Walter Frederick Dicks was born February 2, 1884 to Walser Dicks and Caroline Beach. His father was a City of Ottawa Policeman and he had four brothers and sisters, although family tragedy struck when they lost 5 year old Esther, just 10 months after Walter was born as well as his baby brother Gordon in 1894, at just 3 months of age and then brother Silas at 6 years of age in 1896. In the era prior to antibiotics, many illnesses incurred by children could prove fatal.

With the family living at 494 Somerset Street, Walter attended Kent Street Public School and St. Matthew’s. In 1910, he trained as a bricklayer, following in the footsteps of his grandfather, and moved to Winnipeg, becoming a member of the Bricklayers and Plasterers Union of Winnipeg. He returned to Ottawa in 1915 to rejoin his family and almost immediately enlisted (#457179) in Montreal on June 9, 1915 at age 31.  He was assigned to the 60th Battalion and after a short training period, was shipped to England on November 6, 1915, arriving in the UK ten days later for further training. His unit was eventually deployed to the Western Front in France on February 20, 1916 suffering through the Battle of the Somme for much of that year.

The following spring, Private Walter Dicks was transferred to the 5th Canadian Mounted Rifles, Quebec Regiment, on April 23, 1917, attached to the 8th Canadian Infantry Brigade, Third Division, immediately after the Battle at Vimy Ridge, likely to make up troop strength for losses incurred. His unit was then involved in the Battles of Hill 70, Ypres and Passchendaele. At some point, he was also promoted to Lance Corporal.  It was also in 1917 that he learned of his father’s death in Ottawa, at age 63.

By late summer of 1918, the Allies were desperate to break the stalemate of trench warfare of World War 1 which was now entering its fifth year. “The Hundred Days Offensive” began on August 8, 1918, and was designed to bring the war to a close with the Canadian Corps heavily involved in this battle plan. Beginning with the Battle of Amiens, the Allies achieved a series of strategic victories which finally brought the fighting to a close on November 11, 1918 with the signing of The Armistice. Halfway through this Offensive, the Canadian Corps, under the leadership of Lt. General Arthur Currie, found itself charged with the responsibility of capturing the heavily defended commune of Cambrai. To achieve this meant overcoming German defenses throughout a series of manmade canals in this area, further compounding the challenges faced by the Canadians. The Battle of Canal du Nord was part of this campaign to liberate Cambrai, lasting from September 27 to October 1. While resulting in a victory, casualties on both sides were heavy with allied losses tallied at 30,000. The village of Bourlon Wood was retaken by the Canadian Third & Fourth Divisions on September 27th, 1918, with the Canadian Corps now focusing on the City of Cambrai as its next strategic objective. The capture of Cambrai proved most challenging over the next ten days with constant fighting and German counter attacks.

On the night of October 4, 1918, Lance Coporal Dicks and his 5th Canadian Mounted Rifles were stationed in the Village of Bourlon when a German air raid took place. It was during this bombardment that Private Walter Dicks, # 457179, 34 years young, was killed instantly by an enemy aerial bomb. Lance Corporal Walter Frederick Dicks is buried at the British War Cemetery at Bourlon Wood, along with 250 other servicemen, in the Pas de Calais region in France, where he rests today. He is also remembered on the family headstone at Ottawa’s Beechwood Cemetery. Like so many families who were grief stricken with the loss of their son during this war, along with his parents and two sisters who both died before 31 years of age, Walter Frederick Dicks is remembered. By 1921, the original family of 7 had all passed on with the death of Caroline.

Lance Corporal Walter Frederick Dicks is remembered today at St. Matthew’s Anglican Church in the Glebe.