Gerald Charles Dickens Gerald Charles Dickens Admiral Sir Gerald Louis Charles Dickens (13 October 1879 – 19 November 1962) was a senior Royal Navy officer and the grandson of Victorian novelist Charles Dickens. Born in Kensington, London, the son of Sir Henry Fielding Dickens, 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,
Royal Air Force College Cranwell a roughly circular grass area ("The Orange") toward the parade ground. The building has been used for RAF officer training since HRH the Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII) officially opened it in October 1934. In 1987 the building was given Grade II listed status. The College is the RAF equivalent of the Royal Navy's Britannia Royal Naval College and the British Army's Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. At present, most RAF officer cadets complete a 24-week course within the College's Officer and Aircrew Cadet Training Unit (OACTU), Within OACTU the officer cadets undertake transformational leadership tuition, academic air power studies