24677: Angus Nicolson

Aonghas Mhurchaidh Choinnich

Angus (1913-1982) was a son of Murdo Nicolson and Isabella Macleod, 11 Calbost. His father died in 1916.

At St Giles, Edinburgh, in 1939, he married Annabella Macaskill, 40 Gravir.  Angus and Annabella settled at 10 Calbost and they had three children. The family later moved to 6 Holm, Stornoway.

On January 6, 1933 Angus joined the Royal Naval Reserve, Service Number AX16722 and re-enrolled under BX10496. His records indicate that he was 5ft 7½ in tall with dark red hair, hazel eyes and a fresh complexion. Angus was a fisherman on Stornoway registered fishing boat the Welcome Home from 1933-1935. He joined the Merchant Navy and made four trips to Trinidad on the SS Baron Cochrane, travelled to Italy, Huelva and Gibraltar on the SS Chesham and took a foreign trip on the SS British Mariner,  He also travelled to Russia and  the Baltic and  worked on a Whaling ship in South Georgia.

He served during the whole of the Second World War in the Royal Navy. Based at HMS Boscawen, HMS Fort St Angelo, HMS Hannibal, HMS Lanka, HMS Victory and  aboard HMS Fiji, and HMS Ramillies. Angus was awarded the  Distinguished Service Medal in 1944 for outstanding skill and devotion to duty as the sole volunteer to undertake a dangerous mission during minesweeping duties on HMS Brixham, in Corsican waters in the Mediterranean. His name is mentioned in Roll of Honour: Pairc, Second World War.