Private Henry Nicholls

The Nicholls (sometimes Nichols) family have long established roots in Great Torrington). Henry (Harry) Nicholls was born in 1891; both his parents Thomas and Mary were also born in the town. Their large family, comprising of a further thirteen children can be found living in Calf Street in early census information. Henry can first be found in the 1901 census. The household have a range of occupations including his father as a carpenter, his sisters, Mary Ann and Lucy, are both silk glove machinists, and his brothers, John, William and Charles, boast jobs as a railway engine cleaner, a silk weaver and a butcher’s boy. The final four children in the household, making a total of nine, are all of school age. We also know from newspaper reports of the Torrington Council School’s Roll of Honour that Harry Nicholls was a student at the school [1].

Ten years on, the 1911 census shows the family has reduced in size to seven occupants. The exact address of their property is also clarified as 1 Calf Street. Henry’s parents are both still resident as well as four other siblings. Mary Ann is still working in the gloving trade, as is his youngest sister, Edith. Charles is now working as an “assistant boiler of stout” and James, who is still at school, is also a chemist’s errand boy. Henry, though had become an errand boy for local trader Messrs. Snow & Co. upon leaving school. It was reported that his swift progress led him to become storeman at an early age for the firm [2].

Harry enlisted at the beginning of the war in September 1914 [3], with Torrington noted as his enlistment place. Given the Service Number 11221, he was recruited to the 2nd Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment. Harry Nicholls, along with nine other Torringtonians crossed over to France in the early part of April 1915. March and April had been a relatively quiet affair for the 2nd Devons and also saw very light casualties as a result of the inactivity, but their boost in numbers from reinforcements was a prelude to a coming offensive at Aubers Ridge.

The attack at Aubers Ridge was scheduled for 9th May, however, 23rd Brigade, which included the Devons, would not be on point to lead the attack but would be held back in a supporting capacity. They spent the night of the 8th in the reserve trenches. On the day of the attack, following the initial assault, the Devons were ordered to move forward through the trench network to the assembly trenches. Although the early movement went through with little incident, the German guns soon trained on the supply trenches as a means of breaking up the flow of reinforcements.

The losses on the 9th May were terrible, even bearing in mind that the Devons never went further than the front line trenches; in total they lost 243 men including 8 officers. Harry Nicholls was amongst the dead. Early reports were more promising and the North Devon Journal originally stated that although five Torringtonians, which included Private Nicholls, had been wounded their injuries were not serious and they were wished a speedy recovery. The other four soldiers injured were Joe Beer, Fred Drew, Clarence Heywood and Bert Piper. It was also noted that fifteen of their comrades had been killed in the shell blast, though [4]. However, this report was premature as a following article from the North Devon Journal in June told of his death following “intimation” from the War Office to his parents that he had died from severe injuries inflicted on the same day.

Private Nicholls is buried at the Mervillie Communal Cemetery in the Nord area of France. Henry would leave descendants, though. Before leaving for war he had married Matilda Alice Folland and they had two children together. The Nicholls family line lives on and they still reside in the North Devon area today.

[1] North Devon Journal. August 5th 1915. ‘Torrington Council School’s Roll of Honour’.

[2] North Devon Journal. June 10th 1915. ‘Torringtonian Killed In Action’.

[3] North Devon Journal. June 10th 1915. ‘Torringtonian Killed In Action’.

[4] North Devon Journal. May 20th 1915. ‘North Devon War Items’.