Gerald Nicholson

Bank: Westminster Bank

Place of work: Aigburth branch

Died: 18 July 1944

Gerald Thomas Nicholson was born in Liverpool on 10 December 1923, the son of Arthur Thomas and Julia Mary Nicholson. In March 1940 he joined the temporary wartime staff of Westminster Bank at its Aigburth branch. 

He later left the bank to go on war service, becoming a Sergeant in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. On 18 July 1944 he was part of the seven-man crew of a Halifax bomber that took off from Burn, North Yorkshire, with 20 others on a mission to attack fortified villages near Caen, France. On the way, whilst still over England, his plane developed an engine fire which the crew were not able to put out. The pilot managed to steer away from densely populated areas, but the plane exploded in mid air, killing six of the seven men on board, including Sergeant Nicholson. He was 20 years old.