Nidd, M.C. We had
always known that his grit and determination exceeded his physical
capacity, but his splendid sense of duty led him to ignore this fact,
although it was common knowledge that had he so wished he could have
been invalided out of the army long before. After severe trials on
Gallipoli, a campaign he went through from June to the evacuation (he
was one of the very few men to whom that evacuation was irksome), he had
had a relapse in hospital in Egypt for some weeks. The Bucquoy fight,
however, had proved too much for him, and he never really recovered from
the ill-effects of it. This was accentuated by the death of two of his
near and dear friends--Lt. W. Thorp for whom, as one of his subalterns,
he had a particular esteem, and Capt. Tinker. The latter was a pre-war
officer of the 7th, while Thorp had gone out to the Sudan in the ranks,
served through Gallipoli with distinction (vide Major Hurst's book) and
then received a commission early in 1916. Capt. Tinker's record with the
battalion was one of steady confidence. After being invalided to England
from a wound received on Gallipoli, he rejoined in Egypt in Feb. 1916,
and was immediately given command of "A" company. From that day he had
always been amongst us, and, except when on leave or on a course, he was
with his company, in the line or out of it. In fact, it was a record of
"full steam ahead" until the day he was killed amongst his men. What
Tinker was to "A" so was Nidd to "B" company, and his greatest regret,
when at last hospital claimed him, was in leaving the men whom he knew
so well.
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