Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Four: Leading Stoker William Nicholson, Royal Naval Reserve, who was awarded the bronze Al Valore Militare upon the occasion of the loss of H.M.S. Falmouth on 19th-20th August 1916

1914-15 Star (U.1830. W. Nicholson. Sto. R.N.R.); British War and Victory Medals (1830U W. Nicholson. L. Sto. R.N.R.); Italy, Kingdom, Al Valore Militare, bronze, no mint mark to obverse, unnamed as issued, mounted on card for display, with damaged named card lids of boxes of issue for the trio, nearly extremely fine (4) £600-£800

Al Valore Militare (Bronze) London Gazette 17 November 1917: ‘For distinguished services rendered during the war.’
The recommendation states: ‘Leading Stoker William Nicholson R.N.R. U.1830 H.M.S. Falmouth
Upon the occasion of the loss of H.M.S. Falmouth 19th-20th August, 1916, he distinguished himself and performed meritorious service in attempting to save the ship. After the ship had been abandoned, it was thought that 8 men who were missing might have been left on board wounded. He volunteered to return to the ship as one of a party, to search for them, and although they were not found, the opportunity was taken of trying to make the ship more water tight.’

William Nicholson was born in Bangor, Carnarvon, on 11 December 1880, the son of William and Ellen Nicholson. He attested for the Royal Naval Reserve on 19 February 1904, at which time he was residing in Bangor and was employed aboard the Penrhyn as Second Engineer. Mobilised on 4 August 1914, he joined H.M.S. Falmouth on 3 September 1914, and was aboard this ship during the battle of Jutland and during her loss when torpedoed in August 1916. Joining Pembroke II on 29 August 1916, and Vernon on 21 March 1917, he was discharged to shore on demobilisation from this base on 31 March 1919. Awarded a disability pension from 11 July 1919 to 12 April 1921 for Neurasthenia (shell shock), his address in 1923 is recorded as The Railway Inn, Amlwch, Anglesey. Nicholson returned to sea and in 1920 was employed as Chief Engineer on S.S. Dinorwic.

H.M.S. Falmouth at Jutland
H.M.S. Falmouth participated in the Battle of Jutland 31 May–1 June 1916. As the battle began, the 3rd Light Cruiser Squadon (L.C.S.) was screening Beatty’s battlecruisers as they searched for the German fleet and moved to support the 1st L.C.S. after they had spotted the German ships. This put them out of position when Beatty turned south to pursue the German battlecruisers. After he turned north on encountering the main body of the German High Seas Fleet, Falmouth and her Squadron were the first to encounter the screen of the Grand Fleet at 17:33. As Beatty turned east to rendezvous with them, Falmouth engaged several German ships at ranges below 7,000 yards and in poor visibility. Falmouth opened fire on the disabled light cruiser S.M.S. Wiesbaden beginning at about 18:15 and also fired a torpedo at her that missed around 18:21. She then briefly engaged two destroyers and then switched to the battlecruisers S.M.S. Lützow and S.M.S. Derfflinger, hitting both ships, also firing a torpedo that she mistakenly claimed to have hit around 18:25. In return, Falmouth was hit once by a 5.9in shell on the foremast that cut the voice tubes to the spotting top. By 18:40, the squadron was in position to escort the 3rd battlecruiser squadron of the Grand Fleet.
By 20:10, Beatty’s ships were in front of the Grand Fleet and the 3rd L.C.S. was screening them when Falmouth spotted five cruisers of the 4th Scouting Group and the squadron closed to engage at full speed. The British ships were not spotted in return until 20:17 and Falmouth opened fire a minute later at a range of 9,600 yards. Despite poor visibility, she hit the Light Cruiser S.M.S. München twice, one of which damaged her aft boilers and impaired her ability to keep steam up. By 20:38, the British lost sight of the Germans and turned away to assume their position at the head of Beatty’s battlecruisers. Falmouth fired a total of 175 shells during the battle, the most of any British Light Cruiser.

Loss of H.M.S. Falmouth
On the evening of 18 August 1916, the Grand Fleet put to sea in response to a message deciphered by Room 40 that indicated that the High Seas Fleet would be leaving harbour that night. The German objective was to bombard Sunderland the following day, based on extensive reconnaissance conducted by Zeppelins and submarines. Part of the German plan was to draw the British ships through a series of submarine ambushes and Falmouth fell victim to one of the awaiting U-boats, U-66, at about 16:05 the following afternoon after the Grand Fleet was headed for home, two torpedoes hit and badly damaged Falmouth, follow-on attacks were unsuccessful due to the presence of the escorting Destroyers. Shortly after she was struck, the Armed Trawler Cooksin went alongside and took off all of the men not required to work the ship. Falmouth was able to steam through the night under her own power at a speed of 2 knots, although a pair of tugboats came out the following morning and took her in tow. Her course took her right past U-63, which put another pair of torpedoes into her around noon, despite eight escorting destroyers. Falmouth remained afloat for another eight hours before sinking off Flamborough Head, Yorkshire. No one was killed in the attacks, but one man later died of his injuries.

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