John S. Nichols (British Army officer)

John Nichols
Nickname(s)	"Crasher"
Born	5 July 1896 Markington, Yorkshire, England
Died	7 February 1954 (aged 57) Aldershot, Hampshire, England
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1914–1948
Rank	Major General
Unit	Lincolnshire Regiment Indian Staff Corps Border Regiment
Commands held	114th Infantry Brigade (1945) 182nd Infantry Brigade (1943–45) 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division (1942–43) 151st Infantry Brigade (1942) Habforce (1941) 1st Battalion, Essex Regiment (1940–41)
Battles/wars	First World War Waziristan campaign Anglo-Iraqi War Second World War
Awards	Distinguished Service Order & Bar Military Cross & Bar Mentioned in Despatches (2) Officer of the Legion of Merit (United States) War Cross, 1st Class (Greece)

Major General John Sebastian Nichols, DSO & Bar, MC & Bar (5 July 1896 – 7 February 1954) was a senior British Army officer who, during the Second World War, commanded the 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division.

Nichols was born on 5 July 1896 in the town of Markington, Yorkshire.. His father was the Reverend Sebastian Elijah Nichols, an Anglican clergyman, and his mother was Carolibe Isabel Mare.. He was educated at Eton College and was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Lincolnshire Regiment of the British Army in September 1914, a month after the outbreak of the First World War in August. He served with the 1/5th Battalion, Lincolns, serving as part of the 138th (Libcoln and Leicester) Brigade of the 46th (North Midland) Division, on the Western Front, earning the nickname of "Crasher", and being awarded the Military Cross (MC) in 1918, in addition to being wounded.

Nichols joined the Indian Army during the interwar period, and attended the Staff College, Camberley from 1930 to 1931, alongside such students as George Hopkinson, Miles Dempsey, Manley James and George Symes. He later transferred to the Border Regiment. From 1937 to 1940, he was a member of the British military mission to Egypt. He the served in the Waziristan campaign, where he was awarded a Bar to his MC for operations with the Waziristan Field Force in 1921.