You've probably never heard of Sir Arnold Wilson

The third chapter in Operation Catapult – titled “Facts Are Better than Dreams” – includes the story of two days of intense debate in the House of Commons which led to the resignation of Neville Chamberlain and the appointment of Winston Churchill as Prime Minister. As with every other part of the book, my research introduced me to heroes and villains who were fascinating, but not sufficiently relevant to the story I was writing. One villain-turned-hero who unfortunately fell into that category was Sir Arnold Wilson

Wilson had been the Member of Parliament for Hitchin (a town a bit more than an hour north of London) since 1933. Like many in Britain, Wilson had favored appeasement with Germany in the decade before the war. Worse than that, he openly expressed admiration for Adolf Hitler. To his credit, Wilson later denounced Germany’s treatment of Jews, and as you will read, he atoned for his views with uncommon finality.
 
The parliamentary debate on May 8, 1940 ended with a speech by Winston Churchill that was surprisingly supportive of Neville Chamberlain. The previous night’s session also ended with a speech in support of Chamberlain, in that case by Sir Arnold Wilson. Although less eloquent than Churchill’s speech, WIlson’s was unique in that he wore the uniform of a Royal Air Force officer, and began by saying: “I count myself fortunate in having an opportunity to speak, for within an hour I must rejoin my unit”
 
Wilson had joined the RAF the previous October (shortly after war was declared), volunteering for what was considered the most dangerous job in the air: tail gunner in a Wellington bomber. Admirers of Wilson (and there were many) believed his enlistment was a profound statement of remorse. Wilson declared: “I have no desire to shelter myself and life in safety behind the ramparts of the bodies of millions or our young men.” Remarkably, Wilson was 55-years-old when he volunteered for the R.A.F.
 
Just over a month after his speech in the House of Commons, on Monday, June 10, 1940, a story about Wilson was printed in the New York Times.

It was later determined that Wilson was killed when his bomber was shot down over France on May 31, 1940 as his squadron provided cover for the Dunkirk evacuation. Wilson was the third serving Member of Parliament to die in action during World War II.
 
Thanks for reading
Bill

PS: About the picture below: I mentioned several issues ago that the iconic Chartwell Booksellers store in New York City will close temporarily at the end of June, and will reopen sometime in the Fall. To commemorate this occasion, Adam Howard of the International Churchill Society recently recorded a conversation with the store’s owner, Barry Singer. That interview has not yet been released, but a still picture from that event includes something remarkable - copy of Operation Catapult displayed in the window of Chartwell Booksellers (just to the right of the open doorway). As someone who has visited this absolute shrine of a store multiple times, this is incredibly cool, something I never expected.

PPS: I was surprised, honored, and humbled to see a review for “Operation Catapult” by the Australian Naval Institute. The highlights are in the image below. Here’s a link to the full review.

PPPS: And about this picture below: My daughter-in-law recently spotted this “Current Store Bestsellers” poster in her local bookstore. (Note: This is one small store, and definitely an outlier)! The books to the immediate left and right of Operation Catapult in this display have, respectively, 252,577 and 120,094 reviews on Amazon. (I no longer have imposter syndrome, but I suspect my humble little book might). Thank you to everyone who has bought, read, and reviewed my book!