Private Thomas Dickson

Private Thomas R. Dickson, 2nd Battalion, Scots Guards. He was killed by a sniper in France, aged 33, on 29th September 1915 during the Battle of Loos, aged 33. He had been born in Lauder and was the son of Mrs Dickson and the late Alexander Dickson of ” Te Aro ” , Morebattle. He fell in operations round the ” Chalk Pits” and “Puits 14Bis ” and is commemorated on the Loos Memorial, Dud Corner, Loos, France. The Battalion held “Hill 70” although enemy shelling caused casualties. Between 28th and 30th September there were 17 killed and 112 wounded. He had been educated at Musselburgh Academy before enlisting as a  a Regular soldier and had fought in the Boer War. As a reservist he had been recalled to his old Regiment on the outbreak of War whilst working as a mason in Musselburgh. The photo shows the village of Loos after its capture and Hill 70 looking from beyond Loos.