| Arthur Knyvet Wilson |
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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 . 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 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 Fleet s. 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 . His full medal list runs as follows:
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This page has been from the Victoria Cross Reference with permission. |
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