Military History

Theatre of War	Medals	Commonwealth War Grave or Memorial
France and Flanders	1914-15 Star, British War & Victory Medals
Arrived in Theatre	Medal Citation (if app)	SWFHS Area Memorials
23 Mar 1915	~	Stretton on Fosse
Action, Battle or Other Reason Killed	Date and Place Enlisted	Other War Memorials
Battle of Albert (Somme)	Commissioned 19 Oct 1914 (Gazette)	Oundle School Roll of Honour
		Trinity College, Cambridge
Place of Death	Previous Regiments or Units
Mailly

Military Service Information

• Promoted to Lieutenant in March 1916
• Promoted to Captain in June 1916

Circumstances Leading to Death (Normally from War Diary)           

War diary shows that Capt Dixon was one of 120 men killed on the first day of the battle with many being killed on their own lines at Mailly

On 1st July 1916, 22 year old Captain James Dixon of the 6th Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment attacked towards the village of Serre in the northern sector of the Somme battlefield. His colleagues in the 1st and 8th Warwickshire battalions had attacked at zero hour – 7.30am - and made some headway before being pinned down. As the Battalion and Captain Dixon advanced in support, they sustained heavy casualties and were forced to retreat. James Dixon was badly wounded in the original assault and had to be left behind as his men retired in the face of a German counter-attack.

One of his fellow officers later wrote of him: “He showed the greatest bravery, and, after being wounded, carried on for some time before receiving the wound which proved fatal. He was one of the officers I placed the greatest reliance on in getting men out of a tight corner.” Dixon’s Major wrote simply that “He had a great moral effect on the men, who always saw him absolutely composed.” Courtesy of Mr C.R Pendrill and Oundle School