Correctly named J34414 JG Nichols AB RN
*Although correctly named, there is a mistake with an initial.
Joel Henry Nichols was born in 1898 in Stafford.
He entered the Royal Navy in 1915 and after leaving his training ship, he was posted to HMS Africa.
Aboard the Africa, he was a part of the 3rd Battle Squadron which spent time patrolling the North Sea especially Dogger Bank but saw little action.
They were then sent in September 1916 to bolster the Italian Navy in the Adriatic against the Navy of the Austro Hungarians and their submarines. They were re-fitted in Gibraltar in March 1917 then to be based in Sierra Leone as a part of the Atlantic Patrol and convoy escorts.
Between April and June 1918, Joel was at Pembroke I then posted to board HMS Danae.
HMS Danae was sent to the Baltic to support the Russian Whites in the Russian Civil War before they were to become a part of the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron and with that a move back to the AtlanticFleet.
From January until August 1921, Joel was back in Pembroke I when then he was posted to HMS Pandora which acted as a depot ship and to where his awarded 1915 Trio was sent.
He was to join the Royal Fleet Reserve in the June of 1922.
In between his postings, Joel was to marry Harriet E Wray in 1919.
We do find them in 1939 where Joel is now the landlord of the Castle Tavern, 3 Church Street, Boston, Lincolnshire.
The medal has a modern replacement ribbon.