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Johnny Wiseman
Summary
John Wiseman, MC (27 January 1916 – 23 August 2005) was a British Army officer and Second World War Special Air Service (SAS) veteran, where he saw action in the long range desert raiding parties of the North African Campaign, then in front line support of the invasion of Sicily and Italy during which he was awarded the Military Cross, followed by commando operations deep behind German lines following the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944.
Wiseman was born in Kingston upon Thames, and educated at St Paul's school and Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he studied languages. In 1937 Wiseman went into the optical instrument business founded by his father, Max, who arrived from Germany in the 1920s. They were a Jewish family and a taped interview with him and archivist Martin Sugarman is at the Jewish Military Museum in London, where his MC and medal group with photograph are on display. On the outbreak of war he attempted to join the Royal Air Force, but was told to "wait until contacted". Instead, he chose to join the North Somerset Yeomanry at the rank of Trooper.
With the Yeomanry he saw action against the Vichy French forces in Syria, opposing the Allied occupation of Lebanon. His fluency in French and German earned him a place in officer training in Cairo. Wiseman was eventually commissioned as an officer with the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry. On hearing of David Stirling's newly formed SAS unit he sought Stirling out, who had a flat in Cairo.
Wiseman joined up with the SAS in their training base in Kabrit, Egypt. Wiseman saw action across North Africa in SAS / Long Range Desert Group joint operations raiding Axis airfields and transport/communications infrastructure.
Wiseman earned his Military Cross in action in the Allied invasion of Sicily, as commander of a section in the Special Raiding Squadron (SRS) under Paddy Mayne. Wiseman's unit scaled the cliffs of Cape Murro di Porco on the morning of 10 July 1943, in order to assault a coastal battery defending the beaches to be landed by the main Allied force.
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