Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command of The Royal Canadian Legion www.ns.legion.ca 71 continued ... Colin Douglas Nickerson was born in Ottawa in 1919. His father was a United Church minister and the family lived in Berwick and Leitches Creek, NS, before moving to Mahone Bay. Upon finishing high school Colin found work in the Sydney Steel Plant. When he had saved enough money, he enrolled in Mount Allison University and had just completed his first year of theology courses when he opted to go to war. He enlisted in the Princess Louise Fusiliers in Halifax (PLF) in the rank of fusilier. Fusilier Nickerson arrived in England in 1942 and was trained in communications and artillery target locating. He was commissioned as a lieutenant in 1943. On 27 October 1943 convoy KME-25A consisting of 8 British and 15 American transports escorted by 7 American, 3 British and 2 Greek destroyers, as well as the anti-aircraft vessel HMS Colombo, left Liverpool, England, bound for Italy. On the evening of 6 November 1943, Lt Nickerson was aboard the SS Monterey, just off Cap Bougaroun, Algeria, when the convoy was attacked by nine bombers and 16 torpedo planes of the German Luftwaffe. The BREN-gunners of the Irish Regiment of Canada, on board the Monterey, successfully shot down a bomber. Then the ship proceeded to take on 1,675 survivors of the Santa Elena which had been sunk. The Monterey was already fully loaded with 3,500 troops; the addition of so many survivors quickly impacted on the ship’s supplies of rations and water. The combination of rough seas, and lack of rations, resulted in troops being in a very weakened state by the time the Monterey docked in Naples, Italy, four days later. The PLF was part of the 5th Canadian Armoured Division (5 Cdn Armd Div) and designated as the 11th Infantry Brigade (11 Inf Bde) Support Group. Their role was to provide medium/heavy machine gun and heavy mortar support to the infantry regiments of the brigade. In July 1944, while in Italy, the 5 Cdn Armd Div did a major re-organization and the PLF was split into two independent machine gun companies – one for 11 Inf Bde and one for 12 Inf Bde. Colin served in the 11th Independent MG Company (PLF). Lt Nickerson’s first combat action occurred north of Ortona on 17 January 1944 when the 11 Inf Bde attacked a German stronghold. In May, the PLF entered the Liri Valley to join the fight to break the Hitler Line. The citation for Colin’s MC tells most of his story from that time: "On the 14th of May 1944, Lieutenant Nickerson was detailed as mortar position officer near Aquino. Throughout the day his platoon was subjected to intense enemy shell fire and Lieutenant Nickerson was painfully wounded while attempting to render first aid to his seriously wounded Platoon Sergeant. In spite of his own injury, this officer continued to carry on with his task and also to look after his wounded men refusing to be evacuated himself.” “Still on duty on 25th May 1944 east of Ceprano, this officer was again wounded, this time in two places. Although now unable to walk, he continued to control his platoon, on more than one occasion crawling to and from his wireless to receive and issue fire orders. He would not allow himself to be evacuated until the enemy was out of range. He was then ordered back. Lieutenant Nickerson's courage and devotion to duty and refusal to consider his own injuries as long as an unfinished task was ahead of him was a gallant example to his platoon and was of significant importance in that the support given by the platoon enabled the leading infantry battalion to gain their objective." Brigadier General Reverend Doctor Colin Nickerson, MC, CD, DD, MStJ Story by Gary Silliker
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