343:, with a battalion of British tanks and one thousand Frenchmen – in all about four thousand strong – defended Calais to the last. The British Brigadier was given an hour to surrender. He spurned the offer, and four days of intense street fighting passed before silence reigned over Calais, which marked the end of a memorable resistance. Only thirty un-wounded survivors were brought off by the Royal Navy, and we do not know the fate of their comrades. Their sacrifice was not however in vain. At least two armoured divisions, which otherwise would have been turned against the British Expeditionary Force, had to be sent to overcome them. They have added another page to the glories of the Light Division and the time gained enabled the Gravelines Walnlieu to be flooded and to be held by French troops; and thus it was that the port of Dunkirk was kept open.
302:. The next day, Nicholson was told that his brigade might be evacuated back to Britain. As the large German force fought through the town the same day, Nicholson ordered a staged withdrawal from the ramparts to more easily defensible places in the city, such as the Citadel and the Gare Maritime, a train station. On the morning of 25 May, the Germans sent the mayor of Calais to Nicholson to ask him to surrender, saying that if he did not, they would bomb and shell the town until it was razed. Nicholson said: "Surrender? No, I shall not surrender. Tell the Germans that if they want Calais they will have to fight for it." The Germans resumed their fire. Soon after, Nicholson received a telegram from
306:, Secretary of War: "Defence of Calais is of vital importance to our country and BEF and as showing our continued co-operation with France. The eyes of the whole Empire are upon the defence of Calais, and His Majesty’s government is confident that you and your gallant regiments will perform an exploit worthy of the British name." He received and refused another offer to surrender from the Germans: "The answer is no, as it is the British Army’s duty to fight as well as it is the Germans'." Nicholson continued visiting the troops at the front lines. That night,
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519:(21 May) had a greater effect than the siege. Hitler and the higher German commanders panicked because of their fears of flank attacks, when the real danger was of the Allies retreating to the coast before they could be cut off. Reinforcements sent from Britain to Boulogne and Calais arrived in time to forestall the Germans and hold them off when they advanced again on 22 May.
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Every hour you continue to exist is of the greatest help to the BEF. Government has therefore decided that you must continue to fight. Have greatest possible admiration for your splendid stand. Evacuation will not (repeat not) take place, and craft required for above purpose are to return to
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Churchill later wrote that he felt physically sick after sending the telegram. On 26 May, the German barrage continued and in the afternoon, the
Germans broke through, taking Nicholson and many soldiers prisoner. He was taken to a prisoner camp near
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363:, where around 20,000 Polish officers and intelligentsia were killed by the Soviets. Nicholson, the senior British officer at his camp, and the senior American officer, Colonel John H. Van Vliet (later the author of the "
511:, the British official historian, wrote that three panzer divisions had been diverted by the defence of Boulogne and Calais, giving the Allies time to rush troops to close a gap west of Dunkirk. In 2006,
383:. He was taken to the city hospital, where he died in the early morning hours of 26 June; he was buried at Rotenburg Civil Cemetery. His date of death is given as 26 or 27 June in his obituary in
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In 1938, Nicholson was promoted to lieutenant colonel and taught at the Staff
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from 1930 to 1931 and then commanded cadets at the Royal
Military College. He was promoted to brevet major in 1934. On 31 December 1935, he married Ursula Katherine Hanbury-Tracy.
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can be evacuated from
Dunkirk. Churchill's dictating of the telegram, and Nicholson's receipt of this communication in his bunker defenses, feature as notable scenes in the film.
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where he was kept as a prisoner of war. According to his death certificate, he threw himself out of a window after suffering from depression, suffering a
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in France and
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in 1940. In the film, Churchill orders
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Claude
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Death Certificate, Registry Office of Rotenburg an der Fulda No. 47/1943.
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Nicholson is portrayed by Richard Glover in the film
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