Robert (left) and Archibald Dickson, photographed in May 1916 in Edinburgh on a period of leave from the Navy.
Both Robert ('Bertie') and Archibald ('Archie') Dickson were fated to serve at the Battle of Jutland in 1916.
Fought on 31 May and 1 June, it was the largest naval battle of the First World War — and it brought Archie's brief naval career and his life to an abrupt end.
Naval career
In 1912, following in his older brother's footsteps, Archie Dickson had entered the Royal Naval College at Osborne as a 12-year old cadet.
His first posting on active service came in January 1916, when he joined HMS 'Queen Mary' as Midshipman. The ship was part of the First Battlecruiser Squadron based at Rosyth, under the command of Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty.
Jutland
At Jutland on 31 May, HMS 'Queen Mary' took two direct hits from the German Navy and her magazine subsequently exploded. All but nine of the crew of 1,275 on board were killed. Archie, aged only 16, was among the dead.
Letters in the National Library's manuscripts collections convey the Dickson family's initial anxiety about the younger brother's fate and their reactions once their loss had been confirmed.
Bertie's letters to his mother
The Dickson brothers' experience was one of the stories told in our free exhibition 'Behind the lines: Personal stories of the First World War', which ran from 27 June to 11 November 2014.