John Wilsey

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For the major-general, see John Harold Owen Wilsey.

Sir John Wilsey
Nickname(s)Gregory Peck[1]
Born(1939-02-18)18 February 1939
Died25 September 2019(2019-09-25) (aged 80)
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchBritish Army
Years of service1959–1996
RankGeneral
Service number461522
UnitDevonshire and Dorset Regiment
Commands heldLand Command
UK Land Forces
Northern Ireland
1st Infantry Brigade
1st Battalion, Devonshire and Dorset Regiment
Battles/warsOperation Banner
AwardsKnight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Mentioned in Despatches
RelationsJohn Harold Owen Wilsey (father)
Other workAuthor

General Sir John Finlay Willasey Wilsey, GCB, CBE, DL (18 February 1939 – 25 September 2019) was a British Army officer who served as Commander-in-Chief, Land Forces.

Army career[edit]

Educated at Sherborne School, John Wilsey was commissioned into the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment in 1959.[2] He served in Northern Ireland between 1976 and 1977, where he was mentioned in despatches.[2] In 1978 he attended the Staff College, Camberley. He was commanding officer of the 1st Battalion Devonshire and Dorset Regiment from 1979 to 1982.[2] He commanded the 1st Infantry Brigade from 1984 to 1986,[2] was chief of staff UK Land Forces from 1988 to 1989,[2] and made Colonel Commandant of the Army Catering Corps in 1990.[3] He was also given the colonelcy of the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment in 1990, holding the position until 1998.[4]

Wilsey went on to become General Officer Commanding Northern Ireland from 1990 to 1993.[2] It was in this capacity that he oversaw the merger between the Ulster Defence Regiment and the Royal Irish Rangers to form the Royal Irish Regiment. In 1993 he was appointed Joint Commander of Operations in the Former Republic of Yugoslavia,[2] and relinquished his post over the Army Catering Corps in favour of the position of Colonel Commandant of the Royal Logistic Corps.[5] In 1994 he was appointed Aide de Camp General to the Queen.[6]

Wilsey served as the last Commander in Chief, UK Land Forces from 1993 to 1995, with the acting rank of general, and was then the first Commander-in-Chief, Land Command from 1995 to 1996.[2] He was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in the 1996 New Year Honours.[7]

Later career[edit]

Wilsey was the author of H. Jones VC: The Life and Death of an Unusual Hero, a book about his friend Lieutenant Colonel H. Jones who was killed in the Falklands War. He also became Chairman of Western Provident Association and Vice-Chairman of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.[8][9]

Having settled in southern Wiltshire, in July 1996 he was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of the county.[10]

He died on 25 September 2019 at the age of 80.[11][12]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Wilsey, John Finlay Willasey (g 57)". The Old Shirburnian Society. 3 October 2019. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Debrett's People of Today 1994
  3. ^ "No. 52382". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1990. p. 2.
  4. ^ "Devonshire and Dorset Regiment". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 25 February 2007. Retrieved 2 February 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  5. ^ "No. 53271". The London Gazette (Supplement). 13 April 1993. p. 6486.
  6. ^ "No. 53710". The London Gazette (Supplement). 21 June 1994. p. 8914.
  7. ^ "No. 54255". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 1995. p. 2.
  8. ^ Biography at Random House books Archived 22 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ "Wilsey, Gen. Sir John (Finlay Willasey), (born 18 Feb. 1939), DL; Chairman, Western Provident Association, 1996–2009", Who's Who, Oxford University Press, 1 December 2007, doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.40171, retrieved 22 March 2024
  10. ^ London Gazette, 22 July 1996, page 9843 Archived 11 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine (Commissions signed by the Lord Lieutenant of the County of Wiltshire on 12 July 1996)
  11. ^ "General Sir John Wilsey obituary". The Times. 30 September 2019. (registration required)
  12. ^ "General Sir John Wilsey, highly skilled Army officer whose flair for covert operations was amply demonstrated during the Troubles – obituary". The Telegraph. 21 October 2019. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 22 March 2024.

Further reading[edit]

  • Wilsey, John, H.Jones VC: The Life and Death of an Unusual Hero, Arrow Books, 2003 ISBN 978-0-09-943669-0
Military offices
Preceded by General Officer Commanding the British Army in Northern Ireland
1990–1993 		Succeeded by
Commander in Chief, UK Land Forces
1993–1995 		Post discontinued
New command Commander-in-Chief, Land Command
1995–1996 		Succeeded by
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