Mike Dickson
Birth nameWalter Michael Dickson
Date of birth(1884-11-23)23 November 1884
Place of birthRondebosch, Cape Town, South Africa
Date of death26 September 1915(1915-09-26) (aged 30)
UniversityUniversity College, Oxford
Rugby union career
Position(s) Fullback
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
1912 Oxford University ()
1911–12 Barbarians 4 (4)
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
London Scottish ()
– Blackheath ()
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
1912–1913 Scotland 7 (0)
Military career
Memorial
Loos Memorial (Panel 125–127)
50°27′40″N 2°46′18″E / 50.461°N 2.77173°E / 50.461; 2.77173
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch British Army
RankLieutenant
Unit11 Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders

Walter Michael "Mike" Dickson (23 November 1884 – 26 September 1915) was a rugby union player, who represented Scotland, Blackheath and Oxford. He was killed in World War I.

Early life

Dickson was born in Rondebosch, Cape Colony (present-day South Africa), the younger son of Caroline Dickson.[1]

He attended Diocesan College, SA,[2] and University College, Oxford with a Rhodes Scholarship.[3] At Oxford, he played in the Varsity XV of 1912 alongside Stephen Steyn, Billy Geen, Edward Fenwick Boyd, Gerard Crole and Eric Loudoun-Shand.[4]

Rugby career

Dickson played four games for the Barbarians, against Cardiff on 26 December 1911, Newport, the following day, Penarth on 5 April 1912 and Cheltenham on 9 April. He scored four points in the match against Cheltenham.[5]

Dickson was first selected to play for Scotland in the Five Nations Championship match against France on 20 January 1912. The previous year, France had beaten Scotland 16–15 at Colombes. On this occasion, Scotland exacted a 'cruel revenge', winning the game 31–3 at Inverleith.[6]

Dickson was playing for London Scottish in 1912 when he was selected to play against the touring South Africans.[7]

Dickson was selected to play in the first game of 1913 on 1 January against France at the Parc des Princes. The French press wondered if the 16–15 victory of two years previous at Colombes would be repeated.[8] 30,000 spectators turned out to watch the game. The French forwards were stronger in the scrum but Scotland's back line proved much faster and outperformed the French both in attack and defence.[9] France scored the first try but Scotland quickly took the lead with a converted try, and a second, unconverted try consolidated the lead to 3–8 at half time. The French were unable to score again and the final result was 3–21 to the Scots. The match referee, Baxter, was impressed by the French pack but thought the French centres were responsible for the defeat, too slow to catch their opponents.[10]

Dickson was selected to play against Wales in 1913 but it was rumoured before the game that he would withdraw.[11]

International appearances

OppositionScoreResultDateVenue Ref(s)
 France31–3Won20 January 1912Inverleith[12]
 Wales21–6Lost3 February 1912Swansea[13]
 England8–3Won16 March 1912Inverleith[14]
 South Africa0–16Lost23 November 1912Inverleith[15]
 France3–21Won1 January 1913Parc des Princes[16]
 Wales0–8Lost1 February 1913Inverleith[17]
 Ireland29–14Won22 February 1913Inverleith[18]

Military service

Dickson returned to South Africa after university and worked as a surveyor. When the war broke out, he returned to the UK from Durban on the SS Norman arriving in London on 4 November 1914.[1] He enlisted in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, and was commissioned second lieutenant (temporary) on 22 January 1915.[19] He arrived in France in July 1915 and was killed in action at Loos on 26 September 1915.[20][2]

He is remembered on the Loos Memorial (Panel 125–127), Pas de Calais, France.[21] Eric Loudoun-Shand, his teammate at Oxford, said of Dickson, "He was one of the kindest and best fellows imaginable."[20]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Scottish rugby" (PDF). edinburghs-war.ed.ac.uk. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  2. 1 2 "Rugby pays tribute to First World War dead".
  3. ↑ Sewell 1919, pp. 42–3.
  4. ↑ Sewell 1919, p. 43.
  5. ↑ "Archive – Barbarian FC".
  6. ↑ "La Revanche de l'Écosse". Le Matin. 21 January 1912. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  7. ↑ "Le premier match international des Springboks". L'Aéro. 21 November 1912. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  8. ↑ "La Vie Sportive – Football Rugby". Le Matin. 24 December 1912. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  9. ↑ "Les Grands Matches de Rugby – Le Championnat International". Le Sport universel illustré. 5 January 1913. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  10. ↑ "Le quatrieme match de football rugby France contre Écosse". Le Matin. 2 January 1913. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  11. ↑ "GEEN WITHDRAWS". The Cambria Daily Leader. Frederick Wicks. 30 January 1913. hdl:10107/4424100. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  12. ↑ "Scotland v France".
  13. ↑ "Wales v Scotland".
  14. ↑ "Scotland v England".
  15. ↑ "Scotland v South Africa".
  16. ↑ "France v Scotland".
  17. ↑ "Scotland v Wales".
  18. ↑ "Scotland v Ireland".
  19. ↑ "No. 29047". The London Gazette. 22 January 1915.
  20. 1 2 McCrery 2014, p. 168.
  21. ↑ "Casualty Details: Dickson, Walter Michael". Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Bibliography

  • McCrery, Nigel (2014). Into Touch: Rugby Internationals Killed in the Great War. Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-1473833210.
  • Sewell, Edward Humphrey Dalrymple (1919). The Rugby Football Internationals Roll of Honour. London, Edinburgh: T. C. & E. C. Jack.
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