William Nicholls (Royal Marines officer)

Last updated • 1 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Sir William Nicholls
Birth nameWilliam Charles Nicholls
Born(1854-02-25)25 February 1854
Greenwich, London
Died1 December 1935(1935-12-01) (aged 81) [1]
East Dean, Wiltshire, England
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branch Royal Marines
Years of service1872–1916
Rank General
Commands held Adjutant-General Royal Marines
Battles/wars Anglo-Zulu War
First World War
Awards Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath

General Sir William Charles Nicholls, KCB (25 February 1854 – 1 December 1935) was a Royal Marines officer who served as Adjutant-General Royal Marines.

Military career

Educated at Cheltenham College, Nicholls was commissioned into the Royal Marine Artillery on 15 July 1872. [2] He saw action in South Africa in 1879 during the Anglo-Zulu War. [3] He became Deputy Adjutant-General at Headquarters, Royal Marine Forces in June 1911. [4] At that time the Deputy Adjutant-General was the professional head of the Royal Marines. [5] His post was redesignated Adjutant-General Royal Marines in early 1914 [6] [7] shortly before the Gallipoli landings, in which the Royal Marine Forces took a prominent role, in June 1915 during the First World War. [8] He retired in June 1916. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francis Grenfell, 1st Baron Grenfell</span> British Army officer

Field Marshal Francis Wallace Grenfell, 1st Baron Grenfell, was a British Army officer. After serving as aide-de-camp to the Commander-in-Chief, South Africa, he fought in the 9th Xhosa War, the Anglo-Zulu War and then the Anglo-Egyptian War. He went on to become Sirdar (Commander-in-Chief) of the Egyptian Army and commanded the forces at the Battle of Suakin in December 1888 and at the Battle of Toski in August 1889 during the Mahdist War. After that he became Governor of Malta and then Commander-in-Chief, Ireland before retiring in 1908.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herbert Plumer, 1st Viscount Plumer</span> British Army general (1857–1932)

Field Marshal Herbert Charles Onslow Plumer, 1st Viscount Plumer, was a senior British Army officer of the First World War. After commanding V Corps at the Second Battle of Ypres in April 1915, he took command of the Second Army in May 1915 and in June 1917 won an overwhelming victory over the German Army at the Battle of Messines, which started with the simultaneous explosion of a series of mines placed by the Royal Engineers' tunnelling companies beneath German lines, which created 19 large craters and was described as the loudest explosion in human history. He later served as Commander-in-Chief of the British Army of the Rhine and then as Governor of Malta before becoming High Commissioner of the British Mandate for Palestine in 1925 and retiring in 1928.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evelyn Wood (British Army officer)</span> British Army officer (1838–1919)

Field Marshal Sir Henry Evelyn Wood, was a British Army officer. After an early career in the Royal Navy, Wood joined the British Army in 1855. He served in several major conflicts including the Indian Mutiny where, as a lieutenant, he was awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest award for valour in the face of the enemy that is awarded to British and Imperial forces, for rescuing a local merchant from a band of robbers who had taken their captive into the jungle, where they intended to hang him. Wood further served as a commander in several other conflicts, notably the Third Anglo-Ashanti War, the Anglo-Zulu War, the First Boer War and the Mahdist War. His service in Egypt led to his appointment as Sirdar where he reorganised the Egyptian Army. He returned to Britain to serve as General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Aldershot Command from 1889, as Quartermaster-General to the Forces from 1893 and as Adjutant General from 1897. His last appointment was as commander of 2nd Army Corps from 1901 to 1904.

Brigadier general Edward Stevenson Browne, VC, CB was a British Army officer, and an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Commandant General Royal Marines</span> Head of the Royal Marines

The Commandant General Royal Marines is the professional head of the Royal Marines. The title has existed since 1943. The role is held by a General who is assisted by a Deputy Commandant General, with the rank of brigadier. This position is not to be confused with Captain General Royal Marines, the ceremonial head. The Commandant General Royal Marines is the counterpart to the Commandant of the United States Marine Corps.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frederick Sykes</span> British military officer and politician (1877–1954)

Air Vice Marshal Sir Frederick Hugh Sykes, was a British military officer and politician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur Barrett (Indian Army officer)</span> Indian Army officer (1857–1926)

Field Marshal Sir Arthur Arnold Barrett, was a British officer of the Indian Army. He saw action at the Siege of the Sherpur Cantonment in December 1879 and at the Battle of Kandahar in September 1880 during the Second Anglo-Afghan War and went on to serve in the Hunza-Nagar Campaign in 1891. During the First World War he was General Officer Commanding the Poona Division which successfully took Basra in Mesopotamia in November 1914 and then Al-Qurnah in Mesopotamia in December 1914. He spent the rest of the War commanding the Northern Army in which role he took part in operations against the Mahsuds in Spring 1917. He saw action again as the senior British officer on the ground during the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919 before retiring in May 1920.

Lieutenant General Sir Charles Knight Pearson was a military commander in the British Army during the Anglo-Zulu War. Pearson was born in Somerset to Commander Charles Pearson of the Royal Navy. After buying the rank of Ensign in the 99th Regiment of Foot in 1852, Pearson served during the Crimean War where he was Mentioned in Despatches. After steadily rising through the ranks, Pearson was sent to South Africa to command a battalion of the 3rd Regiment of Foot. After retiring for a short period, he rejoined the Army after the outbreak of the Zulu War. Pearson was placed in command of a column of infantry which then became besieged at Eshowe for 70 days until Lord Chelmsford relieved them. After the war, Pearson became Governor and Commandant of the Royal Victoria Hospital, Netley, then commander of forces in the West Indies, before retiring in 1885. Pearson died in 1909.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Tucker (British Army officer)</span> British Army officer (1838–1935)

Lieutenant general Sir Charles Tucker, was a British Army officer during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Colonel Sir Charles Sim Bremridge Parsons, was an officer in the British Army, who spent most of his career serving in the African continent.

Lieutenant General Joseph Henry Laye, was a British Army officer who served as Deputy Adjutant-General to the Forces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adjutant-General to the Forces</span> Former senior British Army officer appointment

The Adjutant-General to the Forces, commonly just referred to as the Adjutant-General (AG), was for just over 250 years one of the most senior officers in the British Army. The AG was latterly responsible for developing the Army's personnel policies and supporting its people. The Adjutant-General usually held the rank of general or lieutenant general. Despite his administrative role, the Adjutant-General, like most officers above the rank of major general, was invariably drawn from one of the combat arms, not from the support corps.

General Sir Richard Vernon Tredinnick Ford, was a Royal Marines officer who served as Adjutant-General Royal Marines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Richard Hamilton Hutchison</span> British Royal Marines officer

General Sir Alexander Richard Hamilton Hutchison, was a Royal Marines officer who served as Adjutant-General Royal Marines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herbert Blumberg</span>

General Sir Herbert Edward Blumberg, was a Royal Marines officer who served as Adjutant-General Royal Marines.

General Sir William Purvis Wright, was a Royal Marines officer who served as Deputy Adjutant-General Royal Marines.

General Sir Howard Sutton Jones was a Royal Marines officer who served as Deputy Adjutant-General Royal Marines.

General Sir John William Collman Williams was a Royal Marines officer who served as deputy adjutant-general Royal Marines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Adair (Royal Marines officer)</span>

General Sir Charles William Adair was a Royal Marines officer who served as Deputy Adjutant-General Royal Marines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Foster (Royal Marines officer)</span> Royal Marine General

General Sir Richard Foster Carter Foster, was a Royal Marines officer who served as Adjutant-General Royal Marines and later as colonel of the East Surrey Regiment.

References

  1. "Obituary". The Times . 3 December 1935. p. 21.
  2. "No. 24033". The London Gazette . 11 November 1873. p. 4902.
  3. "Officers Of The Royal Marines Battalion 1879". 1879 Zulu War. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
  4. "No. 28508". The London Gazette . 27 June 1911. p. 4771.
  5. "Navy List". December 1913. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
  6. "British Admiralty". Naval History. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  7. "Punch, or the London Charivari". 11 February 1914. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  8. Field, Cyril (2014). The British Navy Book. Create Space. ISBN   9781502428912.
  9. "Senior Royal Navy appointments" (PDF). Retrieved 20 May 2016.
Military offices
Preceded by Deputy Adjutant-General Royal Marines
1911–1914
Post renamed
New title Adjutant-General Royal Marines
1914–1916
Succeeded by