the Germans that if they want Calais they will have to fight for it." The Germans resumed their fire. Soon after, Nicholson received a telegram from Anthony Eden, Secretary of War: "Defence of Calais is of vital importance to our country and BEF and as showing our continued co-operation with France. The eyes of the whole Empire are upon the defence of Calais, and His Majesty’s government is confident that you and your gallant regiments will perform an exploit worthy of the British name." He received and refused another offer to surrender from the Germans: "The answer is no, as it is the British Army’s duty to fight as well as it is the Germans'." Nicholson continued visiting the troops at the front lines. That night, Winston Churchill telegrammed Nicholson: Churchill later wrote that he felt physically sick after sending the telegram. On 26 May, the German barrage continued and in the afternoon, the Germans broke through, taking Nicholson and many soldiers prisoner. He was taken to a prisoner camp near Salzburg, then later to one in Hesse. On 4 June 1940, Churchill spoke to Parliament about Nicholson's defence: Katyn incident While imprisoned, Nicholson was asked to be an independent witness that the Germans did not perpetrate the Katyn massacre, where around 20,000 Polish officers and intelligentsia were killed by the Soviets. Nicholson, the senior British officer at his camp, and the senior American officer, Colonel John H. Van Vliet (later the author of the "Van Vliet report" implicating the Soviets in the massacre) refused, not wanting to be part of a German propaganda effort. Van Vliet and another American officer were later forced to go. Death Nicholson died in captivity in 1943, in the German city of Rotenburg an der Fulda where he was kept as a prisoner of war. According to his death certificate, he threw himself out of a window after suffering from depression, suffering a skull fracture. He was taken to the city hospital, where he died in the early morning hours of 26 June and was buried at Rotenburg Civil Cemetery. His date of death is given as 26 or 27 June in his obituary in The Times. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath for his services at Calais in 1940. Historical reaction In 1949, Churchill wrote that the defence of Calais led by Nicholson delayed the German attack on