Gerald Charles Dickens


Sir Gerald Louis Charles Dickens was a senior Royal Navy officer and the grandson of Victorian novelist Charles Dickens.

Early life and career

Born in Kensington, London, Dickens was the son of Marie-Thérèse Louise and Sir Henry Fielding Dickens, a barrister. His maternal grandfather was French and his maternal grandmother was from a Jewish family from Bohemia and Germany. Dickens' great-grandfather was composer and pianist Ignaz Moscheles.
Dickens joined the naval college HMS Britannia at Dartmouth in Devon in 1894 as a Naval Cadet, following preparatory education at Stubbington House School. Dickens served on with the Channel Fleet, 1896–1897, and in the East Indies Station, 1897–1899. He was promoted Sub-Lieutenant in 1899, and in that year he served aboard before transferring to the Royal Naval College, Greenwich where he was based from 1899 to 1900. He went on to serve on and with the Mediterranean Fleet from 1900 to 1901.

World War I and after

Promoted to Lieutenant on 1 January 1902 and Commander on the outbreak of World War I in 1914, he commanded HMS Harpy in the Mediterranean Fleet from 1913 to 1915; seeing action at Gallipoli in 1915. He was appointed Flag Commander to the Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet, from 1917 to 1918, and became a Captain in 1919, in which year he was awarded the CMG.
Dickens was appointed to the Directing Staff of the Imperial Defence College from 1926 to 1929, and commanded from 1929 to 1931. He was a Naval aide-de-camp to George V from 1931 to 1932, and was promoted to Rear Admiral in 1932. He was the Director of Naval Intelligence from 1932 to 1935, and was awarded the CB in 1934 and, following his appointment as Rear-Admiral Commanding, Reserve Fleet in 1935, he was promoted to Vice Admiral in 1936. Created KCVO in 1937, Dickens was put on the retired list in 1938 and was appointed Admiral in 1940.

World War II

He was recommissioned as a Rear Admiral in 1939 and served in World War II as a Naval Attaché at The Hague in the Netherlands from February 1940 during the German invasion. In March of 1940 he was joined by Charles M. Morrell the Assistant Naval Attaché to the Netherlands & Belgium. But Dickens's role did not end with the surrender on 14 May. He evacuated to Britain by destroyer, where he was assigned as Principal Liaison Officer, Allied Navies. During this period, his efforts were essential in forging a good working relationship between the Royal Dutch and British Navies. He served as Flag Officer in Tunisia from 1943 to 1944 and as Flag Officer, Holland from September 1944 to 1945, when he retired. In 1945 he was appointed Commander of the Legion of Merit and a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur.
Sir Gerald Dickens died of a heart attack in London aged 83 in 1962 and was buried at sea from off Chatham. He was the father of Captain Peter Dickens RN, the grandfather of actor Gerald Charles Dickens and great-grandfather of actor Harry Lloyd.

Publications

Notations