Major General Ronald Dare Wilson, CBE, MC (3 August 1919 – 15 August 2014) was a senior British Army officer, author, and

park warden A ranger, park ranger, park warden, or forest ranger is a law enforcement person entrusted with protecting and preserving parklands – national, state, provincial, or local parks. Description "Parks" may be broadly defined by some systems in thi ...

. He was decorated during World War II, commanded 22 Special Air Service Regiment in the early 1960s and ended his military career as Director of Army Aviation. He was instrumental in introducing

attack helicopters An attack helicopter is an armed helicopter with the primary role of an attack aircraft, with the offensive capability of engaging ground targets such as enemy infantry, military vehicles and fortifications. Due to their heavy armament they ...

and high-altitude military parachuting to the British military. In retirement, he served as the National Park Officer (equivalent to Chief executive) of Exmoor National Park.

Early life

Wilson was born on 3 August 1919 in Burnopfield, County Durham, England. He was the eldest son of four children, two girls and two boys, born to Sydney Wilson. His father was the chairman of a coal company and an unsuccessful Conservative Party candidate for Parliament. He was educated at Shrewsbury School and

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

to study economics. However, he did not complete his degree as his studies were interrupted by the outbreak of World War II.

Military career

At the outbreak of World War II, Wilson joined the British Army. He was commissioned into the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers on 29 November 1939 as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

, with his service number being 96170. His first posting was as a scout car

platoon commander {{unreferenced, date=February 2013 A platoon leader ( NATO) or platoon commander (more common in Commonwealth militaries and the US Marine Corps) is the officer in charge of a platoon. This person is usually a junior officer – a second or ...

. In March 1940, he was posted to France with the 8th (Motorcycle) Battalion. He was involved in the unsuccessful fight against the German

blitzkrieg Blitzkrieg ( , ; from 'lightning' + 'war') is a word used to describe a surprise attack using a rapid, overwhelming force concentration that may consist of armored and motorized or mechanized infantry formations, together with close air su ...

and was evacuated from Dunkirk. Based in the United Kingdom, he served as an instructor at the 3rd Division Battle School. On 14 January 1941, he transferred to the Reconnaissance Corps. He attended the Middle East Staff College in Haifa in

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

and then joined the Eighth Army as a staff officer. During August 1944, he was served as a liaison officer in Italy during the Italian Campaign. During this posting, and while reporting on enemy movement on the

Gothic Line The Gothic Line (german: Gotenstellung; it, Linea Gotica) was a German Defense line, defensive line of the Italian Campaign (World War II), Italian Campaign of World War II. It formed Generalfeldmarschall, Field Marshal Albert Kesselring's la ...

, he came into contact with General Sir Harold Alexander and

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

who had come up to survey the front. In September 1944, he returned to regimental duties and was given command of a squadron in the

3rd (Royal Northumberland Fusiliers) Reconnaissance Regiment The 3rd Reconnaissance Regiment (NF) was a regiment of the Reconnaissance Corps, which was itself part of the Royal Armoured Corps, raised by the British Army during the Second World War. It was originally raised as the 8th Battalion, Royal Nort ...

. He did not take part in the Normandy landings but was involved in the allied advance from Paris to the Rhine that followed. While holding the rank of war substantive

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, he was promoted to lieutenant on 17 January 1945 with seniority from 3 February 1942. This was later changed to seniority from 3 March 1941. In October 1945, he was posted to the Palestine and was appointed officer commanding a squadron of the 6th Airborne Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment. He was promoted to captain on 1 July 1946. He then worked in the headquarters of the 6th Airborne Division. Near the end of the British Mandate, he commanded a company of the

1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment The 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment (1 PARA), is a battalion of the British Army's Parachute Regiment. Along with various other regiments and corps from across the British Armed Forces, it is part of Special Forces Support Group. A specia ...

. The Mandate ended in 1948 and he returned to the United Kingdom. He was then commissioned to write a history of 6th Airborne Division in Palestine from 1945 to 1948 which was published under the title ''Cordon and Search''. After completing the book, he was posted to Germany where he once more commanded a company of the 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment.

Honours and decorations

On 19 April 1945, Wilson was awarded the Military Cross (MC) 'in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in North West Europe'. It was awarded for his actions while leading a patrol across the River Maas, near

Nijmegen Nijmegen (;; Spanish and it, Nimega. Nijmeegs: ''Nimwèège'' ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and tenth largest of the Netherlands as a whole, located on the Waal river close to the German border. It is about 6 ...

, Netherlands, on the night of 27 January 1945. They had been ordered to take an enemy soldier prisoner and bring him back across the river for interrogation. However, they found themselves under attack and out numbered. Wilson led the defence and after an hour-long skirmish, they had defeated the enemy and taken three prisoners with no casualties on the Allied side. He was

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

on 14 February 1946 'in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in the field'. He was awarded a number of medals for service during World War II; the 1939–45 Star, the Italy Star, the

France and Germany Star The France and Germany Star is a military campaign medal, instituted by the United Kingdom in May 1945 for award to British Commonwealth forces who served in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands or Germany and adjacent sea areas betwe ...

, the Defence Medal, and the War Medal 1939–1945. On 7 January 1949, he was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) 'in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in Palestine during the period 27 March 1946 and 26 September 1946'. He was also awarded the General Service Medal with Palestine 1945–48

clasp Clasp, clasper or CLASP may refer to: * Wrist clasp, a dressing accessory * Folding clasp, a device used to close a watch strap * Medal bar, an element in military decoration * Fastener, a hardware device that mechanically joins objects together * ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Dare 1919 births 2014 deaths Military personnel from County Durham British Army major generals British Army personnel of World War II British military personnel of the Palestine Emergency Commanders of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Shrewsbury School People from Burnopfield Recipients of the Military Cross Reconnaissance Corps officers Royal Northumberland Fusiliers officers Special Air Service officers Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge British Parachute Regiment officers British Army Air Corps officers British Army personnel of the Korean War