Walter Gordon Wilson
Major Walter Gordon Wilson (1874–1957) was an engineer and member of the British Royal Naval Air Service. He was credited by the 1919 Royal Commission on Awards to Inventors as the co-inventor of the tank, along with Sir William Tritton.[1]
Walter was born in Blackrock, County Dublin on 21 April 1874. He was a naval cadet on HMS Britannia. In 1894 he entered King's College, Cambridge, where he studied the mechanical sciences tripos, graduating with a first class degree B.A. in 1897.[2]. Wilson acted as 'mechanic' for the Hon C.S. Rolls on several occasions while they were undergraduates in Cambridge.
Interested in powered flight he collaborated with Percy Sinclair Pilcher and the Hon Adrian Verney-Cave (heir to the 5th Lord Braye) to attempt to make an aero-engine from 1898. After Pilcher was killed in a gliding accident, Wilson built the Wilson–Pilcher motor car which used epicyclic gears. After marrying, he joined Armstrong-Whitworth to design their car. This was followed by a lorry for the Hall company of Dartford. The sole known surviving Wilson-Pilcher car is maintained in Derby by the Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust.
With the outbreak of the First World War, Wilson rejoined the navy and the Royal Navy Armoured Car Division, which protected the Royal Naval Air Service in France. When the Admiralty began investigating armoured fighting vehicles under the Landships Committee in 1915, 20 Squadron with Wilson was assigned to the experiments. Wilson worked with the agricultural engineer William Tritton resulting in the first British tank called "Little Willie".
He transferred to the British Army in 1916 becoming a Major in the Heavy Branch of the Machine Gun Corps - the embryonic Tank Corps. He was mentioned in dispatches twice and was appointed companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1917.
Designing several of the early British tanks, he incorporated epicyclic gearing which was used in the Mark V tank to allow it to be operated by a single driver rather than the four previously needed.
In 1928 he invented the Preselector gearbox, and formed Improved Gears Ltd with J D Siddeley to develop the design commercially. Improved Gears later became Self-Changing Gears Ltd. Wilson preselector gearboxes were available on most subsequent Armstrong Siddeley automobiles, manufactured up to 1960,[3] as well as on Daimler, Lanchester, Talbot, ERA, AC, Invicta and Riley automobiles as well as buses, railcars and marine launches.
His work on gears was used in many British tanks.
[edit] References
- Notes
- ^ Bovington Tank Museum
- ^ Venn, J.; Venn, J. A., eds. (1922–1958). "Wilson, Walter Gordon". Alumni Cantabrigienses (10 vols) (online ed.). Cambridge University Press.
- ^ Bill Smith: Armstrong Siddeley Motors; Veloce, Dorchester, UK, 2006
- Bibliography
- Wilson, A.Gordon (1986). Walter Wilson: Portrait of an Inventor. ISBN 0-7156-2127-0. http://www.fernhouse.com/book-pages/walterwilson.html.
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