| Eric Charles Twelves Wilson | |
|---|---|
Victoria Cross |
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| Born | 2 October 1912 Sandown, Isle of Wight |
| Died | 23 December 2008 (aged 96) Stowell , Somerset |
| Buried at | St Mary Magdalene Churchyard, Stowell |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service/branch | British Army |
| Years of service | 1933 - 1949 |
| Rank | Lieutenant-Colonel |
| Unit | The East Surrey Regiment, The King's African Rifles Somaliland Camel Corps Long Range Desert Group |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Awards | Victoria Cross |
Lieutenant Colonel Eric Charles Twelves Wilson VC (2 October 1912 – 23 December 2008) was an English 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.
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Wilson was born at Sandown, Isle of Wight, and was educated at Marlborough and Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He was commissioned into The East Surrey Regiment on 2 February 1933.[1]
Wilson was seconded to the 2nd (Nyasaland) Battalion The King's African Rifles in 1937 serving in East Africa and then The Somaliland Camel Corps in 1939.
In 1940 Eric Wilson was 27-years-old, and an acting captain attached to Somaliland Camel Corps when Italian forces invaded British Somaliland (now Somalia). During the Italian conquest of British Somaliland the heavily outnumbered British-led forces made their stand at Tug Argan. During this battle, from 11 August 1940 to 15 August 1940 at Observation Hill, Captain Wilson kept a machine-gun post in action in spite of being wounded and suffering from malaria. Some of his guns were blown to pieces by the enemy's field artillery fire, and he himself was taken prisoner. For his actions Wilson was awarded the Victoria Cross.
He has the rare distinction of being mistakenly awarded a "posthumous" VC. At the time the award was made he was believed to be missing in action, presumed dead. In fact he was a POW in Ethiopia.
The formal citation for Wilson's VC, published in the London Gazette in October 1940 when he was still presumed dead, reads:[2]
The KING has been pleased to approve of the award of The Victoria Cross to :Lieutenant (acting Captain) Eric Charles Twelves Wilson, The East Surrey Regiment (attached Somaliland Camel Corps).
For most conspicuous gallantry on active service in Somaliland. Captain Wilson was in command of machine-gun posts manned by Somali soldiers in the key position of Observation Hill, a defended post in the defensive organisation of the Tug Argan Gap in British Somaliland. The enemy attacked Observation Hill on August 11th, 1940. Captain Wilson and Somali gunners under his command beat off the attack and opened fire on the enemy troops attacking Mill Hill, another post within his range. He inflicted such heavy casualties that the enemy, determined to put his guns out of action, brought up a pack battery to within seven hundred yards, and scored two direct hits through the loopholes of his defences, which, bursting within the post, wounded Captain Wilson severely in the right shoulder and in the left eye, several of his team being also wounded. His guns were blown off their stands but he repaired and replaced them and, regardless of his wounds, carried on, whilst his Somali sergeant was killed beside him. On August 12th and 14th the enemy again concentrated field artillery fire on Captain Wilson's guns, but he continued, with his wounds untended, to man them. On August 15th two of his machine-gun posts were blown to pieces, yet Captain Wilson, now suffering from malaria in addition to wounds, still kept his own post in action. The enemy finally over-ran the post at 5 p.m. on the 15th August when Captain Wilson, fighting to the last, was killed.
When the Italian forces in East Africa surrendered following the East African Campaign Wilson was released from captivity in 1941. With his captain's rank made permanent,[3] he returned to active duty serving with the Long Range Desert Group in the Western Desert. Between 1942 and 1944 he fought in the Burma Campaign with 11th (Kenya) Battalion The Kings African Rifles, part of the 25th East African Brigade in 11th East African Division. Having contracted scrub typhus he was hospitalised for two months and then returned to East African to command an infantry training establishment in Uganda. He was seconded to The Northern Rhodesian Regiment in 1946. He retired from the Army in 1949 and although at this time his permanent rank was major, he was granted the honorary rank of lieutenant-colonel.[4]
After he left the Army in 1949 Wilson joined the Overseas Civil Service in Tanganyika, where he served until independence of the British East African countries which led to his retirement in 1961.
In 1962 Wilson was appointed Deputy Warden of London House, a residence at Goodenough Square in the Bloomsbury district of London. This residence is for university graduates from the Commonwealth of Nations pursuing graduate studies in the United Kingdom. In 1966 Wilson was promoted to Warden of London House, holding the position until retirement in 1977. During his tenure the patron of the residence was HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
Until his death, he was one of only ten Victoria Cross recipients alive. He was the last surviving British Army recipient of World War II as well as being the earliest and oldest recipient. His VC is on display in the Lord Ashcroft Gallery at the Imperial War Museum, London.