title: William Nicholls (Royal Marines officer)
text: # William Nicholls (Royal Marines officer)
  
  General Sir William Charles Nicholls, KCB (25 February 1854 – 1 December 1935) was a Royal Marines officer who served as Adjutant-General Royal Marines.
  
  ## Military career
  
  Educated at Cheltenham College, Nicholls was commissioned into the Royal Marine Artillery on 15 July 1872. He saw action in South Africa in 1879 during the Anglo-Zulu War. He became Deputy Adjutant-General at Headquarters, Royal Marine Forces in June 1911. At that time the Deputy Adjutant-General was the professional head of the Royal Marines. His post was redesignated Adjutant-General Royal Marines in early 1914 shortly before the Gallipoli landings, in which the Royal Marine Forces took a prominent role, in June 1915 during the First World War. He retired in June 1916.
  
  