[3] During the Depression, since his parents were dead, Nichols had to leave school at 14 years of age and work at various jobs.

In 1943, the National Gallery of Canada commissioned him to depict the activities of the Canadian Merchant Navy with Michael Forster.

[4] He enlisted in the Royal Canadian Navy in February 1944 and worked as an Official War Artist aboard the H.M.C.S.

[4] In August 1944, Nichols saw a man drown while he was on board HMCS Iroquois during the attempted evacuation of Brest, France, by the Germans.

[4] In 1955, he completed his large mural for the Salvation Army headquarters building designed by the Parkin architectural firm in Toronto.