James Andrew Harold NIMMO

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NIMMO, James Andrew Harold

Service Number:	401638
Enlisted:	29 March 1941
Last Rank:	Pilot Officer
Last Unit:	No. 103 Squadron (RAF)
Born:	Bondi, New South Wales, Australia, 5 July 1922
Home Town:	Brisbane, Brisbane, Queensland
Schooling:	Melbourne Grammar School, Victoria, Australia
Occupation:	Air Force Officer
Died:	Air combat operations (mine-laying), Denmark, 10 April 1944, aged 21 years
Cemetery:	Esbjerg (Fourfelt) Cemetery Brande, Denmark A 7 12
Memorials:	Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, International Bomber Command Centre Memorial, Melbourne Cricket Club WW2 Honour Roll

World War 2 Service

29 Mar 1941:	Involvement Leading Aircraftman, 401638, Aircrew Training Units, Enlistment/Embarkation WW2
29 Mar 1941:	Enlisted Brisbane, Queensland
29 Mar 1941:	Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Pilot Officer, 401638, No. 103 Squadron (RAF)
1 Nov 1941:	Involvement Sergeant, 401638, Aircrew Training Units, Empire Air Training Scheme
10 Apr 1944:	Involvement Royal Australian Air Force, Pilot Officer, 401638, No. 103 Squadron (RAF), Air War NW Europe 1939-45

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Biography

James Andrew Harold NIMMO - Pilot Officer RAAF Killed in Action

Son of Lieutenant General Robert Harold Nimmo (/explore/people/617220) CBE, MiD, CMO UNMOGIP 1950-66

Extract of AWM biography

401638 Pilot Officer (PO) James Andrew Harold Nimmo, who was born at Bondi, NSW, on 5 July 1922, the son of Robert Harold and Joan Margaret Nimmo.

While completing his education at Melbourne Grammar School, Nimmo was enrolled on the Reserve of the Royal Australian Air Force on 8 October 1940 and later enlisted in Brisbane, Qld, on 29 March 1941.

After training in Australia, Nimmo was posted to the United Kingdom and joined a squadron equipped with Avro Lancaster bomber aircraft. After a period on operations including bombing missions over Germany, Nimmo and his crew were posted in January 1944 to 103 Squadron, RAF.

On 10 April 1944, they were detailed to carry out the task of laying mines along the German and Polish shore in the Baltic, in the area around Gdynia. On completion of the mission, Nimmo turned for the return to base but was intercepted by a German night fighter aircraft based in German occupied Denmark and shot down. The two air gunners were able to bail out of the aircraft and survived. Nimmo and four others of the crew perished. Nimmo's body was found by a local farmer near the town of Brande. Fifty five years later, the local citizens erected a memorial to the dead airmen in Brande. This was dedicated on 10 April 1999 in the presence of a party of Danish Air Force officers and airmen. During the ceremony, wreaths were laid by an official of the Australian Embassy and the Senior Dutch Air Force officer. Also attending the ceremony were the two survivors of the crash, Flight Sergeant (Flt Sgt) Keith Francis Clohessy, who had the honour of removing the RAF Ensign from the memorial stone to reveal the names of the dead comrades. Nimmo's wrist watch which had been retrieved from his body and preserved in the Brande Museum was eventually forwarded to Nimmo's sister.

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