The collection covers practically every aspect of Dick's career, from Royal Naval College to retirement and beyond. This is illustrated with letters, orders, reports, photographs, ephemera, etc., relating to different aspects of a varied career. Present are letters to Dick from Admiral Sir Andrew B. Cunningham, Lord Mountbatten and President Eisenhower. There is also material relating to the preservation of HMS BELFAST through the work of the HMS Belfast Trust, and transcripts of a series of interviews with Dick, recorded at the National Maritime Museum in 1986.

Administrative / biographical background
Dick was born in 1897 and entered the Navy in 1910. As a midshipman on the armoured cruiser HMS CARNARVON and then the battleship HMS BARHAM, he took part in the naval actions in the Falkland Islands and at Jutland. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross while serving as a lieutenant on the scout cruiser HMS ATTENTIVE in the White Sea as part of the British intervention in the Russian Civil War in 1918. Dick then specialised in signals, becoming signal and wireless officer for the First Cruiser Squadron between 1926 and 1928. He was promoted to the rank of commander in 1933, and in the period between 1936 and 1939 he commanded the destroyer HMS DAINTY and then the destroyer HMS BASILISK. With the rank of captain he had two periods on the staff of Admiral Sir Andrew B. Cunningham, commander-in-chief of the Mediterranean Fleet. He was present at negotiations prior to the internment of French warships at Alexandria in 1940, the Battle of Matapan in 1941 and the Allied invasion of Sicily in 1943. Dick was in command of the cruiser HMS BELFAST, 1944-1946, before taking several shore appointments, including Director, Tactical and Staff Duties at the Admiralty, 1947-1948, and chief of staff to the Flag Officer, Western Europe, 1948-1950. After being promoted to the rank of rear-admiral, Dick was naval aide-de-camp to the King for one year, then Flag Officer, Training Squadron, 1951-1952. He then served as Standing Group Liason Officer to the North Atlantic Council, NATO. During his retirement from 1955 onwards he had active roles in the St. John Ambulance Brigade and the Royal United Services Institute.