the nephew of Major-General Sir Archdale Wilson of Delhi.

Naval career

In the Royal Navy he saw action during the Crimean War followed by the China War (1858), the Egyptian Campaign (1882) and the Sudan Campaign (1884).

He was 41 years old, and a captain in the Naval Brigade, during the Sudan Campaign when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

On 29 February 1884 at the Battle of El Teb, Sudan, Captain Wilson of HMS "Hecla" attached himself, during the advance, to the right half-battery, Naval Brigade, in place of a lieutenant who was mortally wounded. As the troops closed on the enemy battery, the Arabs charged out on the detachment which was dragging one of the guns, whereupon Captain Wilson sprang to the front and engaged in single combat with some of the enemy, and so protected the detachment until men of the 1st Bn, York and Lancaster Regiment came to his assistance.

He was called to the Admiralty in 1897 as Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty and Comptroller of the Navy. From 1901 to 1903 he was in command of the Channel Squadron. From 1903 he was Commander-in-Chief of the Home and Channel Fleets. He reached the rank of Admiral of the Fleet in 1907 and became First Sea Lord in 1909. He retired in 1912 and received the Order of Merit.

He died in Swaffham and is buried in the churchyard of St Peter and St Paul's.His medal was donated to the Royal Naval Museum, Portsmouth.

Medal list

His full medal list runs as follows:

*Victoria Cross
*Knight Grand Cross, The Most Honourable Order of the Bath (GCB)
*Order of Merit (OM)
*Grand Officer, Légion d'honneur (France)
*Knight Grand Cross, The Royal Victorian Order (GCVO)
*Crimea Medal - (1854-56) clasp "Sebastopol"
*2nd China War Medal - (1857-60) clasps "Canton 1857", "Taku Forts 1858"
*Egypt Medal - (1882-89) with clasps for "Alexandria 11 July", "Suakin 1884", "El Teb"
*Queen Victoria Golden Jubilee Medal 1897
*King Edward VII Coronation Medal 1902
*King George V Coronation Medal 1911
*Order of the Medjidieh: 3rd Class (Turkey )
*Order of Naval Merit: Grand Cross (Spain)
*Khedive's Star 1882 (Egypt)
*Turkish Crimean War medal - (1855-56)
*Order of the Dannebrog: Grand Cross (Denmark)
*Order of the Netherlands Lion: Knight Grand Cross (The Netherlands)

References

*Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
*The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)

External links

* [http://www.victoriacross.org.uk/norfolk.htm Burial location of Arthur Wilson] "Norfolk"
* [http://www.victoriacross.org.uk/ccroynav.htm Location of Arthur Wilson's Victoria Cross] "Royal Naval Museum"