Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Albert Martin Nicholson was born on 1 June 1897 in Broken Hill, New South Wales, the eighth of ten children of William Hirtl Nicholson and Agnes Amelia Dixon. His parents had been married in Gladstone, South Australia in 1877 and relocated to Broken Hill between 1889 and 1892, not long after the establishment of the Broken Hill mines. His father died in 1911 and his mother married widower, John Hepworth in December 1915. Prior to enlisting Albert worked as a driver for the Barrier Carrying Company.

Albert joined the AIF in Broken Hill on 22 Sep 1915 at the age of 18 as a member of the Field Artillery Reinforcements embarking at Melbourne on 5 Jan 1916 aboard ‘HMAT Afric’. Originally landing in Egypt, Albert was posted to the 6th Field Artillery Brigade at Ismalia. The unit left Egypt on 17 Mar 1916, disembarking at Marseilles 6 days later. Mustered as a driver, Albert was appointed to the 2nd Divisional Ammunition Column on 13 May 1916 at Le Petit Mortier near Le Mans where the unit was reorganising.

“In post-19th Century conventional warfare, artillery is a dominant component of military combat power.  The nature, range and effect of artillery fire dominated the battlefields of the Western Front in particular on a scale that has rarely been rivalled since.

To sustain this effect, the logistics of supply of ammunition are critical.  The weight and volume of artillery ammunition meant that keeping ammunition up to the guns at the rates required was an all-encompassing supply chain issue from manufacture through storage, distribution and provision to disposal of unexploded ordnance and recovery of re-useable components.

Each Division had an Ammunition Column to keep ammunition up to the guns by moving it from "Third line" storage up to the Front ("First Line"). It was a mammoth task involving motor and horse-drawn transport, heavy and light rail and tramways.  Ammunition dumps and transport near the Front Line were high priority targets of the enemy's guns, and later, aircraft.

Horse-drawn transport laden with ammunition is a doubly risky business.  Horses are vulnerable to all forms of small arms and artillery and the cargo is such that a hit is generally catastrophic.  It is not for nothing that many drivers received bravery awards.” (https://vwma.org.au/explore/units/311)

On 24 May Albert reported sick with a sore throat, a symptom that could not be treated lightly in an army unit of 794 closely quartered men. He was transferred to the 5th Field Ambulance with Tonsilitis on 4 Jun and subsequently to the 3rd Canadian Stationary Hospital at Boulogne on 16 June. He then travelled on the Hospital Ship ‘Jan Breydel’ to England where he spent the next 3 months at the No. 1 Australian Auxiliary Hospital located in Harefield Park House in Middlesex.

On 7 Nov 1916, Albert returned to France where he was posted to the 5th Divisional Ammunition Column as the unit marched through the approaching winter towards Fricourt, north-east of Amiens. Barely a week later Albert was in hospital again with influenza, re-joining his unit at Fricourt on 6 December. Throughout the harsh winter of 1916-17, the 5th Division Field Artillery maintained fire on enemy roads, tracks and communications expending on average 1200 -1500 rounds each day, with the German artillery returning fire at much the same rate.

On 2 Feb 1917 Albert received a shrapnel wound to his back from enemy shellfire and was transferred to the 1st Australian General Hospital in Rouen and ultimately to England on the Hospital Ship ‘St Patrick’ to the 3rd Australian Auxiliary Hospital in Dartford. He re-joined his unit on 4 Oct 1917 in Belgium as both ANZAC Corps were committed to the Battle of Broodseinde.

On 3 Dec 1917, Albert was transferred to the 14th Field Artillery Brigade (114th Battery). The brigade rested in the Estrées area during January before moving to Merris, near Messines in Belgium. It remained in the front line until the end of March when it rested at Orville awaiting further instructions.

“On 21 Mar 1918, the German Army launched its Spring Offensive with a staggering 63 Divisions over a 110-kilometre front. There were three main attacks: Operation Michael, Operation Georgette and Operation Blücher (and Gneisenau), which aimed to split the British and French. The Germans hit the British hardest on the old Somme battlefields, breaking through their line and advancing dangerously close to the vital transport and communications hub of Amiens.” (https://anzac100.initiatives.qld.gov.au/remember/key-moments/index.aspx)

On 6 Apr 1918, the brigade established itself around Bonnay to the west of Amiens from where it maintained continuous fire into the German lines threatening Amiens over the next few weeks. On 4 July 1918, the Australians began to push back against the Germans beginning with the Battle of Hamel.

According to the 14th Field Artillery Brigade diary entry for that day:

“At 3:10 am barrage put down by Batteries….. Fire lasted for 2 hours and 2 min. Operation was successful – all objectives taken and line advanced over 2000 yards. Approx 25 off(icers) 1200 O.R. (Other Ranks) prisoners captured also 103 machine guns and 25 trench mortars. Casualties in Brigade Nil. Enemy did not fire at all on Battery areas. All guns in action.

10:20 pm. Enemy counterattacked., Batteries opened an S.O.S. and fired for 20 min. Enemy again counterattacked at about 11:30 pm. Both attacks beaten off.”

The brigade continued firing into the German lines while at the same time receiving enemy artillery fire. As the month drew to a close the brigade prepared to be relieved at the front. On 2 Aug 1918, the Brigade Headquarters withdrew to its Wagon Line at Blangy-Tronville. Its batteries of guns dug in around Villers-Bretonneux under command of the 2nd Division in preparation for the beginning of the operation that would see the Germans pushed back to the Hindenberg Line due to begin on 8 Aug.

Driver Albert Nicholson is recorded as having been killed in action on 2 Aug 1918 although no details can be found of how he met his end. With his battery relocating to Villers-Bretonneux under command of another division, most likely under enemy artillery fire, he was probably killed while on the road. No known grave exists for Albert and he is among those remembered at the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial.

From François Berthout
 
It is here, at Adelaide Cemetery, in Villers-Bretonneux that my day alongside my boys of the Somme ends and if I am here today, it is to honor the memory of Driver number 10778 Albert Nicholson who fought in the 14th Field Artillery Brigade of the Australian Imperial Force and who was identified a few weeks ago and which rests in the grave of an unknown soldier (grave in the first photo), it was a very poignant visit during which I felt something very strong because while I was kneeling to take a picture of a grave of one of my boys, I very clearly heard footsteps in the grass to my left so I stayed silent without moving because I'm sure that someone was present next to me. Forever young, they stand behind the rows of their graves and I would watch over them forever so that their names and their lives are never forgotten, so that their courage and sacrifices will never be forgotten.