Powys-Lybbe Forbears - Person Sheet
Powys-Lybbe Forbears - Person Sheet
NameSub-Lt Peter Trevylyan Erskine Nicolson RN, DSC 
[62, 107th edn of 2003, Carnock article, vol I, p. 702]
[62, 107th edn of 2003, Carnock article, vol I, p. 702]Birth3 Sep 1921
Death18 Aug 1942, KIA off French coast
BurialSheepstor churchyard, Devon
Generald. unm. In RNVR, in H.M.M.T.B. 38.
EducationWinchester
FatherErskine Arthur Nicolson Lord Carnock (1884-1982)
MotherKatherine Frederica Alberta Lopes (-1968)
Notes for Sub-Lt Peter Trevylyan Erskine Nicolson RN, DSC
Died on Active Service: Yelverton Officer
by
Mike Brown, Dartmoor Press
In the graveyard at Sheepstor stands a memorial bearing the following epitaph -
Peter T E Nicholson DSC Sub Lieut RNR born Sep 3 1921
killed in action off the French coast Aug 18 1942
while in command of HM MTB 38
This memorial usefully serves to demonstrate two points which those researching the individual or family and/or the military background of an event commemorated by any war memorial.
The first is that local newspapers can be potentially useful sources of information. At the time of Sub-Lt Nicholson's death the Dieppe Raid was in full swing, there were murmurings of a Second Front being opened in Europe, the press was full of reports on the Battle for Stalingrad on the Eastern Front, the Battle of Midway had only recently taken place, the first Battle of El Alamein was still fresh in the memory, Allied shipping in the Atlantic and the Med were coming under daily attacks from surface raiders, submarines and dive bombers, and bombing raids were being launched against mainland Germany on a nightly basis. In an age of global warfare, the sinking of a small MTB off the French coast was hardly likely to make front page news in the national press. Nor, indeed, even qualify for a mention anywhere within the national newspapers. However, the following short report appeared in the Western Evening Herald on 22nd August, under the emboldened heading "DIED ON ACTIVE SERVICE/Yelverton Officer" (which explains the title which I have used for this short article) -
The death on active service of Sub-Lieut Peter Nicholson DSC, younger son of Capt the Hon Erskine Arthur Nicholson DSO RN, retired, of Burrator House Farm, Yelverton, and grandson of the late Lord Roborough, is officially announced today. Educated at Winchester, Sub-Lieut Nicholson, who was aged 20 years 11 months, had seen much active service. He was a survivor from the armed merchant cruiser Laurentic, sunk by enemy action in November 1940. Capt Nicholson, who won the DSO in the last war, and retired from the Navy in 1924, is a brother of Lord Carnock, and is also the elder brother of Mr Harold Nicholson.
This short obituary does not, admittedly, reveal very much, and unfortunately it neglects to record anything about the incident itself (and I have been unable to locate any precise details regarding it). However, it does provide some outline family history notes, some further personal names to go on, reveals where Sub-Lt Nicholson was educated, and records the name of another ship in which he had served, and thus gives some pointers to where further information might be sought. And, of course, further personal details will be recorded in Naval Records.
The other point to which researchers attention should be drawn is that they should not neglect to study other headstones in a family plot. Those interested in family history will, of course, not neglect to do so. But those engaged in researching military history might make the mistake of considering only the war memorial whilst ignoring others connected with the same family. In this particular case, right alongside the above memorial is buried Erskine Arthur Nicholson himself (mentioned in the short press report), whose headstone records that he was "Third Baron Carnock DSO Thirteenth Baronet of Nova Scotia Formerly Captain RN Born at the British Location Athens 26 Mar 1894 died 2 Oct 1982", which are further useful details for the amatuer historian.
________________________________________
by
Mike Brown, Dartmoor Press
In the graveyard at Sheepstor stands a memorial bearing the following epitaph -
Peter T E Nicholson DSC Sub Lieut RNR born Sep 3 1921
killed in action off the French coast Aug 18 1942
while in command of HM MTB 38
This memorial usefully serves to demonstrate two points which those researching the individual or family and/or the military background of an event commemorated by any war memorial.
The first is that local newspapers can be potentially useful sources of information. At the time of Sub-Lt Nicholson's death the Dieppe Raid was in full swing, there were murmurings of a Second Front being opened in Europe, the press was full of reports on the Battle for Stalingrad on the Eastern Front, the Battle of Midway had only recently taken place, the first Battle of El Alamein was still fresh in the memory, Allied shipping in the Atlantic and the Med were coming under daily attacks from surface raiders, submarines and dive bombers, and bombing raids were being launched against mainland Germany on a nightly basis. In an age of global warfare, the sinking of a small MTB off the French coast was hardly likely to make front page news in the national press. Nor, indeed, even qualify for a mention anywhere within the national newspapers. However, the following short report appeared in the Western Evening Herald on 22nd August, under the emboldened heading "DIED ON ACTIVE SERVICE/Yelverton Officer" (which explains the title which I have used for this short article) -
The death on active service of Sub-Lieut Peter Nicholson DSC, younger son of Capt the Hon Erskine Arthur Nicholson DSO RN, retired, of Burrator House Farm, Yelverton, and grandson of the late Lord Roborough, is officially announced today. Educated at Winchester, Sub-Lieut Nicholson, who was aged 20 years 11 months, had seen much active service. He was a survivor from the armed merchant cruiser Laurentic, sunk by enemy action in November 1940. Capt Nicholson, who won the DSO in the last war, and retired from the Navy in 1924, is a brother of Lord Carnock, and is also the elder brother of Mr Harold Nicholson.
This short obituary does not, admittedly, reveal very much, and unfortunately it neglects to record anything about the incident itself (and I have been unable to locate any precise details regarding it). However, it does provide some outline family history notes, some further personal names to go on, reveals where Sub-Lt Nicholson was educated, and records the name of another ship in which he had served, and thus gives some pointers to where further information might be sought. And, of course, further personal details will be recorded in Naval Records.
The other point to which researchers attention should be drawn is that they should not neglect to study other headstones in a family plot. Those interested in family history will, of course, not neglect to do so. But those engaged in researching military history might make the mistake of considering only the war memorial whilst ignoring others connected with the same family. In this particular case, right alongside the above memorial is buried Erskine Arthur Nicholson himself (mentioned in the short press report), whose headstone records that he was "Third Baron Carnock DSO Thirteenth Baronet of Nova Scotia Formerly Captain RN Born at the British Location Athens 26 Mar 1894 died 2 Oct 1982", which are further useful details for the amatuer historian.
________________________________________
Mon Inscripts notes for Sub-Lt Peter Trevylyan Erskine Nicolson RN, DSC
From the Commonwealth War Graves Commission:
Name: NICOLSON, PETER TREVYLYAN ERSKINE
Initials: P T E
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Sub-Lieutenant
Regiment/Service: Royal Naval Reserve
Unit Text: H.M.M.T.B. 38.
Age: 20
Date of Death: 18/08/1942
Service No: 38
Awards: D S C
Additional information: Son of Captain the Hon. Erskine Arthur Nicolson, D.S.O., J.P., R.N., and Katherine Nicolson, of Sheepstor.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: North of Church.
Cemetery: SHEEPSTOR CHURCHYARD
______________________________________________________
Name: NICOLSON, PETER TREVYLYAN ERSKINE
Initials: P T E
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Sub-Lieutenant
Regiment/Service: Royal Naval Reserve
Unit Text: H.M.M.T.B. 38.
Age: 20
Date of Death: 18/08/1942
Service No: 38
Awards: D S C
Additional information: Son of Captain the Hon. Erskine Arthur Nicolson, D.S.O., J.P., R.N., and Katherine Nicolson, of Sheepstor.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: North of Church.
Cemetery: SHEEPSTOR CHURCHYARD
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