Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command of The Royal Canadian Legion www.ns.legion.ca 73 continued ... On 20 July, Colin was informed that he had been awarded the Military Cross. Nickerson would later remark that being in command of heavy mortars was ‘not the best job to have’ as it made him, and his platoon, a high value target for the opposing German mortars and artillery. On 2 September 1944, Colin’s heavy mortar platoon was protecting the Canadians of the Lanark and Renfrew Scottish Regiment from a major German counterattack. The history of the PLF would later record “that night through the good work of Lieut Colin Nickerson's platoon, who fired 1800 bombs in an all-night stand-too, the Lanarks were saved from a bitter counter attack.” It cost the platoon three battledamaged mortar tubes. Lt Nickerson suffered a leg wound, from enemy shrapnel, but had opted to stay in the fight until he felt it was safe to seek medical attention. After a few days of rest, he was back in action. The war diary of the PLF notes that at 2 PM, on 12 September, a fire plan for ‘mortars and medium machine guns was laid on.’ Colin would be part of that fight. It was his last battle and it cost him his left arm. A piece of shrapnel entered the left side of Colin’s back and exited his chest tearing away flesh and bone. It should have been a fatal wound; however, the aid post of the Irish Regiment of Canada was very close by. His fusiliers rushed him to the Irish and the medics were able to staunch his bleeding and remove his dangling arm. Lieutenant Nickerson was hospitalized in Italy and eventually sent back to England for more treatment. Back in Mahone Bay his mother had encouraged the local girls to write letters to soldiers who had been hospitalized in England. Colin, who had never lived in Mahone Bay, was captivated by the letters of Emma ‘Jean’ Burgoyne from Oakland. Captain Nickerson, still confined to a bed, was returned to Canada in late 1944 and hospitalized in Halifax. Jean Burgoyne came to visit him in the hospital. On her second or third visit to the hospital, Colin proposed that they should marry. Jean agreed. Normally, Colin would have been formally presented his Military Cross by King George VI. Due to his medical condition, he was unable to attend the ceremony in Buckingham Palace; subsequently, he was presented with his Military Cross, in Halifax, by the King’s representative in Nova Scotia – Lieutenant Governor Henry Ernest Kendall. Colin completed his divinity studies at Pine Hill Divinity College in Halifax and went on to become a United Church minister. The Canadian Army contacted Colin in 1950 and offered him a medical exemption and a position as a chaplain. He accepted the offer and started a new military career in the Canadian Armed Forces. In 1978, Brigadier- General Colin Douglas Nickerson, MC, CD, the Protestant Chaplain General of the Canadian Armed Forces, retired from military life. He returned to Mahone Bay a year later. Colin was a long-time member of the War Amps of Canada and a became a member of Branch 49 Mahone Bay RCL. He became a Member of the Order of Saint John in 1977 and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity in 1982, from the Atlantic School of Theology. When reflecting on Remembrance Day he once noted “a great feeling of sadness.” Looking back on his life as a warrior, and then a minister, he remarked that his religious faith was never shaken; however, he did admit that his faith in mankind was sometimes troubling. Colin and Jean had a family of four children, four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Colin Douglas Nickerson, MC, CD, DD, MStJ, died on 2 October 2015 in the Veteran's Unit, Fisherman's Memorial Hospital, Lunenburg, with family at his side. Military Cross
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