Captain Bertram Dickson RHA (21 December 1873 – 28 September 1913) was a pioneer Scottish

airman An airman is a member of an air force or air arm of a nation's armed forces. In certain air forces, it can also refer to a specific enlisted rank. An airman can also be referred as a soldier in other definitions. In civilian aviation usage, t ...

and the first British serviceman to qualify as a pilot. His exploits in the air, watched by

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

and Lord Kitchener, indirectly led to the creation of the Royal Flying Corps. Bertram Dickson was born in

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on 21 December 1873. In 1892 Dickson accompanied the geographer Sir

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to the Andes Mountains to define the border between

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and

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.Undiscovered Scotland - Bertram Dickson
/ref> After officer training at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, Dickson was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

in November 1894. He was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

in November 1897 and in November 1900 he was promoted to captain. The following May, Dickson was seconded for service with the Foreign Office. By 1908, Dickson was in the

Ottoman Armenian Armenians in the Ottoman Empire (or Ottoman Armenians) mostly belonged to either the Armenian Apostolic Church or the Armenian Catholic Church. They were part of the Armenian millet until the Tanzimat reforms in the nineteenth century equa ...

city of Van serving as the military attaché and

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. At the beginning of 1910, he enrolled at the

Farman Farman Aviation Works (french: Avions Farman) was a French aircraft company founded and run by the brothers Richard, Henri, and Maurice Farman. They designed and constructed aircraft and engines from 1908 until 1936; during the French national ...

flying school at Mourmelon, and gained Aero-Club de France license no. 81 on 12 April. Dickson took part in the

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flying meet in August 1910, where he won the £400 prize for the greatest aggregate distance flown. In September 1910, Dickson flew one of the two

Bristol Boxkite The Boxkite (officially the Bristol Biplane) was the first aircraft produced by the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company (later known as the Bristol Aeroplane Company). A pusher biplane based on the successful Farman III, it was one of the fi ...

s that took part in the British army manoeuvres on Salisbury plain: his aircraft was captured by the opposing team when he landed to report the result of his reconnaissance by telephone. First air-plane collision 1910

On 1 October 1910, while in

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, Dickson was involved in the first

mid-air collision In aviation, a mid-air collision is an accident in which two or more aircraft come into unplanned contact during flight. Owing to the relatively high velocities involved and the likelihood of subsequent impact with the ground or sea, very sever ...

between two aeroplanes. An Antoinette monoplane, piloted by René Thomas of France, rammed Dickson's Farman biplane. Both pilots were injured in the crash. Although Dickson survived, he never fully recovered from his injuries, which contributed to his early death on 28 September 1913.The Early Birds of Aviation - Bertram Dickson
His body was buried in the Highland village of Achanalt in Ross and Cromarty.

References

External links

The Early Birds of Aviation - Bertram Dicksonbertram-dickson.com - biographyWebshots - Collection of photographs relating to Bertram Dickson
Wayback retrieval; 2012)
Champagne, Berceau de l'aviation du Monde
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dickson, Bertram 1873 births 1913 deaths British aviation pioneers Royal Horse Artillery officers Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society Scottish airmen Scottish aviators Military personnel from Edinburgh Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1913