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A poppy engraved road sign of Dixon Avenue.
Screen grab from Google Maps
In honour of our soldiers: Robert Samuel Dixon
By Samuel Cheng
Published 12:49 PDT, Fri August 18, 2023
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In a series of Richmond’s ‘poppy’ street signs in memory of our fallen soldiers, we share the story of Dixon Avenue.
On Dec. 30, 1909, Robert Samuel Dixon was born in Burnaby, B.C. Dixon studied and graduated from Bridgeport Highschool in Richmond in the year of 1927.
Known for being a sports fanatic all his life, Dixon was a well-known local athlete within the city including the New Westminster Salmonbellies. Dixon was named to the Canadian Olympic Team in 1932.
Two years later, Dixon participated in the 1934 British Empire Games representing Canada. He competed in the javelin throw event and came out on top, winning first place over South Africa’s Harry Hart with a record of 60.02 meters.
Prior to enlisting with the Royal Canadian Air Force, Dixon took on multiple different jobs, including physical training director with the Vancouver Athletic Club, the Vancouver Police Force and was briefly with the Chinese Air Force during the Sino-Japanese War.
During his time in Shanghai, China, he met his fiancée, Eileen Dudley, who relocated to Richmond with Dixon and moved in with his parents James Dixon and Mary Hannah Dixon at 471 King Road, Eburne.
Eburne, located in the northeast corner of Sea Island today, was one of the earliest communities in Richmond. It is along the North Arm of the Fraser River, close to the Marpole area and Eburne Bridge.
Eburne was named after Harry Eburne, who was a store owner in the original Eburne community located to the North of the Fraser River, which was later renamed to Marpole in 1916. It was the establishment of two bridges—Marpole Bridge and Eburne Bridge, that inspired Eburne to build a post office and a general store on the island.
Later on, when war was declared in Canada during the Second World War, Dixon returned to Canada and voluntarily declared his enlistment with the Royal Canadian Air Force in the October of 1939. He was enlisted as a Flight Sergeant, pilot instructor and was stationed at Camp Borden in Ontario.
Dixon was transferred to Winnipeg in the following year and was promoted to Flying Officer, where he spent the majority of his time ferrying planes around the country.
Three months later, Dixon was unfortunately killed during a test flight of a Cessna Crane, also known as Cessna AT-17 Bobcat. It is a twin-engine aircraft designed for training and instructional purposes, bridging the gap between single-engine and multi-engine combat aircraft.
Dixon was ultimately buried at Mountain View Cemetery in Vancouver. On February 4, 1946, the Richmond City Council came together to name the road to Dixon Avenue.
Today, the road can be found nearby Garden City Shopping Centre, located to the south of Blundell Road, in between Garden City Road and Ash Street.
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