George Robertson McNicoll

He joined the ranks Territorial Army as a member of the London Scottish, serving with the 3rd Battalion who had been converted to a Royal Artillery unit manning heavy anti-aircraft guns. On 20th April 1940 Gunner McNicoll was commissioned as a Royal Artillery Officer.

He served with the same battalion until April 1941. The unit was quite dispersed across numerous sites in London and Kent with its guns placed in small groups. According to researcher Adrian Westwood, Lt McNicoll was given command of "Brenzett Force", a rapid reaction unit tasked with being familiar with all the routes across Romney Marsh. 

He was appointed liaison officer for Auxiliary Units on 22nd April 1941, posted to 12 Corps Observation Unit (I.e. Kent Auxiliary Units). On 1 May 1941 he was posted to Coleshill. He is also recorded as being attached to a Royal Artillery Depot whilst employed on Special Duty for Auxiliary Units, most likely serving in Northumberland apparently even before there was an Intelligence Officer (IO). The subsequent Northumberland IO, Anthony Quayle, recalled that he had done the groundwork for recruiting the Patrols prior to his arrival and subsequent appointment as Captain on 6th August 1941. Lieutenant McNicoll seems to have been a Scout Section Officer at this point. A number of Northumberland Auxiliers recall him in the early days.

The Army List records him as Acting Captain from 4th September 1941 (Specially Employed), this rank and employment normally denoting an Intelligence Officer (IO). In November 1941 he took over from Captain Norman Field as Intelligence Officer in Kent, indicating a handover period of a few weeks. Captain McNicoll was based at The Garth, like his predecessors. He regularly wore the kilt with his uniform, even though it wasn't usually worn by his regiment on active service. This made him a distinctive character that was remembered by many Auxiliers in Kent and obvious in photos. Ron Martin (Hastingleigh Patrol) said that he expected all the Auxiliers to be able to shoot a man in the head through iron sights at sixty yards. Another chap said the he never sugar coated their job in any way and always told them straight how dangerous the job they would be doing is and how long they were expected to survive.

He was also remembered for his Alsatian dog, Arrow. His affection for the dog was also to result in serious problems for Captain McNicoll. At the start of the war he had owned two dogs, Arrow and Lulu. He had found a home for them, unlike many who chose to have their animals destroyed before the inevitable suffering that the expected heavy bombing would bring. In August 1940 he tried to recover the animals only to find the person who was meant to be looking after them for the duration had sold them on to a farmer. His son missed Lulu so much that it was arranged that the dog was returned to him and his mother in April 1941. However, Arrow had been passed on again to a woman in Gloucester and the McNicoll’s wrote to recover the dog, though she did not answer. He eventually tired of waiting and went to the house on 30th January 1942 and finding she was out, but the dog was in back chained up, he hopped over the fence and released him. The dog then jumped in his car with him and they drove off, observed by a neighbour. The next day, McNicoll was charged with stealing the dog. The lady who had had taken Arrow in, argued that the dog had been sold to her, whereas the McNicoll family argued the dog had only been homed for the duration and remained their property. He appeared in front of a sympathetic magistrate in March 1942 who convicted him but with no penalty, largely on the grounds of having taken the dog’s collar when he released him, which wasn’t his, though reportedly it was his unnamed batman who destroyed the item. He seems to have escaped any military censure, but the secrecy around the Auxiliary Units prevented the defence of claiming that had he been trying to steal the animal, he would not have been seen!

He was succeeded at the end of 1943 by Captain Frank Platten, a friend who had also joined Auxiliary Units from the Royal Artillery, initially as a Scout Section Officer in Kent.

On 22nd October 1943 he was transferred to Coleshill House as General Service Officer (GSO – a staff appointment) and paid as a Major from that date. Captain McNicoll was promoted War Substantive Captain and Temporary Major on 2nd January 1944. He was one of eight Officers selected to be kept on after the rest of the Intelligence Officers were returned to their units to save on manpower after the invasion of Europe. He returned to Royal Artillery service in June 1945. In the Last Ditch, by David Lampe, he is recorded as having served in North-West Europe, including hunting down Nazi "Werewolves" - stay behinds who would operate much like the Auxiliary Units. Most likely this was between April and June 1945.