Edward Everard Henry Gerald Dawson, known as Bertie, was born at Lincoln on 8 January 1910, the son of Blanche (née Wilson) and Herbert Dawson, an army officer. He was educated at The Oratory School, Caversham. Bertie Dawson entered Worcester College on 12 October 1928, but left before he could start his second year due to a lack of funds. After leaving Oxford he worked as a stockbroker.

Following the outbreak of war Bertie Dawson served as an ambulance driver before attending an Officer Training Unit from where he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 2nd Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment on 29 April 1940. He was one of several officers who joined the battalion at their base at Castle Cary in Somerset, on its return from the fighting in France and Belgium.

In January 1944 the battalion underwent combined operations training in northern Scotland, in preparation for the invasion of Europe. Bertie Dawson was appointed to the command of S Company. On 6 June 1944, D-Day, the battalion landed on Sword Beach and Dawson was tasked with establishing a signal station at the beach exit at Hermanville-sur-Mer to co-ordinate the arrival of the rest of the battalion and its transport. During the next month the battalion was heavily engaged in the fighting around Caen and Bertie Dawson was wounded at Cambes Wood, after which he was evacuated for treatment.

Bertie Dawson re-joined his battalion in Holland on 10 October 1944, when he was appointed to the command of D Company. He took part in Operation Aintree the following day, which captured the town of Overloon, and then advanced to the Laag Heide Woods. Major Edward Dawson was killed during the attack that captured the woods, on 14 October 1944, aged 34.

Bertie Dawson is buried at Overloon War Cemetery, and commemorated on the war memorial at Worcester College, Oxford.

Worcester College, University of Oxford

Gary J. Weight Mettle and Pasture (History of the 2nd Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment 1939-1945), (2015).