Peter Hilton

Who was Peter Hilton?

Colonel Sir Peter Hilton, KCVO, MC, DL, JP was a World War II veteran and hero.

A son of Major-General Richard Hilton and Phyllis Hilton, he was educated at Malvern College and the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich. He married Lady Winifred Smith in 1942 and they had two sons, Andrew and Richard. He was born into an old County Durham family. The family seat was Hilton Castle, near Sunderland.

"In Peter's veins ran the blood of some of the great Border families, including the Percys,” said his wife, Lady Winifred Hilton. “The Hiltons distinguished themselves in battle from Crecy and Flodden to the poppy fields of Flanders and the Second World War. ”

He served in the Royal Artillery in the Second World War, joining the British Expeditionary Force in 1939-40. After being evacuated from Dunkirk, he served in the Western Desert with the 7th Armoured Division from 1942–43, seeing action at Alamein. He then joined the 5th American Army in Italy from 1943–44, returning to join the Normandy invasion with the Royal Horse Artillery in 1944, where he was badly wounded.

In 1950, he was sent to Greece as an instructor but was recalled due to Korea.