NICHOLLS, Arthur
| Service Number: | 31085 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 8 October 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Gunner |
| Last Unit: | 14th Light Trench Mortar Battery |
| Born: | Bradford, Yorkshire, England., 15 January 1892 |
| Home Town: | Kensington, Randwick, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Gateshead near Newcastle-on-Tyne, England |
| Occupation: | Tram Conductor |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Belgium, 29 September 1917, aged 25 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Flanders, Belgium |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Menin Gate Memorial (Commonwealth Memorial to the Missing of the Ypres Salient) |
World War 1 Service
| 8 Oct 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Gunner, 31085, 1st Field Artillery Brigade | |
|---|---|---|
| 19 Dec 1916: | Involvement Gunner, 31085, 1st Field Artillery Brigade, Third Ypres, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '3' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: RMS Orontes embarkation_ship_number: '' public_note: '' | |
| 19 Dec 1916: | Embarked Gunner, 31085, 1st Field Artillery Brigade, RMS Orontes, Sydney | |
| 23 Jul 1917: | Transferred AIF WW1, Gunner, 14th Light Trench Mortar Battery | |
| 29 Sep 1917: | Involvement Gunner, 31085, 14th Light Trench Mortar Battery, Third Ypres, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 31085 awm_unit: 14th Australian Light Trench Mortar Battery awm_rank: Gunner awm_died_date: 1917-09-29 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by John Oakes
Arthur NICHOLLS was born at Bradford, Yorkshire, England on 15th January 1892, and went to school at Gateshead near Newcastle-upon-Tyne. His parents were Levi and Mary Elizabeth Nicholls. He emigrated to Australia with his family when he was 21-years-old. Soon after arriving in Australia, on 5th August 1913, he joined the NSW Government Railways and Tramways as a tram conductor (casual) in Sydney. His position was re-classified as permanent on 23rd August 1914. On 8th October 1916 he was released from duty to join the Expeditionary Forces.
Arthur joined the AIF on 8th October 1916 and was posted to the 23rd Reinforcements to the 1st Field Artillery Brigade with the rank of Gunner (Service Number 31085). He nominated his father as his next of kin. At the time he enlisted his family was living at South Randwick (present day Kingsford) in Sydney.
He embarked for England aboard RMS ‘Orontes’ at Sydney on 19th December 1916 and disembarked at Plymouth, England, on 17th February 1917. On arrival he was sent to No. 3 Camp at Parkhouse, England for further training before being sent to the Reserve Brigade Australian Artillery at Bulford (or Larkhill), England, on 26th March 1917. On 23rd July 1917 he was transferred to the 14th Light Trench Mortar Battery at Bulford and he left England for France on the same day. He spent one week at the Australian Gunnery Base Depot at Rouelles before marching out on 31st July 1917 to join the 5th Division Light Trench Mortar Batteries where he was taken on strength on 3rd August 1917.
On 29th September 1917, Arthur was wounded in action at Polygon Wood, with shrapnel wounds to the face, hands and thigh. He was then killed that day while being carried to a Dressing Station.
Depositions, prepared in February and March 1918, in Arthur’s Red Cross Enquiry file give accounts of events. The deposition prepared from information provided by A. E. Symons (31091) states:
‘He and I were in a party of 5 in the 14th L.T.M.B. one night at the end of September carrying rations from Hooge Crater to the guns in the line on the Polygon Sector. Nicholls was wounded by a shell on the way to the ‘Mound’ or ‘The Butts’. He had a number of flesh wounds but nothing serious. We split up his load and helped him to the Mound … There was an advanced [Dressing] Station at The Butts. His wounds were attended to and he was put on a stretcher. The [stretcher bearers] started with him to go to Clapham Junction [Dressing] Station. They hadn’t been gone 10 minutes when the counter attack began. The [stretcher bearers] came back and reported he had been killed by a shell. I saw him buried three days later. Corporal Rose … and Gunner Kerr … were the men who buried him, about 600 yards from the front line near The Butts. It was down in the gully on the far edge of Polygon Wood. We could not put anything at all on the grave, in fact it was very likely the ground would be dug up again by shells.’
However, Gunner Rutherford Kerr stated:
‘I came over with him to France from … Bulford and [we] were transferred to 14th Light Trench Mortar Battery. He (Nicholls) was in the front line with me on the morning of 29.9.17 when he was detailed for ration fatigue and just after leaving the frontier was slightly wounded (shrapnel) and after getting his wounds dressed at the forward dressing station he was on his way out of the line when he was shot through the temple by a sniper. Later on that day it was reported to me that one of the 14th Battery men had been shot. I immediately went to the spot and found it to be Nicholls. I buried him there in the field … The place where I buried him is marked by a cross with his name, number and unit on it.’
Corporal Rose also stated Arthur was killed by a sniper’s bullet.
The site of Arthur’s grave could not be identified subsequently, and he is commemorated at the Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Flanders, Belgium. His place of association is Kensington, Sydney, NSW.
After his death his mother was awarded a pension of £2 per fortnight with effect from 17th December 1917.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.