Lot 1358 , A WW2 Military Cross group to Major Leonard Elliot Dickson, CBE, MC

A WW2 Military Cross group to Major Leonard Elliot Dickson, CBE, MC with miniatures, see website for details.
Estimate £800-1,200

CBE
MC named MAJOR L.E.DICKSON, 1945
39-45 star
F&G star
DM
WM
1953 Coronation
GVI Territorial Efficiency 1950
Miniatures as above with CBE
Separate cased GV Territorial
Published in the Scotsman Newspaper on Tuesday 12 March 2002

Leonard Elliot Dickson, CBE, MC, soldier and lawyer Born: March 1915, in Edinburgh Died: 24 February, 2002, in hospital in Stirling, aged 86. AFTER distinguished army service in the Second World War, during which he was awarded the Military Cross, Leonard Dickson became a prominent lawyer in Glasgow and a dedicated servant of the city. Born in Edinburgh, he was the only son of the Rev Robert Marcus and Cordelia Elliot Dickson. Educated at Ardvreck in Crieff and Uppingham School in England, he went up to Magdalene College, Cambridge, to read for a BA in Classics and Roman Law in 1933.
Early observers with an eye to the future may have marked him out as a potential infantry soldier because of his ability to "cover the ground" quickly; this was evidenced by the award of a University Cross-Country Running Half-Blue. He returned north to take up a place at the University of Glasgow, reading for the degree of LLB in 1936. Three years later, with all but one of his finals completed, he succumbed to a severe dose of the measles and was unable to sit his last paper.
Elsewhere, Hitler had already invaded Poland and Britain found herself at war with Germany. His finals were put on hold as he was commissioned into the 1st Battalion Glasgow Highlanders Highland Light lnfantry at the outbreak of hostilities. During the war, he served in a number of North West European campaigns: from the early 2nd British Expeditionary Force incursion into France (shortly after the Dunkirk evacuations) and through to the final campaigns in the Low Countries, across the Rhine and into Germany. Towards the end of the war, he became a company commander and was awarded the Military Cross. Like so many of his generation, Leonard Dickson was intensely private about his wartime experiences. The few personal wartime recollections from him were well chosen and illustrated that despite the horrors and carnage, respect, dignity, humanity and common sense could also prevail between combatants. Part of the transcript of his citation for the Military Cross (Immediate Award) reads:

"On 18th April, during the advance on Bremen, Major Dickson commanded the battalion's advance guard. The enemy held positions outside Bauelsen in strength. "Major Dickson, under aimed small arms fire, with great coolness reconnoitred successive enemy positions. He then attacked with his advance guard and carried these positions by storm. "Major Dickson pressed on to Langwedel. This village was also strongly held, the resistance being based on a system of road-blocks and Spandau positions hidden in the houses and among rubble. Major Dickson continued to fight his way through Langwedel hour after hour, combining high skill with great courage. He finally captured the place and held it until, in the early hours of next morning, the remainder of the battalion broke through and rejoined him. "Inevitably his casualties were not light. Had it not been for his leadership, Langwedel could never have been taken and the fighting power of this battalion of German Marines broken for ever. His daring recce, his high ability and magnificent leadership and courage won the day for us in one of the hardest fought advance guard actions of the war." In 1946, he left full-time soldiering to complete his LLB degree and in 1947 joined the family law practice of Anderson, Young and Dickson in Glasgow. This was to be the start of a legal career spanning the next 37 years. He was assumed as a partner in the firm in 1949. In 1950 he married Mary, whom he had met in 1947. Despite his growing civilian commitments, the Glasgow Highlanders still occupied a special place in his life. He continued his soldiering in the Territorials and as lieutenant-colonel he commanded the 1st Battalion between 1952 and 1955. Thereafter, he maintained his close association with the Territorial Army and in particular the regiment, in various capacities for a further 34 years. He had served his regiment for 51 years and did so with an immense sense of pride, pleasure and loyalty. He was also chairman of the Lowland TAVR between 1968 and 1970 and was made CBE in 1972 in recognition of his lifetime services to the Territorials. In civilian life, Leonard Dickson involved himself in an ever-increasing workload. He continued his association with the university and lectured in Jurisprudence in the evenings. He was elected to the board of the Clyde Lighthouses Trust in 1953 and he served on this board until Clydeport acquired the trust in 1965. He had many fond memories of days spent "doon-the-water" on board the lighthouse tender vessel the TSS Torch on his annual tour of inspection of the lighthouses at Cloch, Toward and Little Cumbrae. His philanthropic activities were further augmented when he became treasurer to the Glasgow Society of the Sons of the Clergy in 1953. A son of the manse himself, he served this charity - established in 1790 to support children of ministers of the Church of Scotland whose parents die without leaving adequate means for their support - for 32 years as treasurer, secretary and ultimately president until his retirement from office in 1985. A religious man, he was an elder of New Kilpatrick Parish in Bearsden and Gartmore Church.
He was a Freemason and Past Master of Lodge The Princes No 607, and a former director of the Merchants House of Glasgow. He was given the title of Depute-Lieutenant for Glasgow in 1963, a position he held until 1998. He served as vice chairman on the NHS's Glasgow Executive Council in the early Seventies and was acutely aware of the social and health issues affecting Glasgow at that time. He was senior partner when the family law firm amalgamated with another practice in 1975 to form Dickson Haddow and he continued as senior partner until 1979 - when he decided to concentrate on a phased retirement



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Sold for £1,300