Gerald Percy Wild MBE AM ED (2 January 1907 – 11 October 1996) was an Australian politician who served as a

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

member of the Legislative Assembly of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

from 1947 to 1965. He was a minister in the governments of Sir

Ross McLarty Sir Duncan Ross McLarty, (17 March 1891 – 22 December 1962) was an Australian politician and the 17th Premier of Western Australia. Early life McLarty was born in Pinjarra, Western Australia, the youngest of seven children of Edward McLarty ...

and Sir

David Brand Sir David Brand Order of St Michael and St George, KCMG (1 August 1912 – 15 April 1979) was an Australian politician. He was the longest-serving premier of Western Australia, in office from 1959 to 1971, and was state leader of the Liberal Pa ...

, and later served as

Agent-General for Western Australia An Agent-General ( or , masculine and feminine respectively) is the representative in cities abroad of the government of a Canadian province or an Australian state and, historically, also of a British colony in Jamaica, Nigeria, Canada, Malta, ...

from 1965 to 1971.

Early life

Born on 2 January 1907, in

Chichester Chichester ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in the Chichester District, Chichester district of West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher ...

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

, to yeast merchant Edwin Percy and Alice Hilda Wild (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Heather), Wild was educated at Shoreham Grammar School. He emigrated to

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

in 1923 as one of the Barwell Boys, as part of an

assisted migration Assisted migration is "the intentional establishment of populations or meta-populations beyond the boundary of a species' historic range for the purpose of tracking suitable habitats through a period of changing climate...." It is therefore a na ...

scheme. He was initially employed as a farm apprentice at Langhorne's Creek and Loxton, and then went to work in the mines at

Broken Hill, New South Wales Broken Hill is a city in the Far West (New South Wales), far west region of outback New South Wales, Australia. An inland mining city, it is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Hi ...

. Wild returned to South Australia in 1930, working at an ice works in

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide city centre, Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is t ...

and at a mill in Moonta. In 1936, he went to the

Western Australian goldfields The Western Australian Goldfields is a term for areas in Western Australia that have had significant areas of gold mining occur. Range of goldfields There are goldfields across the state of Western Australia that area included in the range of Mi ...

, working at mines in

Norseman The Norsemen (or Northmen) were a cultural group in the Early Middle Ages, originating among speakers of Old Norse in Scandinavia. During the late eighth century, Scandinavians embarked on a large-scale expansion in all directions, giving ris ...

and

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie-Boulder (or just Kalgoorlie) is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder as the surroundi ...

. In November 1939, Wild enlisted in the 2/11th Battalion. He saw service in

the Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, and

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

, and was

wounded in action Wounded in action (WIA) describes combatants who have been wounded while fighting in a combat zone during wartime, but have not been killed. Typically, it implies that they are temporarily or permanently incapable of bearing arms or continuing ...

in May 1941, gained the MBE (Military Division) in July 1941, and was

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

in March 1942. By the end of the war Wild had reached the substantive rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

and the temporary rank of

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

, and was serving as a camp

commandant Commandant ( or ; ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

Politics and later life

Wild had been a member of the

United Australia Party The United Australia Party (UAP) was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. The party won four Elections in Australia, federal elections in that time, usually governing Coalition (Australia), in coalition ...

in South Australia prior to the war, and on returning to Western Australia joined the newly formed Liberal Party. Setting himself up as a businessman, he purchased property at Kenwick and Forrestdale, farming poultry and also establishing an electrical wholesale business. He stood for the Liberal Party in the seat of Swan at the 1947 state election, and successfully transferred to Dale at the 1950 election, after Swan was abolished in a redistribution. When the second McLarty–Watts government was sworn in on 6 April 1950, Wild was named assistant Minister for Forests (to

), assistant Minister for Mines (to Charles Simpson), and assistant Minister for Housing (to

). In October 1950, he was made a full minister, with responsibility for the forests and housing portfolios (Simpson remained Minister for Mines). The Liberals were defeated at the 1953 election, but regained power in 1959, under David Brand. In the Brand–Watts and Brand–Nalder coalition governments, Wild was Minister for Works and Minister for Water Supplies, and later also Minister for Labour (from 1962). He was reelected to parliament in 1965, but less than a month later resigned to take up the position of

. The resulting by-election was won by Cyril Rushton, a future deputy premier. Wild was agent-general until March 1971, when he was succeeded by another Liberal MP, William Bovell. In later life, he served on the boards of various Australian companies, including the Australian division of

Taylor Woodrow Taylor Woodrow was one of the largest housebuilding and general construction companies in Britain. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index until its merger with rival housebuilder George Wimpey ...

, as well as sitting on the committee of the Western Australian Turf Club. Wild was made a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

(postnominals AM) in 1980, "for parliamentary service". He died in Booragoon, a suburb of

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, on 11 October 1996, aged 89, and was buried at

Karrakatta Cemetery Karrakatta Cemetery is a metropolitan cemetery in the suburb of Karrakatta in Perth, Western Australia. Karrakatta Cemetery first opened for burials in 1899, the first being that of wheelwright Robert Creighton. Managed by the Metropolitan Ce ...

.Metropolitan Cemeteries Board
. Retrieved 11 March 2015. He had married Virginia Mary "Jean" Baxter in 1944.

References

, - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Wild, Gerald 1907 births 1996 deaths Agents-General for Western Australia Australian Anglicans Australian Army officers Australian company founders Australian corporate directors Australian military personnel of World War II Burials at Karrakatta Cemetery English emigrants to Australia Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Western Australia Members of the Order of Australia Members of the Order of the British Empire Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly People educated at Shoreham College Politicians from Chichester 20th-century Australian politicians Military personnel from Chichester

Early life

Politics and later life

See also

References