Tony Wilson

Brigadier Sir Mathew John Anthony Wilson, 6th Baronet, (2 October 1935 – 5 December 2019) was a British Army officer who commanded the 5th Infantry Brigade during the Falklands War.

Early life Mathew John Anthony Wilson was born 2 October 1935 and was the son of Anthony Thomas Wilson, and Margaret Holden. His paternal grandparents were Lt. Col. Sir Mathew Richard Henry Wilson, 4th Baronet of Eshton Hall and the Hon. Barbara Lister, daughter of Thomas Lister, 4th Baron Ribblesdale.

Educated at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Wilson was commissioned into the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI) on his 21st birthday on 2 October 1956, The programme featured criticism of Wilson. It was stated that he had almost been sacked for poor and indecisive performance on a training exercise in the UK prior to deployment, and that Dwin Bramall, then Chief of the General Staff, later described the decision to retain him in command as one of the worst he had made in over forty years as a soldier. One interviewee described Wilson as a “bloody idiot” presiding over a “bloody shambles”. Julian Thompson recounted how when Wilson proposed that his brigade should walk to Fitzroy, Major John Crosland (2 Para) had replied "Brigadier, are you pissed?". Thompson further stated that "I perceive that Tony was engaged in some sort of race with 3 Commando Brigade to get his chaps there first. The thing about military setups is, everyone thinks about their own side, even people on your own side who aren't part of you are the enemy".

Later career On 31 December 1982, a little over six months after the end of the war, Wilson stepped down from all his military posts. He retired from the Army on 31 January 1983 at age 47.

Literature Wilson published the following books on travelling and sailing: Taking Terrapin Home: A Love Affair with a Small Catamaran, 1994, The Bahamas Cruising Guide with the Turks and Caicos Islands, 1997, The Land of War Elephants: Travels Beyond the Pale Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India, 2003, Seeking Havens: Travels Along a Line of Latitude 17 Degrees South in Andean Peru, Bolivia, and the South Pacific, 2006,

Wilson wrote a memoir of the Falklands War, but the publisher he submitted it to (Leo Cooper Ltd) turned it down. Wilson's time in the Falklands War was covered in a self-published military history book: The Lonesome Commander, Martin Mahle, Monsenstein und Vannerdat Münster, Germany, 2012, (original German title: Der allein gelassene Kommandeur, )