Arnold Wilson Sir Arnold Talbot Wilson KCIE CSI CMG DSO ( 18 July 1884 – 31 May 1940 ) was the British civil commissioner in Baghdad in 1918 - 1920 . Wilson became publicly known for his role as the colonial administrator of Mesopotamia ( Iraq ) during and after the First World War . His high - handedness arguably led to an Iraqi revolt in 1920 . He was replaced by Sir Percy Cox . Wilson was the third Member of Parliament ( MP ) to be killed in World War II when serving as aircrew at the advanced age of 55 . Early life and career . Wilson was born in 1884 and educated in England at Clifton College , where his father James Maurice Wilson was a headmaster . His younger brother was the tenor Sir Steuart Wilson . He began his military career as an army officer in 1903 , having been awarded the King ' s Medal and sword of honour at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst . He then served as an officer of the British army in India . In 1904 , he went to Iran as a Lieutenant to lead a group of Bengal Lancers to guard the British consulate in Ahvaz and to protect the work of the D ’ Arcy Oil Company , which had obtained a sixty - year oil concession in Iran and was pursuing oil exploration in partnership with the Burma Oil Company . Wilson was an officer in the 32nd Sikh Pioneers , a regiment of the Indian Army and reached the rank of Lieutenant Colonel . In 1907 , Wilson was transferred to the Indian Political Department and sent to the Persian Gulf , where he served as a political officer , soldier and senior administrator . In 1920 , he joined the Anglo - Persian Oil Company as resident director in the Persian Gulf . He worked for the company until 1932 . Wilson oversaw the discovery of the first oil site in the Middle East , Masjid - i - Suleiman in 1908 . World War I and afterwards . In 1915 , as the British were moving troops from India into Mesopotamia through the Persian Gulf and Basra , Wilson was designated as the assistant , and then deputy , to Sir Percy Cox , the British Political Officer for the region . Based in Baghdad , he then became the acting Civil Commissioner for Mesopotamia . During his tenure in Mesopotamia , Wilson worked to improve the country ' s administration according to the principles he learned in India . In Wilson ’ s views , the priority was to reconstruct and stabilize the country , by establishing an efficient government and administration as well as a fair treatment and political representation of the various ethnic and religious communities ( i . e . , in the case of Iraq : Arabs , Kurds , Persians , of religions such as Islam Shiite and Sunni , Christianity and Judaism ) . In doing so , he was nicknamed " The Despot of Mess - Pot " . However , after the end of World War I , he found himself progressively opposed to other British officials , who believed that Arab countries should be granted independence under British supervision . In 1919 , during the Paris Peace Conference , which followed World War I , he was among the few who successfully recommended adopting the Arab name Iraq , as it had been known for more than 1400 years by the whole Muslim and Arab world ever since the Arabs went to it , instead of the Greek name Mesopotamia which was only still being used by Westerners . This name change was intended to cover the planned northern expansion of the newly created country under British Mandate to include the oil rich Mosul region of Kurdistan , in addition to the Mesopotamian provinces of Baghdad and Basra . In April 1920 , at the Conference of San Remo , the League of Nations agreed to the British mandate over Iraq . In the spring and summer of 1920 , various riots erupted across central and southern Iraq . These riots were often violently repressed by Wilson ' s administration . The total number of Iraqi casualties of these riots was estimated at 10 , 000 people . In the summer of 1920 , Wilson proposed a compromise , suggesting that Feisal , the former King of Syria , be offered the Iraqi throne . This proposal was intended to obtain support from the Iraqi population as well as by the British officials who favored a controlled Arab independence . It was eventually accepted by the British Government and by Feisal , but Wilson would not be there to participate in its implementation . The British government decided not to follow Wilson ' s views , and instead grant independence to Iraq . The British government removed Wilson from his position in Iraq , and knighted him . Deeply disappointed by the turn of events , he left the public service and joined APOC as manager of their Middle Eastern operations . World War II . In 1933 , he was elected as MP for Hitchin . Before World War II , his outspoken views evoked a lot of criticism . The New Statesman described him as " an admirer of Hitler and an unscrupulous propagandist for Mussolini and Hitler " . George Orwell called him a Fascist , although he also praised his courage and patriotism . However , in October 1939 after the outbreak of the war , he joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve , serving as a pilot officer ( air gunner ) in 37 Squadron of RAF Bomber Command . He stated that " I have no desire to shelter myself and live in safety behind the ramparts of the bodies of millions of our young men . " Still an MP , he was killed in action in northern France , around Dunkirk , on 31 May 1940 when his Vickers Wellington bomber crash landed . He is buried at Eringhem churchyard , half - way between Dunkirk and Saint - Omer . His book , The Persian Gulf was published in 1928 . His book , S . W . Persia : Letters and Diary of a Young Political Officer 1907 – 1914 ( 1941 ) was published posthumously .