| Rank | Signalman |
| Service # | A49625 |
Born 1915 at Fletcher, ON. The son of Pipe Major Robert and Mrs. Dickie of 50 ½ Raleigh St., Chatham, ON. The husband of Norene (nee Cady) they had a son Grant while Charles was in the army.
Charles enlisted in the 1st Kents 29/07/1940 serving with the Signals section for a year and the Kent’s he trained at Chatham, Halifax, Terrace BC., Niagara falls and London, ON. Pte. Dickie, with his wife and son Grant were the guests of Mrs. C. W. Cady, St. Clair St., Chatham, Charles’ wifes mother, for the Christmas holidays. Charles served with the 1st Kents until he transferred to the Perth Regiment to go overseas in March of 1943.
While serving with the Perth Regt. in the Italian campaign shortly after the Hitler Line had been cracked, Pte. Dickie sufferd a painful wound cause by German shrapnel when a shell exploded near him, We were near the Melfa River on 25 May 1944 and really had them running when I got it, “ he said. I hated to have to leave just when things were going so good.” His wound to the thigh and a nerve severed of his left leg would require evacuation to England and eventually to Canada.
The Germans had made a “stubborn stand at the Melfa River, but the Canadians were not to be denied, and after a vicious fighting and many casualties they secured a bridgehead over the river and held. The battle of the Liri Valley was over”.
From: “The way We Were” by Ken Bell.
The Italian campaign totaled more than 25,000 casualties of which 6,000 were fatalities.
His wife had been advised that Charles would be arriving on Monday 24/07/44 in London where he would be put in hospital for treatment to his injuries, she made the trip to London to meet her returning husband. Also in London to welcome the returning soldiers would be Pipe Major Robert Dickie, Charles father representing the 1st Kent’s.
The CDN 10/08/44 reported that that Stoc.1st Howard J. Cady and his wife, who were in Toronto, were visiting Sigmn. Charles W. Dickie who was then receiving treatment at the Christie St. Hospital.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
| Sources | CFF-FD44, CDN 25/07/44, IODE(P), VR, StAUC-RH, KRA |
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