Richard Nickless, Age 26
Private, 73289, 96th Field Amb, Royal Army Medical Corps.
Royal Army Medical Corps Cap Badge.
Richard was the eldest son of Mr Richard & Eliza Nickless of the Rough Ground, Dawley. He had a younger brother John who also served, but in the KSLI and a sister, a Mrs Peake of 8 Alma Avenue, Dawley.
Richard was another Dawley lad who was a keen footballer and a member of Madeley Amateurs; he was also a scholar at Brandlee United Methodist Sunday School and described as a fine Christian lad.
The Nickless Family outside their cottage on the Rough Ground, Richard is stood between his parents and his brother John is on the right in the light-coloured jacket At some point before his enlistment Richard had married Doris, who after his death had moved to Hull, her last known address being 28, St Georges Road, Hull.
Richard Nickless stood first on the right with fellow RAMC Soldiers.
Richard had enlisted in September 1915 into the RAMC and was to lose his live on the first day of the Third battle of Ypres (Passchendaele) on July 31st 1917. Unfortunately his body was never recovered and his name appears on the Menin Gate in Ypres on Panel 56.
In November 1916 Richard took the time to write to the Dawley news and his letter is
worth reading in full because it is obvious that Richard felt that the Royal Army
Medical Corp (RAMC) must have been put down as not real soldiers in some
quarters. He then goes on to write about meeting other Dawley soldiers:
“We have been out of action for a fortnight now and some of us are farming — getting
up marigolds and potatoes. They always keep us busy. Some people seem to think that
the RAMC have a soft time of it and don ’t go near the trenches but they would think
differently if they could see us. We go where the infantry go and we are not able to
take cover like the other lads for we have to go up and down with the wounded. The
sights are awful but we must not grumble. I have met ever so many Shropshire lads
out here and they are always smiling. I had the pleasure of meeting my own brother at
the base..... We shall all welcome the end of the war — I think it is in sight now. I see
by the D.N we have lost some of our own gallant boys but we feel sure they are in
heaven above where all is peace”
Richard’s Brother John who had enlisted at the age of 19 into the KSLI later in the war, Survived, albeit wounded on his backside. John had also been a sportsman being a member of Horsehay United F.C. He had worked at the Randley brickworks and was a scholar at Dawley Primitive Methodist Sunday School.
Richard’s Brother John. who served in the KSLI and survived the War, John was a regular writer to the Dawley news, and quite a few letters from him still exist in surviving copies of the paper.
WWI Medal Rolls Index Card
Commonwealth War Graves
Commemorated
Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial
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| Victory Medal | British War Medal |
