John Wilsey

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

Army career Educated at Sherborne School, John Wilsey was commissioned into the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment in 1959. He served in Northern Ireland between 1976 and 1977, where he was mentioned in despatches. He was also given the colonelcy of the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment in 1990, holding the position until 1998.

Wilsey went on to become General Officer Commanding Northern Ireland from 1990 to 1993. In 1994 he was appointed Aide de Camp General to the Queen.

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.

Later career 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.

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

He died on 25 September 2019 at the age of 80.