Sam Dixon
- Family History
- Military History
- Extra Information
- Photographs
Sam Dixon was born in Newstead, Notts on the 16th December 1892. He was one of ten children born to Noah and Alice Dixon, née Stone, between 1881 and 1907. One of the siblings had been adopted. At the time of Sam's birth, the family was living in Colliery Houses, Newstead, and like Sam, were all born in Newstead. As the family grew up into adulthood, the male's all found work in the colliery as miners or associated work in the industry. In 1907, Sam married Ada England at Linby Parish Church on 9th November 1907 and resided at 89 Newstead Colliery. They had two children, Levi, Ernest born 23rd May 19110 in Hucknall and John Frank born 15th January 1913 in Newstead Colliery. After his death, Ada remarried to John Cook in 1919.
Gunner Sam Dixon enlisted at Nottingham on 20th October 1915,he was 32 yrs and 10 months of age, he gave his address as 89 Newstead Colliey, he was a coal miner his next of kin was Ada Dixon his wife of the same address. He served with the 72nd Heavy Bty Royal Garrison Artillery and embarked from Devonport on 21st January 1916 to join the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force , landing at Basra on 23rd February 1916 .He was admitted to hospital on 19th May 1917 with shell shock, he returned to his unit on 15th August 1917. He died by accidentally drowning on 3rd September 1917 in the Tigris river, Mesopotamia. His name is commemorated on the Basra, memorial in Iraq
On 30th August 1917 a poem written from Mesopotamia was published in the Hucknall Dispatch written by Samuel Dixon that told of his longing to go home and be with his family. "I would go forth in the dawn of the morrow, Taking long strides o’er the grasses and loam, Voices are calling and will not be silent, Let me set out with my face towards home. "Dear to my heart are the old village gardens, Dear to my heart is each house in the street, Dear are the fields looking green in the distance, Dearer than all are the friends I shall meet. "Scent of the trees in the woods around Newstead, Annesley Park with its murmuring streams, These are the voices that call me and call me, These are the voices I hear in my dreams. "Here as I march in the wilderness dreary, Jackals abounding that dreadfully thrills, My heart is away in the buttercup meadows, I climb in the laps of my own little hills. "Voices that tenderly speak my name over, Kind, homely faces by fireside gleams, These are the chords that are pulling my heart strings, These are the faces I see in my dreams. "I would go back to the dear hands that beckon, Heart answer’th heart o’er the wide ocean foam, Should wring my kit in the grey of the dawning, I would set out with my face towards home. "Dear old Wood Lane with its walks so enchanting, Many times have I traversed its length, Tho’ distance is great from these Persian hills, God grant me one wish – life, health and strength. "Tho’ God reigns above his watchful eyes are alert, Guiding us through all our sorrows and joys, I may bide my time until all this strife is o’er, Then gladly rejoin my wife and my boys." His battery commander, Major Watson, wrote to his wife later that year with the news that he wouldn't be returning and was published in the Hucknall Dispatch dated 13th December 1917 “Dear Mrs Dixon, "I feel it my sad duty to write you a letter to express to you the great sympathy for you by the officers, NCO’s and men of the Battery under my command. Your husband was popular with all ranks and a good man at his work, and if we miss him as we do, we know what a sad loss it must be to you and the children. “I don’t know if you have been told the exact manner in which your husband was lost but after making all possible inquiries I came to the conclusion that he was bathing with a large number of men, many of whom were excellent swimmers. Not being a strong swimmer himself he was bathing on a broad shelf of hard mud, where the water was not above a man’s middle, but when this shelf stopped, the water suddenly deepened to 20 feet or more. “There was a strong current near the edge of the shelf tending to sweep a man into the deep water. He must have gone very suddenly and without a sound, as one of his friends says that he saw him only about two minutes before the alarm was given by a passer-by who said that he thought he had seen someone disappear, but was not certain. Everyone got out of the water and stood to their clothes and it was discovered that your husband was missing. Search parties hurried down the bank hoping to find him afloat further down the stream but, as so often happens in the swift and deep river (the Tigris) he was never seen again. The Military Court of Inquiry – which corresponds to a civil coroner’s inquest – came to the conclusion that he was accidentally drowned whilst bathing in the river Tigris.” Above are courtesy of Jim Grundy and his facebook pages Small Town Great War Hucknall 1914-1918
