Merton Court History

Lieutenant Bruce Norman Dickinson

Dan Hill’s research, edited by Ellie Grigsby

On October 22nd, 1890 in Charlton, Greenwich, James and Ada Dickinson of 51 Maryon road, welcomed their son Bruce to the world. The following year, the Dickinson family were counted and named in the census of 1891. Here we can see that James Dickinson’s occupation is a bank manager which makes it unsurprising that the family had a domestic servant living with them. We can see that James and Ada had two sons with Bruce having an older brother named Roy. Also living with the family at the time was James’s widowed mother Sarah Dickinson. (Many years later, a newspaper article confirms Bruce had a second brother named Dudley who went to Australia around 1909 and later joint the Australian Light Horse. He went on to fight on the Dardanelles during the Gallipoli offensive and in Egypt, including the western frontier engagements).

A decade later, we find that Bruce has now left the family home and is a boarder pupil with a school in Cranleigh Surrey, aged 10 years old. If we skip once more to find official documentation of Bruce, we fall to the 1911 census where we can trace Bruce’s movements once more and discover he is now a 20-year-old Bank Clerk. We can see that Bruce has returned to the family home along with his brother Roy; both seeming to be following in their father’s career path, with Roy working as an insurance clerk. We know that Bruce was a keen and excellent cricketer, captaining the second XI Sidcup Cricket club. Bruce stood at a great height of 6ft 3 inches which was particularly unusual during this era with the average height of a man at 5ft 6 inches.

Like so many other young men, Bruce was eager to enlist into the King’s army once war was declared against Germany and volunteered his services. And so, leaving his home of Lammermoor, The Drive, Sidcup, Dickinson rushed to colours. Using Dickinson’s service record card we can ascertain he joined the 14th battalion of the London Regiment (London Scottish – his father was Scottish) as a private only to be later commissioned into the officer ranks in December 11th. Records show Dickinson set sail for France landing on April 23rd, 1915 to join his battalion who had been ‘in the field’ since September 16th of 1914. From these two dates that we have established: the 28th April and December 11th, we know that Dickinson firstly served as a private in France but must have left months before his commission for training but would have seen action before his leave of absence. Notably, at the battle of Aubers ridge in May and the battle of Loos in the September of 1915. The London Scottish, together with the 9th Kings Liverpool and a signal selection R.Es formed the ‘Greens force’ at Loos. This force was to form the connecting link between the 1st and 2nd Brigades who were attacking on divergent frontages. During this battle, Dickinson’s regiment suffered terrible losses but were acclaimed for their performance on the field in the face of harsh artillery fire. The cinematic story throbbing with emotion and heartbreak, survived, of Dickinson himself having a man, on his left, and right, (described as two of his ‘best chums’) shot down beside him as they charged through the battlefield as he survived unscathed.

By December, once Dickinson had returned home and been appointed as Second Lieutenant, it appears he was originally commissioned in the Liverpool regiment but saw no overseas service with them; instead, joining the 10th Battalion of the Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment (known as the Queen’s).  Dickinson remained in the UK until March of 1916 when he once more set sail for France, to join the 10th Queens who were fighting at that time on Belgium’s Ypres Salient.

It proved difficult to find official documentation of Dickinson’s final moments. However, colloquial and oral histories have survived time that help us to piece together a hazy understanding of how he died. Today, we cannot identify with certainty where Dickinson was exactly at the moment of his death, but we do know it was in the vicinity of Ploegsteert wood. Letters which were sent on Sunday following the death of Dickinson on Thursday June 29th , by Captain R.L Pilman and Lieutenant H. Ivon Jones (both fellow Sidcup officers in his regiment) bear testimony to the sense of loss which his comrades undoubtedly felt at Dickinson’s tragic death. Writing to Dickinson’s father, Pilman wrote:

“I am writing you to express my very deep sympathy with Mrs. Dickinson and yourself in poor Bruce’s death. He was a great favourite both amongst officers and men, and in the comparatively short time he had been in the regiment he had found a place in the hearts of all of us. We have always been great pals, and I feel his loss very keenly. Perhaps it may be some consolation to you to know that he suffered no pain.”

Lieutenant Jones further reiterates Dickinson was a ‘favourite’ amongst his men and he too feels his loss ‘keenly’ as he saw Dickinson too as a ‘real good pal.’ Jones does however go on to add more particulars about Dickinson’s death which are thought-provoking. Jones wrote to Mrs and Mr Dickinson telling them their son was hit by a shell and ‘instantaneously killed.’ Gong on to tell them:

“…He was with two of his me at the time and two were hit, and when a runner informed me, we had lost one of our best officers, I hoped against hope it was not Bruce… I know how hard this must blow will be for you both to bear: but it is satisfactory to know he died surrounded by those who thought of him what he was – one of the very best… We all have to run risks out here in this terrible war, but Bruce’s was pure hard luck…”

Historians have explored the convention that mothers would be shielded from the full horror of trench warfare when concerning their son. This convention, that mothers must be protected with ignorance, Jones seems to practice here by insulating her, ensuring her son died ‘instantaneously’ surrounded by those who held him dear. This attempt at numbing her pain to cut the imagination from daring to wonder how horrible her son’s death may have been, was not unique to Jones’ desire to ease the Dickinson’s heart ache but practiced worldwide. It is possible Jones died immediately upon impact with the blasting shell, but it is also possible he suffered an elongated and painful death on the battlefield. Especially if, which is a possibility, Dickinson suffered from a chest/lung wound, deaths from these injuries were often drawn out as the level of oxygen in the blood fell to a lethal point. Screening the Dickinson’s’ from the horror of what my have happened, with no mention of blood (when a direct hit would have certainly struck major blood vessels), or broken, or even missing limbs, we will never know what state Dickinson was in on the 29th June 1915.

After his death Dickinson’s body was removed from the frontlines and he was buried in Gunner’s Farm Military Cemetery close to the Belgian and French boarder. Dickinson is remembered on the Sidcup Footscray memorial. Surviving documents of the Imperial War Graves Commission detailing the headstones of fallen soldiers. By dissecting this analytic break-down of expenses, lettering, and personal requests we can see Dickinson’s family chose the following for his personal headstone inscription: