Sandra (Nicholl) Messina, in a letter from her home in Florida, remembers her father, Edward Graham (Teddy) Nicholl, DFC as: "A man of honour and integrity. He had so many happy memories of his friends in Bermuda, especially those with whom he had served in the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps. He knew many of them from their school days, and later at work.

"My father was a very special man. My memories of Dad are many and personal.

He was and still is very much loved always by all his family. We miss him. He had such a wonderful sense of humour. Dad was a loving and devoted husband and father''.

In a very considerable way, Sandra was also speaking for all of us who knew Teddy as a Second World War comrade and friend.

Born on 13th February, 1919 at Chertsey, Surrey in England, he died on 14th July, 1999 after a period of failing health, at his home in Billingshurst, West Sussex. In addition to Sandra, he leaves his dear Scottish wife, Margaret, of nearly 55 years, and a son, John, Arab Emirates. A sister, Doris Varley, lives in Toronto, Canada. His brother David died in 1996.

Teddy Nicholl had strong ancestral ties with Bermuda. His mother was Norah Shelley of St. George's. Albert E. Nicholl, his father, a Royal Navy officer in the First World War, was a prominent Bermuda businessman, philanthropist and major sports benefactor.

Teddy's parents had met and married in Bermuda, and subsequently returned to England. When Teddy was four, the family came back to Bermuda to make their home here permanently.

He attended Saltus Grammar School and completed his education at Belfield, a business college in Rothsay, Canada.

Like many young Bermudians of his generation, when the Second World War threatened, he joined the territorials and was called up with the BVRC at the outbreak of the war in September, 1939. Early in his infantry careers he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant, and served with C Company on coastal defence at the West End.

When he volunteered for service overseas, he chose the Royal Air Force, a decision that at first did not set too well with his father, one of a long line of Royal Naval officers. However, Teddy perservered and by the end of the War, it was more than obvious he had made the right choice -- a decision of which not only his family but Bermuda cold be immensely proud.

Teddy and a number of other young Bermudians had received basic flight training at the Darrell's Island Flying School which had two Luscombe seaplanes donated by patriotic individuals.

By October, 1940 they were ready to leave for England on the New Zealand liner, S.S. Mataroa , the same ship that earlier carried the first BVRC draft overseas.

The group included Teddy Nicholl, Geoffrey Osborn, Francis Stephens, James Lang, John Brewer, Bobby Burnard, Allan Wingood and Royston Dodwell. Teddy, Allan and Royston went on to win Distinguished Flying Crosses.

Shortly after leaving Bermuda, the convoy was intercepted by the German battleship Admiral Scheer . The convoy dispersed immediately. Its escort, an armed merchant man with one small calibre gun, the S.S. Jarvis Bay , attacked the Scheer . The Mataroa sped back to Bermuda.

In the meantime, the Jarvis Bay was sunk with all hands lost, but its gallant efforts had saved the convoy. Captain Fagan was awarded the Victoria Cross. A monument at Albuoy's Point commemorates with heroic action. A week later, the Mataroa left for Halifax to join another England-bound convoy. Then it was back to Canada again where most RAF aircrew trained at that time.

From then on, Teddy Nicholl's career reads like the script for a Royal Air Force documentary.

He served with Squadrons 26 and 241 in the North African and European Theatres, mainly flying Spitfires and Hurricanes, but Tempests, Typhoons and Mustangs as well.

He was shot down several times, miraculously surviving each crash. The first was off the Island of Pantellaria in the Mediteranean Sea.

The next was over Medjez in the Western Desert, where his plane came down in "no-man's land''. Nevertheless, he walked back to his own lines that same afternoon. For this achievement he was awarded, and wore the "silver boot'', the membership badge in the Late Arrivals Club.

It was during this period that Teddy, who had risen to the rank of flight-lieutant, earned the Distinguished Flying Cross. Later, his medal was pinned on by His Majesty King George VI at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace.

"Dad used to paint `Miss Bermuda' on the side of his aircraft'', Sandra recalls. "In the wreckage of the desert crash, an engineer found a piece of fuselage fabric with `Miss B' on it and gave it to him. He kept it and had it framed''.

On another sortie in Tunisia he was brought down and captured by the Italians.

The Germans ordered all Allied pilots out of the country, and Teddy found himself with a bunch of other fliers in a prison transit cage near Tunis, awaiting transportation. Teddy was among 11 who escaped.

Back in the European Theatre, he flew a reconnaissance Spitfire covering the D-Day Normandy Landings, one sortie being with a higher reconnaissance unit.

The plane was fitted with high-sapped cameras.

Teddy Nicholl's religious faith and Church of England membership were important to him. He had been a member of the boys' choir at the Cathedral, and later became Superintendent of the Sunday School.

Before the War, he had worked at Nicholl & Ashton, the family business in Hamilton, and continued to do so upon returning from overseas in 1946. Next, he was employed as a photographer by The Royal Gazette .

After working for Jack Pitt, a fellow Bermuda RAF pilot, at Chatham House, he became part of the team that founded the original Bermuda Sun. Eventually, he joined BOAC (now British Airways) in charge of their cargo department and remained with them until he retired.

His hobbies included photography, Bermuda dinghy racing, fishing, swimming, gardening and reading.

Edward Graham (Teddy) Nicholl, DFC Some years ago, Teddy and Margaret moved to England for the remainder of their retirement years, to be closer to their family.

With Teddy's death, the BVRC Overseas Association lost its sixth member within a year. He had seldom missed the annual reunion in May. Whenever he returned for a visit to Bermuda, he timed it to include the reunion. He had been a member of the Bermuda War Veterans Association for over 50 years.

When asked once what his war service had meant to him, he replied "There is something special about what it does to your character. Suddenly, you have your own values. You know what's important in life and what isn't, or at least, if you didn't know already, you learned pretty fast''.

As our numbers are now rapidly dwindling, I have a request for all of us wherever we are. Please raise your glasses with me to the memory of a valued comrade and friend, as he takes his permanent and honoured place proudly among the generations of Bermudians who have always answered their country's call when most needed.

Contributed by Tommy Atchison Teddy Nicholl Desert rendezvous: Prior to the opening of the North African offensive, allied commanders visited forward units of all the services. Here at Souk-El-Kasimm, Teddy Nicolll (arrowed) talks with Air Chief Marshall Sir Arthur Tedder of the Royal Air Force.

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