On the Culture of Memorialisation Page 7
Compiled by Roger Foord-Evans
In August, 1915 Dick was promoted to the rank of Major.
In 1916, 1917 & 1918 Dick went out to fight in France and Flanders joining the 2nd Battalion Royal Lancashire Fusiliers at the battles on the Somme, Messines and Passchendale. During this time his name was mentioned in despatches.
In 1919 Dick was the awarded the 1914 Star, the British War Medal in recognition of having served in World War I. He returned to India once more this year for a time commanding the 2nd Battalion.
In 1920 Dick retired from the Army aged 44 years.
In 1923 he joined the Royal Air Force as an Education Officer serving in Palestine for 6 years.
Dick received both the Coronation medal of 1937 when George VI was crowned King and the coronation medal of 1953 when Queen Elizabeth II was crowned Queen.
After leaving the RAF he went on to teach at various preparatory schools and in the Second World War, past the age for military service, he was employed to teach young officers at Aldershot. He fell on hard times financially in 1957 when he advertised that he was in desperate need of a loan of £100/-. At the time he was living on a pension of six pounds a week.
He died in Cheltenham on 9th February 1966, six years after Maude, having lived to the ripe old age of nearly 90 years, narrowly escaping death on numerous occasions.
During his life he saw the early appearance on our streets of the motorcar, invented by Karl Benz in 1885, and missed man’s first moonwalk by Neil Armstrong and, Edwin Aldrin by only 3 years.
Dick’s Victoria Cross was sold to a dealer after his death for £950/- and later sold at auction for £54,000/-.
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