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Auction: 22101 - Orders, Decorations and Medals - e-Auction
Lot: 254

Pair: 2nd Lieutenant E. A. M. Nichols, 12th Battalion attached 15th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment), killed in action at the head of his Company at Maltzhorn Farm near Hardecourt on 20 July 1916

British War and Victory Medals (2. Lieut E. A. M. Nichols.), very fine (2)

Eustace Alfred Morey Nichols was born at Broxbourne, Hertfordshire in 1894, the son of Edward and Sarah Nichols of 12A, Prestonville Road, Brighton. He attended Tonbridge School as a Day Boy from May 1907-July 1910 before going on to qualify as an Underwriter for The Union Insurance Society of Canton. Enlisting on 15 September 1914 with the 16th Battalion, Duke of Cambridge's Own Middlesex Regiment, Nichols began training at Kempton Park. Obtaining a Commission with the rank of 2nd Lieutenant on 10 April 1915 with the Sherwood Foresters he undertook a number of courses ending with a bombing course at Otley. Arriving in France on 2 May 1915 he was attached to 15th Battalion near La Bassee.

Nichols' time on the front was not destined to be a quiet one and on 30 May while commanding Lansdown Post near Neuve Chapelle he went to the rescue of a wounded officer in No Man's Land. Despite heavy shellfire he managed to bring the man in, afterwards it was discovered that his tunic had been torn in several places by the shrapnel of near misses. His Sergeant said of the incident 'He was fearless' and his actions seem to have endeared him to both the officers and men of the Battalion.

During the Battle of the Somme Nichols took part in an assault on Maltzhorn Farm near Hardecourt on 20 July 1916. Here he was part of the third wave of attackers but soon found himself the only surviving officer with all those in the preceding waves killed. Seeing what needed to be done Nichols placed himself at the head of the Company and led them forward despite the heavy fire. Getting to within 15 yards of the German Trenches he was hit by several rounds at once and was killed instantly. He was buried were he fell but after the war his brother Major C.B. Nichols, M.C. of the Suffolk Regiment found his remains and had them moved to the Guards' Cemetery, Les Boeufs. After his death his Company Commander wrote of him:

'He was a dear chap; I had grown very fond of him. He fought and died like a soldier and we are all very proud of him'.

Sold together with copied research including photographs, extracts from Tonbridge School and the Great War, M.I.C., Commonwealth War Graves details and a map showing the site of his grave.

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Sold for
£480

Starting price
£140