Sidney Isaac Dixon 1889 -
Isaac Dixon & Ann Elvee > Alfred John Dixon & Hannah Kitson > Isaac Dixon & Mary Pendry
Sydney Arthur Dixon born 8 May 1889 at the Victoria Dairy in Harrow. His parents were Isaac Dixon and Mary Pendry. The family emigrated to New Zealand when Arthur was ? old.
Here is a lovely family shot showing Sid with his siblings. Sid is top left; Ethel in the middle is 18 months; Arthur on the right ad Roy at the bottom. We know that these are the same Dixons as the author, because they aren't smiling. Seems to be a Dixon thing.
Sid married Margery Hindmarsh. I'm hoping that my NZ cousins can fill in the details of his life. There is a page Sid here.
Sid as he was known, became a stock agent for the company Williams and Kettle - a large general merchants company. At the outbreak of World War One, at the age of 26, on 7 Sep 1915 he enlisted and joined the New Zealand Expeditionary Force - 14th/5th mounted rifles. He held the rank of 2nd Lieutenant and his army number was 24843. At that time he and May lived at the Bank of New Zealand, Timaru. He was appointed to be an officer because he had a good education and had been a member of the Te Aura College cadets when he was at school there, as well as being a member of the Napier Guards for a few months.
His army record describes him as being five feet nine inches and weighing 196 pounds. His chest measurements were 39 - 42 3/4 inches. The army service record shows that on 7 Sep 1915 he joined D Squad and after training was posted to the Camel Corps 5 Feb 1916. On 19 Sep 1917 he went before a medical board suffering something I can't make out, but caused by conditions of service. The disability was stated to be permanent and that made hum unfit for duty.
A mounted rifleman was essentially an infantryman on horseback who fought most efficiently in open countryside. Mounted riflemen were expected to ride to the scene of a battle but – unlike traditional cavalry – dismount and go into action as normal infantrymen. He survived the First World War. In 1920 he was an auctioneer.
In the Second World War he joined the Home Guard Group 7 and was appointed as a major in the Hereatunga Battalion.
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