John Barnes Nicholson
Personal details
| Mother's name | Ellen Nicholson nee Brodie |
| Father's name | John Barnes Nicholson |
| Place of death | Bulli, NSW |
Service details
| Date enlisted | Saturday 24 July 1915 |
| Rank at enlistment | Private |
| Rank at discharge | Private |
| Service | Infantry |
| Unit | 30th Battalion |
| Company | B |
| Awards | 1914/1915 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal |
Story
John Nicholson (Service No 502) was born in Wollongong, NSW in 1893. John was the son of the local Member of Parliament and well known union leader John Barnes Nicholson (senior).
In 1909 John had had an accident and injured his ankle which was caught in the stirrup when he fell from a horse, and this injury would affect his World War I service.
At enlistment he was single, 22 years old, and employed as an engineer at the Clifton Colliery, NSW John had spent 5 years in the Militia.
He embarked from Sydney on HMAT A72 Beltana with B Company, 30th Battalion, on 9th November 1915. The troops arrived in Egypt on 11th December 1915 and John was admitted to hospital on 15th January 1916 with a sprained ankle.
He was sent to England in June and finally joined his unit in France on 6th September 1916. John saw service on the Western Front until admitted to hospital with trench feet. He was evacuated to England for treatment but the old injury from the horse accident exacerbated his wounds, and he was returned to Australia in July 1917 and discharged medically unfit on 29th October 1917.
John died at Bulli, NSW in 1965.