Allegiance United Kingdom Battles and wars World War II Years of service 1936-1956 | Battles/wars Second World War Rank Major general Name John Owen | |
Commands held 9th Bn Worcestershire Regiment7th Duke of Wellington's Regiment53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division5th Infantry Brigade2nd Division Awards Order of the Bath, Order of the British Empire, Distinguished Service Order | ||
Major-General John Harold Owen Wilsey CB CBE DSO (1904 – 20 July 1961) was a senior British Army officer who fought in World War II and commanded the 2nd Division.
Military career
Wilsey was educated at Haileybury and later attended the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, where he was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the British Army's Dorset Regiment and then transferred into the Worcestershire Regiment in 1936.
He served in the Second World War as Commanding Officer (CO) of the 9th Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment in Northern Ireland and Southeast England and then as CO of the 7th Battalion, Duke of Wellington's Regiment during the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944 before taking command of 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division for the campaign in North West Europe.
After the war he took command of the 5th Infantry Brigade in 1949, became Director of Infantry in 1951 and Director of Staff Duties at the War Office in 1953. His last appointment was as General Officer Commanding (GOC) 2nd Division from 1954 before retiring from the army in 1956.
In retirement he lived at Maufant Manor in St. Saviour on Jersey.