Henry Charles Edward Wheeler (29 July 1925 – 22 November 2004) was an English naval signalman during World War II.
Wheeler was born on 29 July 1925 in Bath, England, to Rose (née Snook) and Henry Arthur Wheeler, and was the eldest in a family of six. He was from Vernhan Grove in Bath, where his civilian role was as a tailor's assistant.[2][3]
Shortly after the war's end, he appeared as a "castaway" on the BBC Radio programme Desert Island Discs, on 24 November 1945,[4][5] at the age of 20.[2][3] He was chosen to appear as he was serving, as part of Naval Party 1745, on an unspecified "small island off the European coast" – the nearest thing available to a real castaway.[2][3][6] His appearance came one week after that of film star Deborah Kerr.[3] One of the recordings he selected was "If You Were the Only Girl (In the World)" sung by Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth,[7] calling it "a song I find myself singing when I think about my girl [Dine]".[3]
He married a Miss Denboer before 1947, outside the UK. They had two sons.[8]