Horace Wilson (civil servant)

Son of furniture dealer Henry Wilson and Elizabeth Ann Smith, Horace John Wilson was born in Bournemouth on 23 August 1882. For his education he attended Kurnella School in the town before graduating to the London School of Economics. Joining the old Second Division of the British Civil Service in 1900, his abilities came to the notice of senior officials. During the First World War, in 1915, Wilson was made secretary to the Committee on Production and the Special Arbitration Tribunal. There he impressed with his grasp of the subject and was said to have been largely responsible for the agreements reached at the conference. He returned from Canada to an appointment as a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George. Wilson's career saw several official awards. He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1918, Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1920, Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1924, Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1933, and finally Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in 1937. He was described as “having a more powerful position in Britain than anybody since Cardinal Wolsey”. Indeed, Chamberlain's biographer Robert Self noted that the men "enjoyed the sort of unparalleled intimacy only possible among truly kindred spirits." ==Appeasement==

in a car, Godesburg, 22 or 23 September 1938 10 March 1938 saw Wilson meet with , the counsellor at Germany's London Embassy. Wilson stated his pleasure at hearing that Adolf Hitler had referred to England and Germany as "two pillars upon which the European social order could rest". Wilson expanded the metaphor by expressing his wish "that an arch of co-operation should be erected on these two pillars". He also expressed his hope that Germany would succeed in fulfilling her goals regarding Austria and Czechoslovakia "as much as possible without the use of force". On 15 September 1938, Prime Minister Chamberlain left for Germany to negotiate with Hitler regarding the disputed territory of the Sudetenland. He was accompanied on this mission by Wilson in what was his first diplomatic mission. Sir Harold Nicolson described the pair and their mission as "the bright faithfulness of two curates entering a pub for the first time". Wilson later stated in 1962 that, "Our policy was never designed just to postpone war, or enable us to enter war more united. The aim of our appeasement was to avoid war altogether, for all time." ==Later career and retirement==

Just after the outbreak of war, John Colville joined the Downing Street staff as Chamberlain's Private Secretary in October 1939. Colville noted that Chamberlain seldom took action without Wilson's advice. Colville also felt that "he came to believe himself as infallible as the prime minister thought him to be". Labour Party leader Clement Attlee also commented that during Chamberlain's premiership Wilson "had a hand in everything, ran everything". However, Chamberlain's sister Hilda observed that her brother used Wilson purely as a messenger and knew his own mind. Wilson himself refuted the idea that he exercised power and felt himself to be merely a "chopping block" for the Prime Minister's ideas.) should Churchill see him at Downing Street again. Some sources have this occurring on the day of the accession, 10 May 1940, while others give 11 May. There is also some disagreement as to whether it was Churchill's son Randolph and Brendan Bracken who made the remark or a quip by Churchill himself. Wilson reverted to his role as Permanent Secretary to the Treasury until August 1942 when he retired, having reached the age of 60, then the pensionable age for the Civil Service. In January 1944 Wilson was appointed by the Minister of Health to act as Chairman of the National Joint Council for Local Authorities' Administrative, Professional, Technical and Clerical Services. The council was engaged in matters of pay and conditions of those in local government as well as supervision of recruitment and training provision. Wilson spoke at a 1957 meeting in support of Nigel Nicolson MP, for the constituency of Bournemouth East and Christchurch, when the local constituency part moved to deselect him over disagreements about the Suez Crisis. Wilson told the meeting that "he was against all subservience and dictators, and all for freedom in thought and speech – even if it meant an independence which might annoy some of those in power at headquarters or locally". British journalist Leonard Mosley interviewed Wilson among numerous others for the 1969 book On Borrowed Time, about the months leading up to the outbreak of World War II. Wilson acknowledged having felt out of his depth in dealing with Nazi Germany, while Mosley remained critical of Wilson's role. It has also been reported that he showed little interest in the fate of Germany's Jews during the negotiations with Hitler. Speaking to another journalist, Colin Cross, in 1968, 23 years after end of the war, Wilson is quoted as saying that he understood Hitler's feelings about the Jews. "Have you ever met a Jew you liked?" he asked Cross. Wilson died in Bournemouth on 19 May 1972. ==In fiction==

Wilson is a key character in Michael Dobbs' novel ''Winston's War''. In the book Wilson is portrayed as an arch-manipulator who has the telephones of all potential enemies to Neville Chamberlain tapped and will use any methods he can to get rid of Winston Churchill. Wilson also appears in Jean-Paul Sartre's novel The Reprieve. Wilson is something of a MacGuffin in the alternative history writings of Harry Turtledove. In both the Southern Victory Series and The War That Came Early series, Wilson serves as Prime Minister for part of an analog of World War II. In the TV mini-series Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years (1981) Wilson is depicted by the actor Clive Swift. This film is technically "fiction" though it adheres closely to historical facts and was made with input from professional historian and biographer Martin Gilbert. The film shows Wilson holding enormous (and malign) influence in the ramp-up to war in the 1930s. A pivotal sequence of the film shows Neville Chamberlain (played by Eric Porter) and Wilson having a late-night meeting, in Wilson's office, about Wilson expanding his role in the government and becoming Chamberlain's right-hand man. Wilson does not explicitly ask for much but cannily steers Chamberlain toward what he wants. Wilson also features in Munich by Robert Harris. The book is a fiction story but set against the real Munich Conference in 1938. In the 2021 movie Munich - The Edge of War based on the book by Harris, Wilson is portrayed by Alex Jennings. ==References==