Robert Wilson (Royal Artillery officer), Date of Birth, Date of Death
TweetRobert Wilson (Royal Artillery officer)
Date of Birth: 04-Nov-1911
Date of Death: 01-Jan-0001
Profession: military personnel
Zodiac Sign: Scorpio 
About Robert Wilson (Royal Artillery officer)
- Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Wilson (4 November 1911 – April 2002) was a British Army officer of the Second World War.
- He escaped twice from captivity having been taken prisoner of war. Wilson worked as a draughtsman for the Bristol Aeroplane Company and served as a gunner in the Territorial Army, before commissioning into the 5th Survey Regiment of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 2 September 1939.
- He served in the Battle of France with the 3rd Survey Regiment, Royal Artillery before being evacuated from Dunkirk.
- In November 1940 he joined a 'Folbot' section of No.
- 8 (Guards) Commando and saw service in the Middle East.
- In April 1941 he was a founder member of Roger Courtney's Special Boat Service (SBS) and participated in operation in the Mediterranean and North Africa.
- In February 1942 he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his role in six SBS raids in Egypt and Libya.
- In September 1942 he was captured during an operation in Italy and was marked for transportation to a German prisoner of war camp, but successfully escaped at Modena station.
- Wilson was recaptured in Rome on 8 January 1944 and held at Stalag IV-B.
- He was later transferred to Oflag VIII-F and then to Oflag 79, which was liberated by US forces on 12 April 1945.
- On 20 December 1945 he was awarded a Bar to his DSO is recognition for his actions during and after his capture.Between February 1946 and September 1947, Wilson served as Battery Commander, 66th Airborne Anti-Tank Regiment Royal Artillery in Palestine.
- He then returned to UK and served as a Battery Commander in heavy anti-aircraft and light anti-aircraft regiments and then as a Staff Officer Royal Artillery at the Army Air Transport Development Centre.
- From 1951 to 1953 Wilson was a Battery Commander in the 14th Regiment Royal Artillery, and served in the Korean War.
- On 24 April 1953 he was Mentioned in Dispatches.
- Between 1953 and 1956 he was Second-in-Command of the 38th Training Regiment RA in North Wales, before serving as Commanding Officer of the 37th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment RA in Malta.
- Wilson retired from the regular army in April 1958 with the rank of lieutenant colonel. Wilson was the subject of a 1985 book by Rex Woods, called Special Commando : the wartime adventures of Lt-Col Robert Wilson, DSO and Bar.
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