A photograph showing General Thomas Bayne Wilson posed next to an Army Air Corp plane. In 1942 Wilson was called to serve and commissioned as a Colonel in the transportation corps. He was sent to Australia to assure efficient shipment of supplies to General Douglas MacArthur's troops in the Philippines. In 1943 he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General and in November of that year he became the Commanding General of the Transportation Service in the China-Burma-Indian Theater.
Wilson left the military in 1944, returning to his civilian position as chairman of the board of TWA until 1947, then served one term in the Kansas House of Representatives from Jefferson County. After the 1948 session of the Kansas Legislature, he challenged incumbent U.S. Congressman Albert M. Cole (1st District) in the August Republican primary but lost. In 1950 he entered federal government service as regional director, Defense Materials Procurement Agency, with the rank of Minister (Diplomatic). In 1955, he became United States Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Transportation. Wilson later served on the Civil Aeronautics Board and was chairman of the board and director of Resort Airlines.