Sir Arthur Knyvet Wilson

HE FOUGHT AT CLOSE QUARTERS TO DEFEND A NAVAL GUN AT EL-TEB.

Arthur Knyvet Wilson was born at Swaffham, Norfolk, on 4 March 1842 and entered the Royal Navy in 1855. As a midshipman he saw active service during the Crimean War and the Second Opium War. Later, his technical work in torpedoes and naval tactics helped shape a career that combined operational command with the development of new weapons and fleet doctrine.

Wilson commanded the torpedo depot ship HMS Hecla during the bombardment of Alexandria in 1882. Two years later, still in command of Hecla, he landed with the force sent to relieve Tokar in Sudan. At the Battle of El-Teb on 29 February 1884, he joined the Naval Brigade’s right half-battery in place of a mortally wounded officer. When attackers charged the sailors hauling a Gardner gun, Wilson moved to the front and fought them at close quarters, helping protect the gun crew. Wounded, he remained with the battery for the rest of the day. The action earned him the Victoria Cross.

Wilson continued to rise through the Royal Navy, commanding the Channel and Home fleets and serving as Controller of the Navy and Third Sea Lord. Promoted Admiral of the Fleet in 1907, he became First Sea Lord in January 1910 and held the office until 1911. After retirement, he returned to the Admiralty in 1914 to advise during the First World War, working without an official post or salary until 1918. He received the Order of Merit in 1912 and inherited the baronetcy in 1919. He died at Swaffham on 25 May 1921.

VICTORIA CROSS CITATION SUMMARY

The London Gazette records that, at El-Teb, Wilson replaced a mortally wounded officer with the Naval Brigade’s gun battery. When enemy fighters charged the detachment hauling a Gardner gun, he engaged them at close quarters, protecting his men. Although wounded, he remained with the battery through the day.

Sources: War Office. “The Victoria Cross: Captain Arthur Knyvet Wilson, Royal Navy.” The London Gazette, no. 25356, 21 May 1884, p. 2277. Bell, Archibald Colquhoun. “Wilson, Sir Arthur Knyvet.” Dictionary of National Biography, 1927 Supplement.