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Major Terry Nicholls
Late Coldstream Guards
by Major Sir Edward Crofton Bt
formerly Coldstream Guards
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Terry Nicholls died on 10th February 2022, aged 82. He was born in
Camborne, Cornwall, and attended school locally until
leaving aged 15, when he
worked as a factory presser for Harris Tweed. He was a
member of the Camborne Boys
Brigade from 1950-57, achieving the rank of Sergeant.
During that time, he
developed a great affection for Band music and
marching in the various street
parades, both of which, and no doubt his experience as
a presser, played a
significant part in what was to be his future career.
He enlisted in the
Regiment at Redruth in July
1959, on a 22-year engagement. Over the period, he saw
Service in both
Coldstream Battalions, which included tours of duty in
London, West Germany,
Berlin, three in Northern Ireland, including South
Armagh, and Canada. Away
from Battalions, there were postings to the Infantry
Junior Leaders Battalion
at Oswestry, and the Guards Depot at Pirbright, where,
as a PT Instructor, he
is remembered by one of the recruits for keeping them
swinging round on the
Burma Bridge in full webbing with rifle!
In April 1979, he was
appointed Regimental
Sergeant Major of the 1st Battalion in Fallingbostel,
an achievement which his
family regarded as his main career aspiration since
joining the Army. The
Commanding Officer’s Drill Parades were the background
for the implementation
of a marvellous code system developed by him and the
Adjutant, for nailing
Senior Non-Commissioned Officers having their chin
straps the wrong way round.
Terry would give a wiggle of his pacestick which
identified the culprit, who
subsequently visited the Guardroom at the double. It
was very productive, with
a bag of at least three every time! The Battalion
moved to Caterham and Public
Duties in November 1980.
He was commissioned in
June 1981, and at the
end of the year re-joined the 2nd Battalion as
Mechanical Transport Officer and
was promoted to Technical Quartermaster in 1984. The
following year he was a
member of the Regimental detachment at the 40th
Anniversary Commemorations of
the D Day Landings, held in Paris. In 1986 he took up
a six-month tour with the
British Military Training Team in Zimbabwe, and this
was followed by his final
posting to the School of Infantry at Warminster,
before retiring in 1994.
In his retirement he
ran a B&B business in
Salisbury. He had always claimed that he had done
every job in the Army, except
being a medic or a cook. However, he is said to have
been a dab hand at
providing breakfast! He was an inveterate traveller
throughout his life, which
took him to some 61 countries, including the majority
of the United States.
Terry was first
married to Valerie, with whom
he had two children, Mandy and Ian. In 2016 he married
Jeanette, whom he had
known from schooldays in Cornwall, and who was a widow
in New Zealand. They
divided their time between Salisbury and New Zealand,
before deciding to return
‘home’ to Cornwall. Tragically, Terry died just before
their move.
My association with
Terry began in 1973, when
he became Company Sergeant Major of my Company (No 2),
of the 1st Battalion, in
Berlin. This was not an easy posting, with the
Battalion’s role being largely
confined to routine and somewhat tedious duties, with
the Russians on the other
side of the Wall. We were allowed out twice a year for
annual training in the
‘Zone’, West Germany. In this frustrating existence,
he ran the Company like
clockwork, with a masterly eye for detail, and was
highly respected by all
ranks.
There are two
occurrences that I particularly
remember. One was his comment after I had done a
briefing in Company
Headquarters as part of the Brigade Inspection of the
Battalion. He gave me a
knowing look and said that ‘there was a lot of support
for you there, Sir’! The
other was his reaction when informed by the Company
Second in Command, that the
Company Commander had sleepwalked out of the first
floor window of the cottage
on the training area. His look of horror made it clear
that in future the route
of the duty guard would include passing under the
company commander’s window!
For many years he was
a stalwart and regular
supporter of the Dorset and West Hants Branch of the
Regimental Association,
and also of the Plymouth and Cornwall Branch. With us,
he would invariably
appear with the star raffle prize, in the form of a
microwave or similar
appliance. He also regularly attended the annual
Regimental Dinner in London.
Terry
was a
man whose standards of leadership were an example to
all. He was understanding
and kind, and, has been demonstrated, not without a
sense of humour! He
had many friends and comrades in the
Regiment, with whom he kept in touch during his
retirement. He was dedicated to
his Monarch and to his Country and was a Coldstreamer
and Cornishman through
and through. Our thoughts and deepest condolences go
to Jeanette, and to both
her and Terry’s families. Nulli Secundus.
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