[Listed as NICHOLS on memorial] Private, 5933513, HQ Company, 2nd Cambridgeshire Regiment. Died of malaria 6 August 1943 at Kilo 203, Thailand, Prisoner of War. Aged 23. Son of William Smith Nicholls & Emily Nicholls, of Walpole St Peter, Norfolk; brother of Bernard Nicholls (below). See also Wisbech

Extract from Wisbech Standard 1945:

PTE. E. W. NICHOLLS

[Listed as NICHOLS on memorial] Private 5933723, H.Q. Company, 2nd Battalion, Cambridgeshire Regiment. Captured at the fall of Singapore 15 february 1942, died of Malaria at Kilo 203, Thailand, as a Japanese Prisoner of War 6 August 1943. Aged 23. Born 31 February 1920, and resident, Cambridgeshire. Son of William Smith Nicholls and Emily Nicholls, of Walpole St Peter, Norfolk; brother of Bernard Nicholls who also died. Residence on Japanese papers given as 5 Council Houses, West Drove, Walpole St Andrew, Norfolk. In the 1921 census he was aged 11 months, born Walpole, Suffolk (sic), son of William Smith Nicholls and Emily Nicholls, resident Walpole Highway, Wisbech, Walpole St Peter, Cambridgeshire. Buried in KANCHANABURI WAR CEMETERY, THailand. Plot 2. Row P. Grave 37. See also Wisbech

“THE ODDS were heavily against us and your husband, together with every man there, showed a courage beyond all imagination.”

This passage as part of a letter confirming the death in action against the Japanese In February, 1942, of Pte. Bernard Nicholls, will help to sustain his wife during the many hours of heart-break that this news must inevitably cause.

Mrs. Nicholls, who, with her seven-year-old son, lives at Allotment Cottages, Elm, was informed by the War Office in July that her husband was believed to have been killed in 1942 but that it was advisable to let a little time elapse before being certain of his death. The arrival of returned prisoners from Japanese camps mid the news they bore did little to raise Mrs. Nicholls' hopes and these were finally dashed when, following a letter of inquiry, she heard from Colour-Sgt. Badcock, Cambrldgeshires Inquiry Office, Cambridge, to say that her husband had definitely been killed in February, 1942.

JAPANESE ATTACKED JUST
AFTER MIDNIGHT

In this letter, which she received on Wednesday, it stated: “Your husband was in action on the night of February 13th/14th, 1942, with Advanced Battalion Headquarters. The Japanese attacked us just after midnight. We had very few men, but we engaged them until about 8 o'clock the following morning. The odds were heavily against us and your husband, together with every man there, showed a courage beyond all imagination. Unfortunately your husband was wounded in the leg during the action, and it was decided to take him to the rear in his own carrier for treatment. The only way out was by the road which was partly held by the Japanese and an Officer and a Private (whose names I cannot disclose, as they' might not wish it) volunteered to attempt to force this road. It was a hard task, but for your husband's sake they decided to make the attempt. Over a hundred yards were covered when a grenade or hand-bomb landed in the carrier and immediately exploded. Your husband was killed outright and the Officer and Private badly wounded. The Private, I believe, has since died of his wounds.

“ENEMY DEAD GREATER THAN
OUR OWN”

“Eventually we were forced to retire, as we had lost our Commanding Officer, our Adjutant and eight other ranks and almost every man had been wounded of those who remained alive. Later we went back and it helped a little to know that the enemy dead were greater than our own.

"We buried our dead, including your husband, in a cemetery where the action was fought and later we erected a cross to mark the grave. Your husband's number, rank and name appears on the cross, also his unit and the date he died. The War Office Graves Commission will be notified so that his grave can receive the attention it so richly deserves. I have told you all because I believe it is your wish to know the truth. Please accept my deepest sympathy.”

The elder son of Mr. and Mrs. W, Nicholls, of West-drove, Walpole St. Peter, Pte. Nicholls was 30 years of age when he died. He joined the Territorials in May, 1939, and was called up as part of the 2nd Cambs. Regiment on the outbreak of war. Later he was transferred to the Suffolk Regiment and was drafted abroad in October, 1941. Before the war he assisted with the unloading..

5777847 L/Cpl, 2nd (Airborne) Btn Ox & Bucks Light Infantry. 7-6-44, age 29. Sonof Henry & Eliza Reeve, Wisbech. Ranville War Cemetery, Calvados, France.