Walter Michael Dickson

Walter Michael Dickson (23 November 1884 – 26 September 1915) was a Scottish rugby union player.[1] He was killed in World War I.[2]

Dickson was born in Rondebosch, Cape Colony (present-day South Africa).[3] He was completely deaf, but it did not interfere with his education or athletic career, and he also raced cars at Brooklands. He was educated at Rondebosch College, Cape Town, where he played rugby union. He attended University College, Oxford, as a Rhodes scholar, playing for Oxford University RFC. He also placed for Blackheath F.C. and Barbarian F.C. before being invited to join Scotland against France. He earned six more caps for Scotland in 1912–13.[4]

Dickson returned to South Africa after university and worked as a surveyor. When the war broke out, he returned to the UK and enlisted in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. He arrived in France in July 1915 and was killed a few months later. He is commemorated at the Loos Memorial in Pas de Calais.[4] [5]

Eric Loudoun-Shand, his teammate at Oxford, said of Dickson, "He was one of the kindest and best fellows imaginable."[4]

References
  1. Bath, Richard (ed.) The Scotland Rugby Miscellany (Vision Sports Publishing Ltd, 2007 ISBN 1-905326-24-6)
  2. Bath, p109
  3. New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 for Walter Michael Dickson
  4. McCrery, Nigel (2014). Into Touch: Rugby Internationals Killed in the Great War. Pen and Sword. pp. 166–177. ISBN 9781781590874. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  5. "Casualty: Second Lieutenant Dickson, Walter Michael". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 23 June 2018.


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