English field marshal (born 1881)

Henry Maitland Wilson

Field Marshal Henry Maitland Wilson, 1st Baron Wilson, 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.

Born

1881

September 5

Died

1964

Era

1880s

Country

About

Henry, in brief

Field Marshal Henry Maitland Wilson, 1st Baron Wilson, 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.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Life timeline

Key dates

  1. 1881 Born
  2. 1964 Died

Also on September 5

What else happened on this day, through history

See all of September 5 →

The world in 1964

When Henry departed

Read the year 1964 →

Same-day contemporaries

Also born on September 5

See everything on September 5 →

Same-year contemporaries

Also born in 1881

Keep going

More to explore