Lt. Glenn Dickin - submitted by Dolores Hatch


SSR - Weyburn - GD Dickin - Front Row, second from right.


SSR Officers in Weyburn, March, 1941. Glenn Dickin is in the third row from top, third person from the left.

Hello Gregory

We have communicated earlier re the Regina Rifles, my uncle Lt. Glenn Dickin, and so on.

The photos attached have just come into my collection. I thought you might like to have them if you don’t already. Glenn is identified in the jpg file names. Can you ID others in the photos?

This message represents my permission to use them on the SSR website.

Looking forward to your reply.

Dolores

Dolores Hatch
464 Sunnyside Cres.
London, ON N5X 3N7
519-642-2287

Images submitted by Dolores Hatch , 12May2008.

DONALD DODSWORTH DICKIN

-Born May 7, 1898 in Cannington Manor, Northwest Territories to George Dodsworth Dickin and Martha Amelia Dickin, nee Christopher. His mother helped her parents (Fred & Harriet Christopher run the Christopher Hotel near Fish Lake, SK, now called Kenosee Lake. His father was at one time the proprietor of the Mitre Hotel and worked at the mill in Cannington Manor, before moving his family to Manor, SK.

-Completed Grade Eleven in Manor, SK in June1916

-Joined the army on Aug.13, 1916 at 18 years of age

-Wounded at Passchendaele.

-Was in the Veterans’ Guard during WW ll

-Died in Regina, SK Dec 25, 1958 Funeral in Regina Dec 29, 1958 Interred in the Soldiers’ Plot, Riverside Memorial Park, Regina SK.

During WW l, (Aug 4, 1914-Nov 11, 1918) he was declared missing in action and his mother was notified by telegram. However, his family was told that “he came to in a shell-hole. He was a stretcher-bearer. He was so tired he had collapsed.”

There is an incident involving Donald described in the book, The Suicide Battalion by James L. McWilliams and R. James Steel*, (1978, Hurtig Publishers, Edmonton, 226 pages). It is about his accurate aim with a grenade in spite of his poor eyesight. Another soldier placed him in the direction of an enemy sniper and told him how far to throw. The sniper was eliminated by the accurately thrown grenade.

(FYI: I have a copy if you would like any of it scanned).

*(Authors also of Gas! The Battle For Ypres, 1915 Ontario, Vanwell Pub. Ltd., 1985)

WW l …… Archives Details re service:

Regimental # 1010180

Reference: RG 150, Acc. 199293/166, Box 2506-14 Attestation Paper signed in Manor, Aug 13, 1916, aged 18 years, 3 months, 5’4”, Brown eyes and hair, “Fit for Cdn. Overseas Expeditionary Force”, witnessed by C. H. Christie, JP.

….During WW l Donald served with the “46th Battalion Aug 13, 1916 to Jan 20, 1919”(as per his attestation declaration for WW ll) and was wounded in Passchendaele, France………..other notes state…. in D Company 229th Battalion. (No family notes concerning his service in these units)

From the internet: The Third Battle of Ypres, known forever as Passchendaele 1917 was one of the great conflicts of the First World War. Hundred days of heavy fighting resulted in over half a million Allied casualties for but a gain of only a few miles. The dead comprised mainly British, Australian, Canadian, New Zealand and South African troops and on the great memorial wall at Tyne Cot Cemetery are inscribed the names of 35,000 British and New Zealand dead who fell at Passchendaele. Many of the Missing are buried in military cemeteries about the Ypres Salient as “A Soldier of the Great War” and “Known unto God”, but most lie still undiscovered in Flanders Fields.

The 46th Battalion, made up of mostly Saskatchewan recruits, was also known as the "Suicide Battalion." It fought in some of the bloodiest encounters of the war. Reinforcements were constantly needed as battle after battle decimated its ranks. Of the 5,374 men in the 46th Battalion, 4,917 were either killed or wounded. With the end of the war came demobilization and the end of the 46th Battalion. The soldiers became veterans and returned to civilian life.

Donald Dodsworth Dickin bought his farm near Manor, SK through the “Soldier Settlement Board”, as per The Soldier Settlement Act of 1917. The legal description of the property is W/2-9-8-1 W2M.

He re-enlisted to serve in WWll and was placed in the Veterans Guard. His duties largely involved guarding and transporting prisoners of war. He farmed between the wars and after WWll.

Submitted by Dolores Hatch, 12Apr2013.