Theodore Percival Cameron Wilson
Lieutenant
n/a
Regiment
General List attached 10th Battalion, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire
Enlisted
n/a
Born
Paignton, Devon
Resided
n/a
Killed in action
23rd March 1918 aged 30
Commemorated
on the Arras Memorial
Additional information
Son of the Rev. Theodore Cameron Wilson and Annie Fredeline Wilson, of The Vicarage, Little Eaton, Derby.
Wilson was almost an unknown poet - his 'Magpies in Picardy' and other war verse was published but attracted little or no attention. Wilson's work was rescued from the oblivion of many years when Field Marshal Lord Wavell included some of the poets verse in his own war time anthology.
1911 Census
A schoolmaster
Living and working at the Mount Arlington School, Hindhead, Surrey
TP Cameron Wilson was born in Devon in 1888. His father was a vicar who moved to Little Eaton. About 1910 Wilson became a teacher at a preparatory school. He began writing poems and short stories and in 1914 he joined the armed forces and continued writing poems that reflected his experiences in the war. One of his best known poems was “The Magpies of Picardy”, the first verse of which is reproduced below. He rose to the rank of Captain in the Sherwood Foresters and was killed at Hermies, France in 1918, a month before his thirtieth birthday. Like most of the men listed he has no known grave.
“Magpies of Picardy”
The magpies in Picardy
Are more than I can tell
They flicker down the dusty roads
And cast a magic spell
On the men who march through Picardy
Through Picardy to Hell
Another particularly poignant poem by Wilson is produced in its entirety below. It is called “Sportsmen in Paradise”
They left the fury of the fight
And they were very tired
The gates of Heaven were open quite
Unguarded and unwired
There was no sound of any gun
The land was still and green
Wide hills lay silent in the sun
Blue valleys slept between
They saw far off a little wood
Stand up against the sky
Knee deep in grass a great tree stood
Some lazy cows went by
There were some rooks sailed overhead
And once a church bell pealed
“God but it’s England” someone said
“And there’s a cricket field !”
If you wish to access more of Wilson’s poetry google TP Cameron Wilson and this will lead you to a number of web sites which feature it.