Private Hugh Dickson

Private Hugh Aitchison Dickson, 7th ( Service ) Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders. He was killed in action in France on the first day of the Battle of Loos on 25th September 1915, aged 26. He had been born in Coldingham and was the son of Robert and Janet Dickson of Scotts Buildings, Reston and is commemorated on the Loos Memorial, Dud Corner, Loos, France.  The Battalion was part of the 9th ( Scottish ) Division and he fell during the successful storming of the strong German positions in the Hoenzollern Redoubt. The first photo  shows an actual assault with the troops disappearing into a ghostly cloud of gas and smoke. This was the first time in the War the British Army had used gas. The second shows the village of Loos after its capture and the third shows shells bursting on the Redoubt. The artists illustration depicts an attack at loos led by their pipers.