Francis Adrian Wilson

Major-General

Francis Adrian Wilson

CB CMG DSO
Born12 October 1874
London, England
Died6 May 1954(1954-05-06) (aged 79)
Surrey, England
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Branch
British Army
Rank
Major-General
CommandsChief of the Australian General Staff
Conflicts
Second Boer War
First World War
AwardsCompanion of the Order of the Bath
Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George
Distinguished Service Order
Mentioned in Despatches
Légion d'honneur (France)

Major-General Francis Adrian Wilson, CB, CMG, DSO (12 October 1874 – 6 May 1954) was a senior officer in the British Army who served as Chief of the General Staff in Australia from 1911 to 1912 and was a senior artillery commander during World War I.

Military career

Wilson was commissioned into the Royal Artillery as a second lieutenant on 1 July 1895,[1] and promoted to a lieutenant on 17 November 1897.[2]

He served in the Second Boer War in South Africa, during which he was promoted to captain on 6 February 1901. He was mentioned in despatches (including the final despatch by Lord Kitchener dated 23 June 1902[3]), and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO).[4] The war ended in June 1902, and Wilson returned to the united Kingdom on the SS Syria two months later, arriving in Southampton in early September.[5]

He was promoted to Major on 1 August 1911[6] and served as Chief of the General Staff in Australia from 1911 to 1912.[7]

On the outbreak of World War he was commanding 61st (Howitzer) Battery, Royal Field Artillery, at Kildare in Ireland.[6] by June 1917 he was a Lieutenant-Colonel in command of XCI Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, serving in 20th (Light) Division on the Western Front.[8] He was appointed Commander, Royal Artillery, (CRA) of Guards Division on 12 June 1917 with the rank of Temporary Brigadier-General. He commanded the Guards Divisional Artillery through the Battle of Passchendaele, the German spring offensive and the Allies' victorious Hundred Days Offensive until the end of the war.[9][10] His service in the war led to the award of the Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George[11] and the Légion d'honneur.[12]

After the war he became CRA for Eastern Command for which service he was awarded the Companion of the Order of the Bath.[13]

Personal life

In 1903, he married Mabel Crosfield, with whom he had a son and a daughter. He died in 1954 at his home near Farnham, Surrey.[7]

References

  1. ↑ "No. 26640". The London Gazette. 5 July 1895. p. 3818.
  2. ↑ "Francis Adrian Wilson". Anglo-Boer War. Retrieved 5 November 2025.
  3. ↑ "No. 27459". The London Gazette. 29 July 1902. pp. 4835–4839.
  4. ↑ "No. 27359". The London Gazette. 27 September 1901. p. 6308.
  5. ↑ "The Army in South Africa - Troops returning home". The Times. No. 36852. London. 21 August 1902. p. 5.
  6. 1 2 Monthly Army List, August 1914.
  7. 1 2 "Maj.-Gen. F. A. Wilson". The Times. 7 May 1954. p. 11.
  8. ↑ 20th Divisional Artillery War Diary May–June 1917, The National Archives (TNA), Kew, file WO 95/2101/2.]
  9. ↑ Lt-Col Cuthbert Headlam, History of the Guards Division in the Great War 1915–1918, London: John Murray, 1924/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2001, Vol 1: ISBN 978-1-84342-321-8; Vol 2: 978-1-84342-322-5.
  10. ↑ Maj A.F. Becke,History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 1: The Regular British Divisions, London: HM Stationery Office, 1934/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007, ISBN 1-847347-38-X.
  11. ↑ "No. 29886". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 1916. p. 4.
  12. ↑ "No. 30431". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 December 1917. p. 13206.
  13. ↑ "No. 33280". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 May 1927. p. 3605.
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