William Dickson

Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir William Forster Dickson, (24 September 1898 – 12 September 1987) was a Royal Naval Air Service aviator during the First World War, a senior officer in the Royal Air Force during the inter-war years and a Royal Air Force commander during and after the Second World War. Dickson was Chief of the Air Staff in the mid-1950s, in which role his main preoccupation was the establishment of the V Force and the necessary supporting weapons, airfields and personnel. He also served as the first Chief of the Defence Staff in the late 1950s.

Early life Born on 24 September 1898 in Northwood, Middlesex, the son of Campbell Cameron Forster Dickson, a lawyer at the Royal Courts of Justice, and Agnes Dickson (née Nelson-Ward and a direct descendant of Lord Nelson ), Dickson was educated both at Bowden House in the Sussex town of Seaford and at Haileybury College.

First World War and inter-war years

Dickson joined the Royal Naval Air Service on 8 October 1916, and, after completing flying training, served as a pilot at RNAS Grain on the Isle of Grain. and appointed a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order on 21 September 1918. and received a permanent commission in the Royal Air Force on 1 August 1919.

The early 1920s saw Dickson transfer rapidly from one post to another. In March 1920, he was appointed to the staff at RAF Gosport It was not until 1923 that Dickson's career became more settled. In May he was appointed the Personal Advisor to the Deputy Chief of the Air Staff and Director of Operations and Intelligence, Air Commodore John Steel he remained on the staff at RAF India he joined the air staff at Headquarters Western Area in September 1934. and attended Imperial Defence College in Spring 1939. Dickson continued in this work for the first two years of the war, receiving a temporary promotion to group captain on 2 January 1940, (made permanent in April 1942) being appointed Director of Plans in March 1941 and promoted to the rank of acting air vice-marshal on 26 June 1942. In March 1943, Dickson was given the task of setting up No. 83 Group,

Although Dickson had spent considerable time in planning and preparation for the invasion of Nazi occupied Europe, he did not take part in the operations: on 1 December 1943 he was granted a temporary promotion to air vice-marshal and in April 1944 he was given command of the Desert Air Force In December 1944, Dickson was recalled to London, taking up the post of Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Policy), a post which he held throughout the rest of the War and into mid-1946. and was appointed a Commander of the American Legion of Merit on 13 November 1945. He was appointed Vice-Chief of the Air Staff with the acting rank of air marshal on 1 June 1946 and confirmed in the rank of air marshal on 1 July 1947. He became Commander-in-Chief RAF Mediterranean & Middle East in March 1948, and Air Member for Supply and Organisation on 2 March 1950. He was promoted to air chief marshal on 8 January 1951. He was advanced Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the 1952 New Year Honours. As such he was the only Chief of the Air Staff to have been originally commissioned in the Royal Navy (Sir Frederick Sykes served in the navy for a little under a year even though he was originally commissioned in the army). In that role his main preoccupation was the establishment of the V Force and the necessary supporting weapons, airfields and personnel. He was advanced Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in the 1953 New Year Honours. He attended the funeral of King George VI in February 1952, and the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in June 1953. He was promoted to Marshal of the Royal Air Force on 1 June 1954.

Wanting to see more authority vested in the joint governance of the British Armed Forces, Dickson welcomed Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden's plan to create a separate Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (previously the chairmanship had been held by the single service chiefs in turn) and accepted the offer of the post, starting on 1 January 1956. As events transpired he was the only officer to serve in this appointment as Eden's successor, Harold Macmillan converted the post into the Chief of the Defence Staff, a post Dickson held for six months until July 1959 when Lord Mountbatten took over. During his three and a half years in the Armed Forces' senior appointment, Dickson dealt with the Suez Crisis, the post-Suez reforms and the challenges of restructuring during defence during budget cuts. He died at the Princess Alexandra Hospital, Wroughton in Wiltshire on 12 September 1987.

Family In 1932 Dickson married Patricia Marguerite Allen; they had two daughters, one of whom died in childhood.