A D R Wingfield DSO MC

Anthony Desmond Rex Wingfield was born in Dublin on 20 Feb 1908, the son of Major-General Maurice Wingfield and grandson of Mervyn Wingfield, 7th Viscount Powerscourt. He was educated at Eton and went to Sandhurst from where he was commissioned into the 10th Hussars in March 1928. He served with them first in Egypt and from 1930 in Meerut, India. He proved to be a good polo player and all round horseman. In 1935 he married Judy Stanley from Westmeath. His service in WW2 as a major was in North Africa, fighting at El Alamein and many other tank battles. He won the MC at Saunnu on 23 Jan 1942. In November 1942 he took over command when Lt-Col Archer-Shee was wounded and was promoted to lieutenant-colonel. At El Hamma on 26 Mar 1943 he was awarded the DSO. In June 1943 he was promoted to Brigadier and made GSO1 to the Director of Armoured Fighting Vehicles in Cairo. In Jan 1944 he as sent back to England as 2nd in Command of 34th Tank Brigade.
He commanded 22nd Armoured Brigade (7th Armoured Division) operating in Holland and Germany from Oct 1944 to December 1945. At the end of the war he served two more years until 1947 and then retired from the army to devote his time to racing and hunting. He and his wife Judy lived in her family property at Coolamber in Westmeath. In April 1957 he was appointed assistant manager at the Royal Stud. As an owner and rider he had many successes, the best horse being Persian Wanderer. He was also a well-known fox-hunter in that part of Ireland, secretary of the Meath Hounds for 12 years. He was elected to the Turf Club and was a senior steward of the National Hunt Steeplechasing Committee.
He died in January 1996 and an obituary was published in the Irish Times of 16 Jan 1996. Unfortunately it does not say the date of his death (annoyingly usual in obituaries) but it says of Brigadier Tony Wingfield. ‘Outgoing and friendly, he was liked by all who came in contact with him. An easy conversationalist and a ready raconteur, he was a voracious reader with a well stocked mind and a fluent pen. The latter was amply demonstrated by his war memoirs, written for private reading only which contain a soldier’s view of the great battles in which he fought with trenchant observations, both grim and lighthearted, and deserve a wider circulation.’

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