Major General Edward Thompson Dickson (16 July 1850 – 23 August 1938) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

general officer A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

, who commanded two

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry in ...

divisions before the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Military career

He was born in

St. Helier St Helier (; Jèrriais: ; ) is the capital of Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands in the English Channel. It is the most populous of the twelve parishes of Jersey, with a population of 35,822, over one-third of the island's total popul ...

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

, the son of Major-General E. J. Dickson and his wife Louisa Maria Dickson. After studying at

Cheltenham College Cheltenham College is a public school ( fee-charging boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18) in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The school opened in 1841 as a Church of England foundation and is known for its outstanding linguis ...

and the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC) was a United Kingdom, British military academy for training infantry and cavalry Officer (armed forces), officers of the British Army, British and British Indian Army, Indian Armies. It was founded in 1801 at Gre ...

, he was commissioned as an

ensign Ensign most often refers to: * Ensign (flag), a flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality * Ensign (rank), a navy (and former army) officer rank Ensign or The Ensign may also refer to: Places * Ensign, Alberta, Alberta, Canada * Ensign, Ka ...

into the

49th Regiment of Foot The 49th (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) (Hertfordshire) Regiment of Foot was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1743. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 66th (Berkshire) Regiment of Foot to form the Princ ...

in March 1869.Who Was Who In 1881 the regiment amalgamated to become the Princess Charlotte of Wales's (Royal Berkshire Regiment). In the

Suakin Expedition The Suakin Expedition was either of two British-Indian military expeditions, led by Major-General Sir Gerald Graham, to Suakin in Sudan, with the intention of destroying the power of the Sudanese military commander Osman Digna and his troops dur ...

of 1885 he saw action at the Battles of Suakin, Hasheen, Tofrek, and Ginnis, and was appointed brigade-major in the Sudan Field Force.''Times'' obituary He was later appointed to command the 1st Battalion

Royal Berkshire Regiment The Royal Berkshire Regiment (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1959. The regiment was created in 1881, as the Princess Charlotte of Wales's (Royal Berkshire Regiment), by ...

from 1891 to 1895, and promoted to

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

on 30 April 1895. He was in command of the 49th Regimental District (Royal Berkshire Regiment, based in

Reading, Berkshire Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, England, and the county town of Berkshire. It is the United Kingdom's largest town, with a combined population of 355,596. Most of Reading built-up area, its built-up area lies within the Borough ...

) from 1 May 1897 to 6 September 1902, when he was placed on

half-pay Half-pay (h.p.) was a term used in the British Army and Royal Navy of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries to refer to the pay or allowance an officer received when in retirement or not in actual service. Past usage United Kingdom In the E ...

. The following month he was appointed to the staff to command the troops at

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

, where he arrived in November taking command of the troops in the West Indies, with the local rank of brigadier-general. He was in 1905 promoted to the post of General Officer Commanding the forces in West Africa and was promoted to major general in October 1905. In 1906 he returned to England as the Major-General responsible for administration in Eastern Command, a post he held until 1908. That year, he was appointed the first General Officer Commanding of the newly formed West Lancashire Division in the

, and in 1909 took command of the

Home Counties Division The Home Counties Division was an infantry Division (military), division of the Territorial Force, part of the British Army, that was raised in 1908. As the name suggests, the division recruited in the Home Counties, particularly Kent, Middlesex, ...

. He remained in command of the division until July 1912, when he retired from the army and retired to

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells (formerly, until 1909, and still commonly Tunbridge Wells) is a town in Kent, England, southeast of Central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone ...

. Dickson married Helene Frances Harvey, eldest daughter of Colonel W. F. Harvey, in 1878, and they had one daughter.

Notes

References

* "DICKSON, Major-General Edward Thompson", in * Obituary in ''The Times'', p. 13, 24 August 1938 , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Dickson, Edward Thompson 1850 births 1938 deaths Military personnel from London British Army major generals British Army personnel of the Mahdist War Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Military personnel from Saint Helier 49th Regiment of Foot officers Royal Berkshire Regiment officers 20th-century British Army personnel