The story of a remarkable Commanding Officer of the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion.

Lieutenant Colonel Jeff Nicklin was born on 10 December 1914 in Fort William, Ontario. Before the war Jeff was a football player with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers with whom he won the Grey Cup in 1935 and 1939 (and also lost two finals in between). His mother lived in Winnipeg and he had one sister. His father lived and worked in London, England.

Jeff joined the Active Militia in January 1940 as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Winnipeg Rifles. On 14 August 1940 he was called into active service. On 14 September 1940 he married Mary Eileen Hollingsworth in Winnipeg. He was transferred to the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion on 9 October 1942 and qualified as a paratrooper at Fort Benning, Georgia on 12 December 1942.

He embarked for the UK in July 1943 arriving there on the 22nd of July. At that time Jeff had the rank of Major in the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion. During their time in the UK they trained for the invasion of Europe and in March 1944 he wanted to attend in a football game against American troops in England. This was refused by the Brigadier because Jeff was the 2nd in command of the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion and too important that they didn't want to run any risk of losing him due to injuries.

Nicklin's battle honours

On 4 April 1944 Jeff's son David Jef was born. It is not known if Jeff ever had the chance to see his son, but it's likely that he didn't....

On June 5th, 1944 Jeff emplaned in England for Normandy. He parachuted into Normandy on 6 June 1944 during D-Day. He led his men into battle there and got wounded in action on 23 July 1944 due to an exploding landmine. He had multiple penetrating blast wounds on his arms, back, legs and buttocks. After spending some time in hospital he rejoined his Battalion and became acting Lieutenant Colonel on 8 September 1944.

On 9 December 1944 he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel of the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion and went again into action with them on 26 December 1944 in the Belgian Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge. They stayed in Belgium and the Netherlands until 22 February 1944 when they went back to England to prepare for the next operation.

On 24 March 1945 the next operation was Operation Varsity where they had to jump across the Rhine near Wesel and Emmerich in Germany to secure the high grounds overlooking it. This was to secure that the ground troops on the other side of the Rhine could cross it without too many casualties.

The 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion jumped into DZ-A near Bergerfurth. According to an account in his files he was number 7 or 8 in his stick when he jumped at 10.00 hours. He jumped without incident, but his parachute got entangled in a tree. Before he could release himself he was shot by automatic gunfire and was killed in action. He was initially buried at Bergerfurth (the spot can be seen in the film Path To Total Victory) together with some of his men who got killed at DZ-A as well. Jeff and his men were later reburied at Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery in The Netherlands.

After his death Jeff was posthumously awarded Officer of the Military Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE). He was also mentioned in records of Gallant and Distinguished Service in Northwest Europe.

Photo source: Libraries and Archives of Canada.

Photo below:

Brigadier S. James L. Hill (right), Commander of the 3rd Parachute Brigade, briefs officers of the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, Carter Barracks, Bulford, England, 6 December 1943. Major Jeff Nicklin is standing next to him.