William Nicholls (Royal Marines officer)

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

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/branchRoyal Marines
Years of service1872–1916
RankGeneral
Commands heldAdjutant-General Royal Marines
Battles/warsAnglo-Zulu War
First World War
AwardsKnight Commander of the Order of the Bath

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]

References
  1. "Obituary". The Times. The Times Digital Archive. 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
Sir William Adair		 Deputy Adjutant-General Royal Marines
1911–1914		 Post renamed
New title Adjutant-General Royal Marines
1914–1916		 Succeeded by
Sir David Mercer
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