In 1967 he was promoted to
major and was appointed a
Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1971. 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. Shortly after, he emigrated to the
United States with his wife and largely retreated from public view. Wilson turned to publishing travel books under his name Mathew Wilson (see
Literature section below). From 1983 to 1985 Wilson was managing director of
Wilderness Foundation UK, a
nonprofit organization that provides the opportunity to its seminar participants to experience
nature and
wilderness. ==Personal life==