Ray Vernon NICHOLLS

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S21645

NICHOLLS, Ray Vernon

Service Number:	1480
Enlisted:	1 June 1915, Keswick, South Australia
Last Rank:	Private
Last Unit:	1st Signal Squadron
Born:	Terowie, 18 March 1895
Home Town:	Burra (SA), Goyder, South Australia
Schooling:	Burra Public School
Occupation:	Station hand
Died:	Natural causes, Adelaide, South Australia, 15 October 1972, aged 77 years
Cemetery:	Centennial Park Cemetery, South Australia
Memorials:	Willowie Schools and District Roll of Honor

World War 1 Service

1 Jun 1915:	Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1480, Keswick, South Australia
27 Oct 1915:	Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 1480, 3rd Light Horse Regiment, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '1' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Benalla embarkation_ship_number: A24 public_note: ''
27 Oct 1915:	Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 1480, 3rd Light Horse Regiment, HMAT Benalla, Adelaide
10 Jan 1920:	Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 1480, 1st Signal Squadron

Help us honour Ray Vernon Nicholls's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.

Biography contributed by Elsa Reuter

Life of RAY VERNON NICHOLLS- by Gary Pennifold

Ray Vernon Nicholls was born on 18th March 1895 in Terowie, (a railway town), in the mid-north of South Australia about 220Kms from Adelaide. Ray was the eldest child of William (1865-1941) and Marion May (nee Radford) Nicholls.

He was brought up by his grandmother at Gulnare and Burra, although he spent some time with his Bell family relatives at Boolaroo Centre (S.A.). He accompanied bullock wagons carrying wheat through the Port Germein Gorge to Port Germain for shipping to further ports. After leaving school in Burra, he worked on Canegrass Station until he enlisted for the First World War.

After returning from the War, Ray married Avis Ellie Meyer (nee West) (1895-1971), who was governess to the Radford children at Glenora Station. The station closed down as a result of drought and they moved to Kolendo Station in the Gawler Ranges (S.A.) where he became station manager.

They had eight children. Their birth dates are as follows:

Eleanor Marion Nicholls, born 1922
Joan Maud Nicholls, born 1923
Patricia Elise Nicholls, born 1925
Ray Winifred Nicholls, born 1928
Jocelyn Avis Nicholls, born 1933
Wallace Clare Nicholls, born 1933
Jess Marie Nicholls, born 1936
Rosemary Ailsa Nicholls, born 1940.

Ray and family moved to Pennington, Adelaide in 1939, where he joined the Commonwealth Peace Force until his retirement. He then cultivated a house block, producing seedlings and flowers for which he was most admired, until his death in 1972.

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