Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Lieutenant James Harold Claude Nixon survived the war but was to die in Australia on the 7 May 1920. Lieutenant Nixon was flying an unidentified Nieuport scout of No 1 Squadron RFC on a Deep Offensive Patrol over the Ypres Front on 16 August 1917 when he was wounded in the head. He was sent back to Australia, and although it seems his death may have been due to his wounds he is not listed on the CWGC Roll or the AWM Commemorative Roll. A collection of items relating to the service of Lieutenant James Nixon, Royal Flying Corps, exists in the Australian War Memorial and comprises a diary with brief entries for June-August 1917, including details of an attack by two German aeroplanes; flying log book for 1917-1918 and correspondence from the British Red Cross and Australian Imperial Force regarding Nixon's health after contracting tuberculosis, in 1918. Additional collection material includes correspondence from the Royal Flying Corps, Officers Invaliding Medical Board, regarding Nixon’s health. Although the Invaliding Board cleared Nixon for resumption of duties on 21 February 1918, he was later seriously burnt when his engine failed and his plane crashed. A letter from the Air Ministry, Strand, dated 12 November 1918, notifies Nixon that he is ‘permanently unfit for further service, it is regretted that there is no alternative but to gazette you as relinquishing your commission on account of ill-health.’ Also included in the collection are two personal letters from Nixon to his mother; a Pilot’s Flying Log Book; and a photograph of Nixon, in aviator’s clothing, inscribed ‘Jim Nixon, died after war from burns in crashed fighter, and tuberculosis, son of George and Emily’. James Nixon was from Orbost Victoria and had left Australia with the 4th Light Horse Regiment in January 1916.