Lily McNicholas

Lily McNicholas (16 October 1909 – 5 March 1998) was an Irish nurse who volunteered in the Second World War. On 7 August 1944, McNicholas survived the sinking of the Amsterdam; a hospital carrier transporting casualties to Britain from Normandy, France. The incident was widely reported in the press after the London Gazette announced that McNicholas and two other nurses were to be awarded the M.B.E. for their heroic actions.

Early years McNicholas was born on Kiltimagh, County Mayo, Ireland to Thomas and Bridget McNicholas. After attending the St. Louis Convent Secondary School in the town, she left Ireland in the 1930s to study nursing in England.

Career M.B.E. medal on a bow ribbon awarded to Sister Lily McNicholas Little is known of McNicholas' early nursing career, but on 5 October 1942 she was granted a commission as a Sister (No. 246129) in the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS) Reserve. McNicholas joined an estimated 70,000 men and women from Ireland, who served in the British forces over the course of the Second World War.

Sinking of the Amsterdam alt=Square, blue leather case with gold lettering. MBE bracket Mily bracket The Amsterdam was on her third cross-Channel voyage to pick up Allied casualties and German prisoners of war from the Battle of the Falaise Pocket, when disaster occurred. There are differing accounts of what caused the Amsterdam to sink. An official record states that the sinking was the result of "enemy action," and it was widely reported in the press that the ship was hit by a torpedo. Other accounts, including the testimony of a sailor on board, agree that the ship struck a German mine.

The impact of the mine destroyed one half of the vessel, killing all the men in the engine room. As the ship lay broken and sinking in the water, McNicholas disregarded her place in No. 3 Water Ambulance, going back into the ship to bring grievously injured men up from the hospital deck. According to a magazine article written in 2013, McNicholas declined to attend her investiture at Buckingham Palace, travelling instead to visit the bereaved parents of her best friend. but correspondence from the War Office; the official recommendation record; medal and medal case, show that McNicholas did in fact receive an M.B.E.

Later life McNicholas went on to postings in London, Egypt and Bombay, demobilising in March 1946 and released from service in June that year. She moved to Chicago in 1947, where she continued nursing in hospitals and for the International Harvester company. McNicholas retired in 1976 and resided in Oak Lawn, Illinois, until she died in 1998.