SIR ARTHUR WILSON.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXII, Issue 67, 14 March 1912, Page 5

SIR ARTHUR WILSON.

The fleet has its favourite stories of its great sailors, and one of these most repeated is that told of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Arthur Wilson and the manoeuvres of his fleet off Lagos, andr retold/hv--'MivC. E. W. Bean, of Sydney, in his book “With the Flagship.” Of the work of the manoeuvres it is told:—“It was carried out Under a man that retired a year (how two years) ago; a'man that had a horror of advertisement, a man of whom nine-tenths of ns have never heard; a man of whom you will he told more in a wardroom than of all the rest of the powers that he put together; a man that was beyond all question the greatest sailor since Nelson ; a man that a fair part of the service believes the greatest seaman that over was; a. man who in the manoeuvres, year after year, since the later 80’s, when he took his fleet unseen into an Irish' harbour through the very midst of a blockading fleet, has invariably found by some strange instinct the one thing to he done,and has always done it;, the man and the only man who has handled immense modern fleets as though they were a four-in-hand, pulled them, tugged them, swung them within a biscuit-toss of each other’s rams, apparently by sheer intuition; the man who has drilled them, dressed them down, sweated and thrashed them, stopped their leave and cut short their holidays till they ended by almost worshipping him ; a man who did not praise overmuch, but whose praise was worth getting.” It is said that he refused to go to the Admiralty because there was a retiring age, and he had come to it. He was made an Admiral of the Fleet, and that put oft' the retiring age another five years. Sir Arthur Wilson entered the Navy in 1855 at the age of 13 years. He saw service in the Black Sea during the Russian war, and in the Chinese war. He was captain of the Hecla at the bombardment of Alexandria, and was present with the Naval Brigade at the battle of El Teh in the Soudan on February 29th, 1884. The act of gallantry for which Sir A. Wilson has been brought to notice was described hy Sir Redvers Bnller as one of the most courageous ho ever witnessed. There was a gap in the square, and five or six of the enemy seeing it rushed forward, attempting to pierce the ranks. Then Captain Wilson advanced to meet them alone, and breaking his sword in his effort to cut one cf them down, would not retire a step, hut held his ground, knocking them down with his fists. Either by a miracle of the surprising nature of his attack, lie escaped with a few wounds, the square closing up and rescuing him. For his bravery he was awarded the V.C. Sir Arthur W'ilson attained flag rank in 1895.