| Intro | Rhodesian air marshal (1921-2014) | ||||
| Is |
Politician Military officer |
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| From |
Australia Zimbabwe |
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| Type |
Military Politics |
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| Gender | male | ||||
| Death |
4 July 2014, Pinjarra Hills, Australia |
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| Star sign | Taurus | ||||
| Politics | Rhodesian Front | ||||
| Awards |
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Air Marshal Archibald Oliver Garfield Wilson ICD OBE DFC (USA) (May 1921 – 4 July 2014), commonly Archie Wilson, was a Rhodesian fighter pilot who served in the Royal Air Force during World War II. He went on to become a senior commander and then Air Marshal in the Rhodesian Air Force in the 1960s and early 1970s. After retirement, he served two terms in the Rhodesian House of Assembly. He later served in the Zimbabwe-Rhodesian Parliament Upper House in 1979 and then in the Zimbabwe Parliament in 1980. He held four cabinet portfolios. He resigned in 1982 to emigrate, with his wife Lorna, to Australia’s Gold Coast in 1982. He became a citizen of Australia in 1988.
Air force career
Wilson joined the Southern Rhodesian Air Force in 1939. He served in World War II as a pilot and then as Officer Commanding No. 238 Squadron from 1943. After the War he held command positions in Southern Rhodesian Air Force (later the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland Air Force, the Royal Rhodesian Air Force and the Rhodesian Air Force). Wilson was involved in directing the Rhodesian counter-insurgency operations in Nyasaland, the Aden Protectorate, Zambia and Rhodesia. From 1968 to 1973 he was Rhodesian Chief of the Air Staff when he was the architect of the restructured Rhodesian Air Force. He retired from Air Force service in 1973.
Politics
As a member of Ian Smith’s Rhodesian Front, Wilson was elected to the House of Assembly as the member for Arundel at the Rhodesian general election in 1974. He retained his seat during the 1977 general election.