This is one of a series of posts to mark the international Rugby players who died during The Great War. If anyone has further information on the men concerned, I’d be most grateful if it could be added to the thread. Gareth Dickson, Walter Michael played for Scotland Internationals: 7 : 1912 F= W- E+ SA- ; 1913 F+ W- I+ Walter Dickson was born on 23 November 1884, in South Africa Played as a Full-back for: South Africa College Rondebosch, Oxford University (Blue 1912*), Blackheath, Barbarians Profession: Surveyor Remarks: Rhodes Scholar. * = along with S S L Steyn [another SA born Scottish international, who was killed in action on 8 December 1917]. In the same Oxford University XV were L Brown, Australian born England international, and 4 other South Africans, K C M Hands, N Reid, L R Broster and W E Thomas. He was a noted bulldog breeder. In addition, he raced motor cars at Brooklands. He was quite deaf and, during the 1913 French International, he misinterpreted the French crowd’s reaction to the unpopular decisions of English referee Mr Baxter, thinking it was an appreciation of Scotland’s good play. Played for Barbarians: v Cardiff (0-19) v Newport (6-15) in 1911; v Penarth (0-3) v Cheltenham (10-6) in 1912. War service: Lieutenant, 11th Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, 45th Brigade, 15th Division. He was killed in action on 26 September 1915, at Loos and is commemorated on the Loos Memorial, Pas de Calais, France [Panel 125 to 127].
In Memory of Second Lieutenant WALTER MICHAEL DICKSON 11th Bn., Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders who died on 26 September 1915 Scottish Rugby International. Remembered with honour LOOS MEMORIAL Then I found this but the date and place of death are wrong ! Walter Dickson Scotland Full name Walter Michael Dickson Born November 23, 1884 Died October 1, 1915, Gallipoli, Turkey (aged 30 years 312 days) Major teams Scotland Position Fullback ODGW has 26th September 1915 also !
Here's the ODGW entry - Dickson, Walter Michael, Temp 2/Lieut Princess Louise's (Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders) 11th Battalion 26/09/15 Killed in Action His service record looks like it survives in WO 339/5725 Dickson W M, 2/ Lieut According to LLT - 11th (Service) Bn landed at Bolougne on 9th July 1915 and remained on the Western Front throughout !
Mike Dickson, the nephew of the great Biddy Anderson, was partly deaf and it nearly got him into trouble once. He was fullback for Scotland at the Parc des Princes in Paris when the referee penalised France a great deal, Scotland won and the crowd was furious and threatening. He mistook their gestures and noise, and remarked to team-mate Charles Usher that the French were frightfully sporting. Usher ushered him off the field in haste. Walter Michael Dickson was born on 23 November 1884. He played fullback for Scotland seven times, one of them against the touring South African team captained by Billy Millar in 1912. A lieutenant in the Argyle & Sutherland Highlanders, he was killed in Gallipoli on 26 September 1915.
