Ballarat soldier killed in 1916 identified 110 years later on Remembrance Day
Sergeant Charles Nicholls was killed at the Battle of the Somme in 1916. He has now been formally identified using DNA and archaeological work after 110 years.
Sergeant Charles Nicholls was born in Ballarat and died on August 30, 1916, at age 23. He died during fighting near Mouquet Farm, a heavily fortified German stronghold.
Sergeant Nicholls served on Gallipoli with the 14th Battalion and was wounded there in May 1915. After recovering, he fought on the Western Front with the 46th Battalion from June 1916.
Sergeant Nicholls' remains were buried as an unknown soldier at Serre Road Cemetery in France. The Australian Army's Unrecovered War Casualties team found his identity using archaeology, history and DNA work.
He is one of 11 Australian First World War soldiers identified this year.
- 23 years old
- Soldier's age
- August 30, 1916
- Death date
- 110 years later
- Identification timing
Why it mattersThis ends a century of uncertainty for his family. It honors an individual sacrifice that would otherwise remain unnamed and unremembered.
AustraliaOne of 11 Australian soldiers from the First World War finally named, giving Ballarat back one of its fallen and closing a generational question for descendants.
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