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|unit = |battles = World War II *Middle Eastern theatre *Syrian campaign *Battle of Merdjayoun *South West Pacific theatre *Salamaua-Lae campaign |awards = |laterwork= Diplomat }} General Sir John Gordon Noel Wilton, (22 November 1910 – 10 May 1981) was a senior commander in the Australian Army. He served as Chief of the General Staff (CGS), the Army's professional head, from 1963 until 1966, and as Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (CCOSC), forerunner of the role of Australia's Chief of the Defence Force, from 1966 until 1970. His eight-year tenure as senior officer of first the Army and then the Australian military spanned almost the entire period of the nation's involvement in the Vietnam War. Born in Sydney, Wilton entered the Royal Military College, Duntroon, in 1927. Owing to lack of opportunity in the Australian military at the time, he took a commission in the British Army following his graduation in 1930. He spent most of the remainder of the decade with the Royal Artillery in India. Wilton returned to Australia on the eve of World War II and was commissioned into the Royal Australian Artillery. He saw action with the 7th Division in Syria and the 3rd Division in New Guinea, earning a mention in despatches in the former campaign and the Distinguished Service Order in the latter. Finishing the war a temporary colonel, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1947. Wilton was posted to Korea in 1953 to take command of the 28th Commonwealth Brigade, leading it in its final action of the war in July. He was raised to Commander of the Order of the British Empire and awarded the US Legion of Merit for his performance in Korea. Wilton was promoted to major general in 1957 and became Commandant of Duntroon. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1962 and made CGS the following January, with the rank of lieutenant general. As CGS he oversaw a reorganisation of the Army's divisional structure, the reintroduction of conscription, and deployments during the Indonesia–Malaysia ''Konfrontasi'' and the Vietnam War. Knighted in 1964, he handed over the position of CGS in May 1966 and was appointed CCOSC. In this role he had overall responsibility for Australia's forces in Vietnam, and worked to achieve an integrated defence organisation, including a tri-services academy, a joint intelligence group, and the amalgamation of separate government departments for the Army, Navy and Air Force. Wilton was promoted to general in September 1968, and retired from the military in November 1970. He served as Consul-General to the United States in 1973–75, and died in 1981, aged seventy. ==Early career== John Wilton was born in Sydney on 22 November 1910, the second of two sons to English migrants Noel and Muriel Wilton. Noel was an electrical engineer, and moved with his family to Hobart in 1915 to take up employment with the Tasmanian Hydro Electric Department.〔Horner, ''Strategic Command'', pp. 1–3〕 Attending various schools, John and his brother Maurice lived in Sydney for a time with Muriel following their parents' separation in 1917, before Noel brought them back to Hobart in 1921.〔Horner, ''Strategic Command'', p. 5〕 In 1923 he moved with them to Grafton, New South Wales, where he managed the Clarence River County Council.〔Horner, ''Strategic Command'', p. 7〕 John attended Grafton High School, where he attained his leaving certificate.〔Horner, ''Strategic Command'', pp. 8–10〕 Considered by family to be a "loner", "a clear thinker", and a "quite, determined, achiever", he entered the Royal Military College, Duntroon, in February 1927, aged sixteen.〔〔McNeill, "General Sir John Wilton", pp. 318–319〕 Early on he was subjected to the usual bastardisation handed out to younger cadets by seniors, but was not known to inflict the same treatment on juniors once he reached the senior class. Although somewhat aloof from his fellows, he did well in team sports such as rugby and hockey, as well as swimming and diving.〔 Second academically in his class of twelve, Wilton graduated from Duntroon on 9 December 1930. By 1930, the effects of the Great Depression had reduced the opportunities for Duntroon graduates.〔 Only four of Wilton's classmates joined the Australian Military Forces, while four transferred to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and four to the British Army. Wilton was among the last-mentioned, taking a commission as a second lieutenant in the Royal Artillery, with seniority from 22 November 1930.〔 Seeking active duty, he requested a posting to India, and sailed with the 6th Field Brigade to Bombay in November 1931.〔Horner, ''Strategic Command'', pp. 27–28〕 He spent the next three years based at Fyzabad, near the Nepalese border. Promoted to lieutenant in November 1933, he undertook training and exercises with his battery, and learned to speak Urdu, but saw no action.〔Horner, ''Strategic Command'', pp. 29, 33–35〕 In February 1935 he was posted to Burma, joining the 10th (Abbottabad) Battery of the Indian Mountain Artillery at Maymyo, near Mandalay.〔Horner, ''Strategic Command'', pp. 36–38〕 According to biographer David Horner, Wilton's "first taste of excitement" was in April 1935, when he joined the hunt for a rogue tiger and shot the animal as it attacked and mauled one of his companions.〔Horner, ''Strategic Command'', pp. 39–40〕 In November he saw operational service with his unit in skirmishes with local tribesmen in the Wa State of northern Burma, on the Chinese border.〔〔Horner, ''Strategic Command'', pp. 40–43〕 After eight months extended leave in 1936, and a posting to the Indian Army Ordnance Corps, Wilton briefly returned to Australia to marry Helen Marshall on 9 July 1938 at St. Andrew's Church in Summer Hill, New South Wales.〔〔Horner, ''Strategic Command'', pp. 45–49〕 John had met Helen, then a nurse, on a double date in Sydney while he was in his last year at Duntroon; the couple had two sons and a daughter.〔〔Horner, ''Strategic Command'', p. 20〕 On the same trip home he was invited to transfer to the Australian military, and accepted.〔 Promoted to captain in December 1938, Wilton saw out his British service with a coastal battery in Karachi, and was commissioned into the Royal Australian Artillery on 26 May 1939.〔〔 His service with the British Army in India and Burma had afforded him regimental experience that he could never have gained in Australia, as well as an understanding of mountainous and tropical conditions that would benefit him in years to come.〔〔Horner, ''Strategic Command'', pp. 36, 47〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「John Wilton (general)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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