Wilson was a keen advocate of working closely with the French, and although he sympathised with the "westerner" point of view (concentrating on the Western Front), he was much more prepared than Sir Douglas Haig and Sir William Robertson to work alongside Lloyd George and the War Cabinet (the group responsible for overall strategy and policy in time of war).
Wilson entered the Army in 1884, serving in Burma and (with particular distinction), South Africa, in the Boer War. He acted as Assistant Director Staff Duties, War Office, 1904-1906 and Commandant Staff College, 1907-1910. From 1910-1914 he served as Director of Military Operations at Army Headquarters and also as Assistant Chief of General Staff to Field Marshal French, 1914. He acted as Liaison Officer with the French forces, and was a British Military Representative at Versailles, in 1917. In February 1918 he replaced Robertson as Chief of the Imperial General Staff (responsible for co-ordinating the armed forces of Britain and the Empire). In 1922 he was assassinated by the IRA.