Sergeant 'Tug' Wilson   WW2 Hero - 2nd/7th Middlesex Regiment 

When his unit was sent abroad in May 1943 to fight in the Italian campaign, few would have realised that Sergeant Wilson was never to see Tottenham again.  He was killed on the Anzio Beachhead, Italy, on the 19th February 1944 in a brave bid to rescue from captivity the soldiers from another neighbouring Middlesex platoon who were being led away to captivity. It was one of the few stories my dad told me about, as he was there at the time, urging his sergeant not to leave the trench. 

John Mc Loughlin

Sergeant Walker´s (8 Platoon) memories, 26th October 1988 & 23rd August 1998
The Death of Sergeant “Tug” Wilson

So our platoon was cut off, the Germans isolated us. Jerry kept firing across our position. And we just fired back. But at this stage we hadn't got much ammunition left. We'd only about a couple of belts to each gun, if that by the end. Maybe one belt, some hadn't got any belts, any ammunition. So we just sat and stood fast, with whatever ammunition we had, a rifle, or whatever guns we had.

Sergeant Walker from Knutsford, Cheshire

October 1981, 20th April 1982 and other times in the 1980–82 period

There were about four or five of us left in this trench. The Germans had gone to the left and right of us and got behind us. We were cut off. And the Germans had broken through the platoon near us, 7 Platoon. There was no communication between our platoon and the next. This sergeant, I can´t remember his name, was all for going out to see what had happened, to try and contact another unit of ours. “Don´t be a c*#t,” I shouted, “Jerry´ll have you!”  But I couldn´t persuade him and he left the trench. His body was found later (not true, it was his grave), confirming our fears

Photo right: Sergeant Robert Wilson, complete with newly-grown moustache, Tunis late 1943. He sent this photo to his wife and wondered what she would
think of the facial hair above his lips. Lips she would never kiss again.

'Tug' Wilson - Tunis Summer 1943

Dear Mrs Wilson,
We were all saddened when we heard that your husband had been killed as we also hoped that he had been taken prisoner. It must have been a bitter disappointment and blow to you and all our sympathies are with you.

As regards his personal things, I have made exhaustive enquiries without avail. You see, first he had all his things of intrinsic and sentimental value on him and when he made his very brave dash forward to endeavour to rescue some of our men who had been captured, that was the last we saw or heard of him. The trench positions which he had occupied with his platoon were badly damaged by shellfire and we lost a certain amount of personal and platoon kit and I am afraid some of his must have been lost with it. I can assure you that every bit of personal belongings which one could get hold of was always sent to the War Office for onward transmission; but the war at that particular time on the beachhead had reached a peak of intensity and was very critical with the inevitable amount of confusion which exists even in the best regulated battles.

On this morning we had been heavily attacked by `Jerry´. On the left of us one of our other platoons had been overrun and captured and we were watching them being taken away, some of our boys wounded, some even on stretchers. Well, Bob nearly went crazy with temper and said he was going out to get them in, and I can assure you, our efforts to stop him were in vain. I ordered my two guns to put down covering fire for him, and when he was about a hundred yards away from them, we had to stop firing because `Jerry´ had put up his Red Cross flags, against which we are not allowed to fire (Geneva Con Act). Bob still continued to walk towards them but came to a gully and disappeared from my view, but I am certain at that time he had not been hurt. My reason for saying this is that I got permission from my officer to go
out and look for Bob. I crawled out as far as the gully and I am sure Bob was not there. Whether he was taken prisoner I don´t know. This is truth what I write because I watched him leave the line and disappear from view.

Sergeant Ernie Eden

8 Platoon

Middlesex Regiment

REGIMENTAL CAP BADGES OF THE 'MIDDLESEX' REGIMENT

The Family Of Sergeant Robert ‘Tug’ Wilson

The platoon to the left of my dad´s and Sgt. Wilson´s platoon was 7 Platoon. Most of them were captured, several killed and wounded.

This photo is of Sergeant Wilson, his wife Jessie and children Peggie and Bob

HISTORICAL INFORMATION

The battle for Anzio was one of the bloodiest battles fought in WW2. On the 3rd September 1943 the Allies invaded the Italian mainland, the invasion coinciding with an armistice made with the Italians who then re-entered the war on the Allied side. Progress through southern Italy was rapid despite stiff resistance, but by the end of October, the Allies were facing the German winter defensive position known as the Gustav Line, which stretched from the River Garigliano in the west to the Sangro in the east. Initial attempts to breach the western end of the line were unsuccessful. Operations in January 1944 landed troops behind the German lines at Anzio, but defences were well organised and a breakthrough was not actually achieved until May. The war cemetery at Anzio contains nearly 1100 commonwealth soldiers of the Second World War including that of Sergeant Robert William 'Tug' Wilson.