Colonel Gerald William Lingen Nicholson (6 January 1902 – 28 February 1980) was a British-Canadian soldier, historian, author, and teacher. From 1943 until his retirement in 1961, Nicholson served in the Historical Section, Canadian Army, where in 1959 he succeeded Colonel Charles Perry Stacey to become the section's second director. Nicholson authored numerous histories of Canada's military. He is best known for his 1962 book Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1914-1919, the only official history of Canada's participation in World War I.
Early life
Gerald William Lingen Nicholson was born on 6 January 1902 in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, to Arthur Thomas Nicholson and Caroline Dora Middleton (1860–1932). He had a twin brother, Arthur Edmund Delabere “Ted” Nicholson (1902–1971), as well as an older brother Harry Sholto Nicholson (1893–1975). Nicholson attended Barnstaple School in Barnstaple, Devonshire, the same school John Gay had attended in the 1690s. Arthur Thomas Nicholson died during World War I, and in 1919 Caroline moved her twin sons to Canada, joining her older son Harry, who had settled on a farm near Blaine Lake, Saskatchewan.
After graduating high school Nicholson attended Saskatoon Normal School, and in 1922 began his career as a school teacher in Foam Lake, Saskatchewan. Nicholson taught school for five years before becoming a principal in 1927. His principal appointments included Foam Lake High School (1927–30), Wynyard High School (1931–35), Battleford Collegiate (1935–40), and Biggar High School (1941–42).
Nicholson attended Queen's University where he graduated Bachelor of Arts in 1931. At Queen's he met Edith Ashcroft (1912–1998) of Kingston, Ontario, whom he wed on 10 August 1936 in Kingston. Gerald and Edith had two daughters, Dora and Sylvia. Several years after graduating from Queen's, Nicholson returned to school and in 1935 obtained a Bachelor of Paedagogy degree from the University of Toronto. Once Nicholson finished his degree in Toronto the couple returned to Saskatchewan, where Gerald took a job as the principal at Battleford Collegiate Institute.
Military career
At the time of Canada's entrance into World War II, Nicholson was serving as the principal at Battleford Collegiate. In 1940, at the age of 38, he joined the Canadian Army and was commissioned into the Prince Albert and Battleford Volunteers, a Non-Permanent Active Militia regiment. In April 1941 the Battleford component of the regiment was separated and converted to infantry, and the name of the remaining component reverted to the Prince Albert Volunteers. A year later, on 5 March 1942, the 1st Battalion, Prince Albert Volunteers was activated and transferred to Vernon Military Camp as part of the 19th Infantry Brigade. Nicholson, who by this time had moved to Biggar, Saskatchewan, joined the battalion in mid-April. Upon his departure, a reporter for the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix noted, "Mr. Nicholson will be missed in Biggar, as in a short time here he has taken part in public activities, serving as president of the Canadian Club, leader of St. Paul's Church choir, and taken an interest in the dramatic and musical life of the town. He had also been connected with military organization in Bigger and was in charge of the local unit of the Reserve Army. He was also instrumental in forming a cadet corp in Biggar."
In 1943, Colonel Archer Fortescue Duguid (1887–1976) of the Canadian Army Historical Section requested Nicholson's transfer to Ottawa to join the Section. This request was based in part on a confidential report on Nicholson's character that Duguid had read. The report described Nicholson as
a confident, inspiring leader, poised, reasonably aggressive and self-assured [...] He is an excellent lecturer, which is backed up by a fine educational background and educational training as a High School Principal. He is a hard and conscientious worker and a good learner. Quite original, resourceful, and has an excellent ability. He has a charming, agreeable personality, optimistic nature, cheerful outlook [...] An artistic nature, rather than practical; is sympathetic, tactful, diplomatic, loyal, co-operative, high spirituality and sense of duty.