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Squadron Leader Doug Nicholls DFC Signed Naval Art
Squadron Leader Doug Nicholls DFC
A pre-war RAFVR pilot, in June 1940 Nicholls converted to Hurricanes at 7 OTU, Hawarden. Nicholls flew during the Battle of Britain with 85 and 242 and in September joined 151 Squadron.at Digby On September 30, 1940, he shared in the destruction of a Ju 88 and returned to Digby with his Hurricane P 5182 severely damaged by return fire. Nicholls spent only a brief time with 242 but Bader made a considerable impression. After a hard day Nicholls remembers Bader taking off his legs and dressing the stumps with lotion and talcum powder. Few people realise, Nicholls feels, just how much strain combat flying with artificial legs must have been. Later in the war Nicholls flew Hurricanes with 258 Squadron in the Far East to Seletar airfield, Singapore and flew their first operation on January 31 1942. On February 10 1942 the three surviving Hurricanes of 258 were withdrawn to Palembang with the fifteen surviving pilots, six remained behind to fly with 605 Squadron, with Nicholls being one of the nine evacuated from Java to Ceylon. 258 Squadron was reformed at Ratmalana on March 1 1942 and Nicholls rejoined it. Awarded the DFC (19.5.44) he remained with 258 until August 1944, when he was posted to HQ 224 Group, Burma, as Squadron Leader Tactics. Squadron Leader Doug Nicholls, who has died aged 95, flew Hurricanes in the Battle of Britain, avoided capture in Java and earned the DFC flying ground attack missions in Burma. Nicholls and his fellow pilots of No 258 Squadron had just arrived in the Middle East as reinforcements in 1941 when Japan attacked Pearl Harbour. It was decided to rush the squadron to Singapore and it embarked on the aircraft carrier Indomitable before sailing for the Far East. On January 28 1942, 22 Hurricanes took off from the carrier and departed on the three-hour flight to Batavia. After refuelling, Nicholls headed for Palembang in the south of Sumatra. During the hazardous crossings, the squadron had lost a quarter of its aircraft before facing the Japanese. Two pilots were soon lost in combat. On February 6, the airfield at Palembang was attacked. Nicholls managed to damage a Japanese bomber but he was attacked by a Zero fighter and was forced to bail out over the jungle 30 miles from his airfield. Nicholls started walking and eventually commandeered a car, but found that his squadron had been forced to evacuate Palembang. When the car ran out of petrol he traded it for a railway ticket to a nearby port where he escaped to Batavia to rejoin his depleted squadron. It was soon decided to withdraw the squadron and leave six pilots to fly the only remaining Hurricanes. Three volunteered to stay and the remainder cut cards, the three drawing the lowest to remain. Nicholls cut a jack, which was high enough for him to join the party to be evacuated. On February 28, just six of the 22 pilots who had arrived a few weeks earlier sailed for Ceylon on an overcrowded boat. Those left behind were either killed or became PoWs for the next three years.
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| Distinguished Flying Cross |
| Squadron Leader Doug Nicholls DFC - Signed Naval Art Naval Crew Signatures |
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| Text for the above items : |
Defence of the Capital by Gerald Coulson. High over London, Hurricanes of 85 Squadron engage Me109s in an intense dogfight during the heavy fighting of August 1940. |
Open Assault by Robert Taylor. The Junkers Ju87 Sturzkampfbomber, known to the British simply as the Stuka, had already acquired a deadly reputation across Europe, its siren screaming as the ungainly dive-bomber struck terror into the hearts of those below. In 1940 its pilots crossed the Channel with their grim-looking aircraft to terrorise the southern towns and ports of England. Robert Taylors painting Open Assault, depicts Hurricanes of 501 Squadron attacking a force of Ju87 Stukas as they dive-bomb naval vessels and installations in the port of Dover on 29 July 1940. High explosive bombs detonate within the sheltered anchorage as escorting Bf109s from JG51 race in to protect their lumbering charges. Four Stukas and two Me109s are despatched, for the loss of just one RAF aircraft. |
Valiant Response by Robert Taylor. The Spitfires of 54 Squadron, quickly scrambled from nearby Hornchurch, clash with the Me109s from 1./JG51 over Kent. Below, Me110s from KPRG210 are about to receive unwelcome attention as the rest of the Spitfires hurtle down upon them and in the distance, a group of Hurricanes rip through a dense formation of Do17s from KG76 as they struggle back to France. What clouds there are will be unlikely to give much sanctuary and, for the onlookers on the ground far below, the skies will soon be filled with weaving trails of smoke and debris. For nearly a week the Luftwaffe had thrown everything they had into the attack on southern England in order to annihilate RAF Fighter Command, in preparation for Operation Sealion, the invasion of Britain. And, heavily outnumbered, the young RAF Spitfire and Hurricane pilots of Fighter Command had so far repelled them, at a cost. But on Sunday 18 August 1940, the Germans launched the heaviest formations of aircraft seen in the battle so far. This was to be a grinding day of relentless assaults on the airfields of southern England, the hardest day of the Battle of Britain. |
Clipped Signature - Doug Nicholls. Flew Hurricanes with No.85, No.242 and No.151 Sqn during the Battle of Britain. He later served with No.258 Sqn in Singapore and Burma before recieving a Distinguished Flying Cross in 1944. He died in 2015. |
Fighter Pilot of the Royal Air Force by Graeme Lothian. No text for this item |
Seek and Destroy by Robin Smith. No text for this item |
Ace of Burma - Tribute to Wing Commander Frank Carey by Ivan Berryman. Having been posted to help relieve the pressure on the Allied forces in Burma, Frank Carey's 135 Sqn found themselves immediately in action against the Japanese. On 29th January 1942, Carey's first victim was the Nakajima Ki.27 'Nate' of Sgt-Maj Nagashima of the 77th Sentai, his aircraft falling close to the RAF airfield at Mingaladon Township, Rangoon. The following month, Carey scored again, claiming three more confirmed Ki.27s, a reconnaissance aircraft, a transport aircraft and another Ki.27. |
Those Valiant Few by Robert Taylor. The Battle of Britain commenced at the beginning of June 1940, and for the next two and a half gruelling months the young men of Royal Air Force Fighter Command, duelled with the cream of Goerings Luftwaffe over the skies of southern England. It was to become the greatest aerial conflict in aviation history. Always outnumberd, the valiant young pilots fought with a determined fierceness and intensity, and never once did their spirit waiver. By the end of September the battle was won, but many had made the ultimate sacrifice. |
Bitter Engagement by Robert Taylor. Just after midday on 27 September 1940 one of the bitterest engagements of the Battle of Britain took place in the skies over Kent when the Spitfires of 19 Squadron took on the Bf109s of JG54. In the huge dogfight that ensued, 19 Squadron claimed 8 enemy aircraft destroyed. |
Inspiration by John Young. Official limited edition print of the 60th Anniversary of the Douglas Bader Foundation. Douglas Bader (D-B) leading Dogsbody Section, 616 Squadron, including Johnnie Johnson (YQ-E) , Cocky Dundas (YO-A) and Jeff West (YQ-H) on his final operational take off from Westhampnett on August 9th 1941. |
At the Going Down of the Sun by Robin Smith. Depicting the famous Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, comprising the Lancaster, Spitfire and Hurricane. |
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