.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Just 168 Second Bars to the M.C. for the Great War.
Sold with a quantity of original documentation and photographs, including a letter to the recipient from his mother (dated 24.5.1917), congratulating him on his Mention in Despatches and telling him that she was sending out some phosferine tablets 'which will do much to strengthen your nervous system'. As the following citations confirm, her good intentions appear to have proved a remarkable success!
M.C. London Gazette 18.10.1917 'For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He took command of the Company when his Company Commander was wounded during a very difficult relief, and, in spite of heavy shelling and pitch darkness, carried out the relief successfully. Later, owing to fire from the flanks, patrols had twice failed to reach an important position in front of the line which it was necessary to prevent the enemy occupying. He crawled out and reconnoitred the position in daylight, and was thereby enabled to make his dispositions so as to prevent the enemy from occupying the position. He showed great courage and initiative'.
First Bar to M.C. London Gazette 26.11.1917 'When the attack was held up by intense machine-gun fire and the bad conditions of the ground, he displayed splendid energy in reorganising elements of several Platoons, exposing himself to heavy fire at close range with complete disregard of danger. He established a line under very difficult conditions, and, when his flank was exposed, dealt with the situation in a very able manner and successfully repulsed an attack. His gallantry and cheerfulness had a marked effect on those under his command'.
Second Bar to M.C. London Gazette 7.11.1918 'For conspicuous gallantry and ability during an enemy attack. When sent forward to clear up the situation, he established posts at important points, reorganised scattered units under heavy fire, and pushed forward patrols to connect with troops on the flanks. As a result of his efforts the line was established all along the Brigade front, and this enabled a subsequent important attack to be successfully launched. His energy and powers of command was admirable'.
Major Aubrey Clifford Lidstone Nicholson, M.C., was born near Adelaide, South Australia in July 1888, his father having gone out there to start a paint manufacturing company. The exact date of his return to the U.K. remains unknown, but he enlisted at Westminster for Kitchener's New Army in September 1914, aged 26 years. Posted to the 18th (Public Schools) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers, as a Private, he was embarked for France in November 1915, where he served until returning home for a Commission.
Gazetted to the 7th (Service) Battalion, The Buffs as a 2nd Lieutenant in September 1916, he joined his unit in France at Fabeck Trench on 4.11.1916, the War Diary noting that he would have experienced 'intermittent hostile shelling' throughout that night. Thus ensued an outstanding career which witnessed his appointment to Second-in-Command of the Battalion as an Acting Major and the award of no less than three M.Cs, the 18th Divisional History noting that he was 'a small, slight man, who to the end of the War showed himself possessed of a spirit greater than his strength of body'.
Nicholson's first M.C. was awarded in respect of his taking command of 'C' Company in an important relief action in early August 1917, the War Diary noting that the weather conditions were 'extremely bad' at the time, a fact omitted from his official citation. He had already been Mentioned in Despatches in the previous May (London Gazette 22.5.1917 refers). The operation for which he won his second M.C. was the unsuccessful attack on Poelcappelle on 12.10.1917, an action memorable for knee-high mud and the equally unsuccessful introduction of the 'leap-frogging' method of advance. Nicholson, moreover, witnessed his leading elements struck down by our own barrage, which commenced late, one of several setbacks that accounted for the Battalion losing 10 Officers and 375 Other Ranks in killed, wounded or missing. His third and final M.C. was won for his outstanding bravery and leadership on 6.8.1918, when his actions were largely responsible for establishing the Brigade Front.
Nicholson relinquished his Commission in 1921 and returned to civilian life as a Risk Assessor with the Phoenix Insurance Company. During the Second World War he was employed as an Air Raid Warden in Bexley, on one occasion tackling some incendiary bombs with a stirrup pump. 'A very competent artist' and 'fond of books', he died in December 1962, aged 74 years (Reference: O.M.R.S. Journal, Winter 1976, which contains a full biographical entry).
Sold with a quantity of original documentation and photographs, including a letter to the recipient from his mother (dated 24.5.1917), congratulating him on his Mention in Despatches and telling him that she was sending out some phosferine tablets 'which will do much to strengthen your nervous system'. As the following citations confirm, her good intentions appear to have proved a remarkable success!
M.C. London Gazette 18.10.1917 'For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He took command of the Company when his Company Commander was wounded during a very difficult relief, and, in spite of heavy shelling and pitch darkness, carried out the relief successfully. Later, owing to fire from the flanks, patrols had twice failed to reach an important position in front of the line which it was necessary to prevent the enemy occupying. He crawled out and reconnoitred the position in daylight, and was thereby enabled to make his dispositions so as to prevent the enemy from occupying the position. He showed great courage and initiative'.
First Bar to M.C. London Gazette 26.11.1917 'When the attack was held up by intense machine-gun fire and the bad conditions of the ground, he displayed splendid energy in reorganising elements of several Platoons, exposing himself to heavy fire at close range with complete disregard of danger. He established a line under very difficult conditions, and, when his flank was exposed, dealt with the situation in a very able manner and successfully repulsed an attack. His gallantry and cheerfulness had a marked effect on those under his command'.
Second Bar to M.C. London Gazette 7.11.1918 'For conspicuous gallantry and ability during an enemy attack. When sent forward to clear up the situation, he established posts at important points, reorganised scattered units under heavy fire, and pushed forward patrols to connect with troops on the flanks. As a result of his efforts the line was established all along the Brigade front, and this enabled a subsequent important attack to be successfully launched. His energy and powers of command was admirable'.
Major Aubrey Clifford Lidstone Nicholson, M.C., was born near Adelaide, South Australia in July 1888, his father having gone out there to start a paint manufacturing company. The exact date of his return to the U.K. remains unknown, but he enlisted at Westminster for Kitchener's New Army in September 1914, aged 26 years. Posted to the 18th (Public Schools) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers, as a Private, he was embarked for France in November 1915, where he served until returning home for a Commission.
Gazetted to the 7th (Service) Battalion, The Buffs as a 2nd Lieutenant in September 1916, he joined his unit in France at Fabeck Trench on 4.11.1916, the War Diary noting that he would have experienced 'intermittent hostile shelling' throughout that night. Thus ensued an outstanding career which witnessed his appointment to Second-in-Command of the Battalion as an Acting Major and the award of no less than three M.Cs, the 18th Divisional History noting that he was 'a small, slight man, who to the end of the War showed himself possessed of a spirit greater than his strength of body'.
Nicholson's first M.C. was awarded in respect of his taking command of 'C' Company in an important relief action in early August 1917, the War Diary noting that the weather conditions were 'extremely bad' at the time, a fact omitted from his official citation. He had already been Mentioned in Despatches in the previous May (London Gazette 22.5.1917 refers). The operation for which he won his second M.C. was the unsuccessful attack on Poelcappelle on 12.10.1917, an action memorable for knee-high mud and the equally unsuccessful introduction of the 'leap-frogging' method of advance. Nicholson, moreover, witnessed his leading elements struck down by our own barrage, which commenced late, one of several setbacks that accounted for the Battalion losing 10 Officers and 375 Other Ranks in killed, wounded or missing. His third and final M.C. was won for his outstanding bravery and leadership on 6.8.1918, when his actions were largely responsible for establishing the Brigade Front.
Nicholson relinquished his Commission in 1921 and returned to civilian life as a Risk Assessor with the Phoenix Insurance Company. During the Second World War he was employed as an Air Raid Warden in Bexley, on one occasion tackling some incendiary bombs with a stirrup pump. 'A very competent artist' and 'fond of books', he died in December 1962, aged 74 years (Reference: O.M.R.S. Journal, Winter 1976, which contains a full biographical entry).