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 ...

Walter Gordon Wilson (21 April 1874 – 1 July 1957) was an Irish

mechanical engineer Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations o ...

, inventor and member of the British

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty (United Kingdom), Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British ...

. He was credited by the 1919

Royal Commission on Awards to Inventors A Royal Commission on Awards to Inventors is an occasional Royal Commission of the United Kingdom used to hear patent disputes. On 6 October 1919 the Commission was convened to hear 11 claims for the invention of the tank; one of the eleven "claim ...

as the co-inventor of the

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine; ...

, along with Sir William Tritton.

Education

Walter was born in

Blackrock BlackRock, Inc. is an American Multinational corporation, multinational investment company. Founded in 1988, initially as an enterprise risk management and fixed income institutional asset manager, BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager ...

County Dublin County Dublin ( or ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and holds its capital city, Dublin. It is located on the island's east coast, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Until 1994, County Dubli ...

, on 21 April 1874. In 1888 he enlisted as a midshipman on HMS ''Britannia'', but resigned in 1892. In 1894 he entered

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

, where he studied the mechanical sciences

tripos TRIPOS (''TRIvial Portable Operating System'') is a computer operating system. Development started in 1976 at the Computer Laboratory of Cambridge University and it was headed by Dr. Martin Richards. The first version appeared in January 1978 a ...

, graduating with a

first class degree The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure used for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied, sometimes with significant var ...

, B.A., in 1897. Wilson acted as 'mechanic' for the Hon C. S. Rolls on several occasions while they were undergraduates in Cambridge.

Aero engine 1898

Interested in powered flight, he collaborated with Percy Sinclair Pilcher and the Hon Adrian Verney-Cave later Lord Braye to attempt to make an

aero-engine An aircraft engine, often referred to as an aero engine, is the power component of an aircraft propulsion system. Aircraft using power components are referred to as powered flight. Most aircraft engines are either piston engines or gas turbine ...

from 1898. The engine was a

flat-twin A flat-twin engine is a two-cylinder internal combustion engine with the cylinders on opposite sides of the crankshaft. The most common type of flat-twin engine is the boxer-twin engine, where both pistons move inwards and outwards at the same ti ...

air cooled and weighed only 40 lb, but shortly before a demonstration flight planned for 30 September 1899 it suffered a

crankshaft A crankshaft is a mechanical component used in a reciprocating engine, piston engine to convert the reciprocating motion into rotational motion. The crankshaft is a rotating Shaft (mechanical engineering), shaft containing one or more crankpins, ...

failure. Unwilling to let down his backers Pilcher opted to demonstrate a glider, which crashed and fatally injured him. The shock of Pilcher's death, at only 33 years old, ended Wilson's plans for aero engines, though he kept the flat twin concept and used it in the cars he subsequently manufactured which he named

Wilson-Pilcher Wilson-Pilcher was an English car company founded in 1901 and acquired by Sir WG Taken Armstrong Whitworth & Co., Limited in 1904. History The company ''Wilson-Pilcher'' was founded in 1901 by Walter Gordon Wilson in London to produce autom ...

The Wilson-Pilcher Car 1900

Following the death of Pilcher, he switched to building the Wilson–Pilcher motor car, which was launched in 1900. This car was quite remarkable in that it was available with either

flat-four A flat-four engine, also known as a horizontally opposed-four engine or boxer engine, is a four-cylinder piston engine with two banks of cylinders lying on opposite sides of a common crankshaft. The most common type of flat-four engine is the box ...

flat-six engine A flat-six engine, also known as a horizontally opposed-six, is a six-cylinder piston engine with three cylinders on each side of a central crankshaft. The most common type of flat-six engine is the boxer-six engine, where each pair of opposed c ...

s, which were very well balanced, and with a low centre of gravity making good stability. Each water cooled cylinder was separate and identical for either engine, having 3.75inch (95.25mm) bore and stroke, giving capacities of 2715cc for the four cylinder and 4072cc for the six cylinder. Cylinders were slightly offset with separate crankpins, and the crankshaft had intermediate bearings between each pair of cylinders. The gearbox of the car was also novel, having dual epicyclic gears and being bolted directly to the engine. This allowed four speeds, with direct drive in top gear. All the gears were helical, and enclosed in an oil bath, making for very silent transmission. Reverse gear was built into the rear axle, as was the foot-operated brake drum, all of which was housed in a substantial aluminium casing. After marrying in 1904 he joined

Armstrong Whitworth Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century. With headquarters in Elswick, Tyne and Wear, Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, Armstrong Whitworth built armaments, ships, locomot ...

who took over production of the Wilson-Pilcher car. From 1908 to 1914A. A. Miller, "Wilson, Walter Gordon (1874–1957)", rev. ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...

'', Oxford University Press, 2004 he worked with J & E Hall of Dartford designing the Hallford lorry which saw extensive service with the army during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. The sole known surviving Wilson-Pilcher car is a four-cylinder version that was retained by the Amstrong Whitworth factory and after restoration in the 1940s was presented to W.G.Wilson in the 1950s. It stayed in Wilson family ownership (having been displayed at various museums) until 2012 when it was sold by auction to a private collector.

Tanks

With the outbreak of the First World War, Wilson rejoined the navy and transferred to the Royal Naval Air Service Armoured Car Division, which protected the

personnel in France. When the Admiralty began investigating armoured fighting vehicles under the Landship Committee in 1915, 20 Squadron was assigned to it and Wilson was placed in charge of the experiments. Wilson worked with the agricultural engineer William Tritton, resulting in the first British prototype tank, "

Little Willie Little Willie was a prototype in the development of the British Mark I tank. Constructed in the autumn of 1915 at the behest of the Landship Committee, it was the first completed tank prototype in history. ''Little Willie'' is the oldest surv ...

". At Wilson's suggestion the tracks were extended right round the vehicle. This second design (first called "Wilson", then "Centipede", then "Big Willie", and finally "

Mother A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of ges ...

") became the prototype for the

Mark I tank British heavy tanks were a series of related armoured fighting vehicles developed by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, UK during the First World War. The Mark I was the world's first tank, a tracked, armed, and armoured vehicle, ...

. Designing several of the early British tanks, he incorporated epicyclic gearing which was used in the Mark V tank to allow it to be steered by a single driver rather than the four previously needed. In 1937, he provided a new steering design which gave a larger turning radius at higher speeds. He transferred to the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

in 1916, becoming a Major in the Heavy Branch of the

Machine Gun Corps The Machine Gun Corps (MGC) was a Regiment, corps of the British Army, formed in October 1915 in response to the need for more effective use of machine guns on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front in the World War I, First World War. Th ...

- the embryonic Tank Corps. He was

mentioned in dispatches 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 ...

twice and was appointed Companion of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...

on 4 June 1917.

Wilson self-changing gearbox

In 1928, he invented a self-changing gearbox, and formed Improved Gears Ltd with J D Siddeley to develop the design commercially. Improved Gears later became Self-Changing Gears Ltd. Wilson self-changing gearboxes were available on most subsequent

Armstrong Siddeley Armstrong Siddeley was a British engineering group that operated during the first half of the 20th century. It was formed in 1919 and is best known for the production of luxury vehicles and aircraft engines. The company was created following t ...

automobiles, manufactured up to 1960, as well as on Daimler, Lanchester, Talbot,

ERA An era is a span of time. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...

, AC, Invicta and

Riley Riley may refer to: Businesses * Riley (brand), British sporting goods brand founded in 1878 * Riley Motor, British motorcar and bicycle manufacturera 1890–1969 * Riley Technologies, American auto racing constructor and team, founded by Bob ...

automobiles as well as buses, railcars and marine launches. His work on gears was used in many British tanks.

Death

Wilson died on 1 July 1957.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Walter Gordon Royal Navy officers Irish mechanical engineers British mechanical engineers Irish inventors Machine Gun Corps officers Royal Tank Regiment officers Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George People from Blackrock, Dublin Royal Naval Air Service personnel of World War I Royal Navy officers of World War I British Army personnel of World War I 1874 births 1957 deaths Military personnel from County Dublin Engineers from County Dublin Irish officers in the Royal Navy