NICHOLSON, Robert
| Service Number: | 87 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Sapper |
| Last Unit: | 2nd Field Company Engineers |
| Born: | Not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 21 Oct 1914: | Involvement Sapper, 87, 2nd Field Company Engineers, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '5' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Orvieto embarkation_ship_number: A3 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 21 Oct 1914: | Embarked Sapper, 87, 2nd Field Company Engineers, HMAT Orvieto, Melbourne |
Spr. Robert Nicholson
From Gallipoli 1915 group
In a letter home, Spr. Robert Nicholson, 2nd Field Company Australian Engineers, recorded the death of one of his officers, Lieutenant William Henry Dawkins, killed while laying a water pipe on 12th May 1915.
“We went out one morning a piece of flat ground to finish covering in the pipe. There were a dozen of us and we had just started with pick and shovel when they sent a shell straight over the pipe, and it burst right over us, in front of me about 50 yards. We immediately dashed for cover, and later we found that our poor officer had got it. It was pitifully sad. One bullet caught him in the throat and he tried to speak, but died at once. [1] He was buried that evening, and he and other English officers have got the best graves we could possibly give them. Ten of us moved after this and made a new home with the rest of our company on one of the hillsides. I made a nice 'dug-out,' cosy and fairly secure from missiles.” [2]
[1] Lieutenant William Henry Dawkins, 2nd Field Company Australian Engineers, was killed in action on 12th May 1915. Buried in Beach Cemetery, he was the 22 year-old son of Arthur and Eliza Dawkins, of Rowell Avenue, Camberwell, Victoria, Australia.
[2] 'Berwickshire News and General Advertiser,' 6th July 1915.
Submitted 13 May 2019 by Evan Evans