Canvas respirator case : Lieutenant P J Kimlin, HMAS Kanimbla

Olive green canvas haversack to hold the Avon FM 12 respirator and accessories. The haversack has an overlapping top flap with a central front press stud fastening and Velcro sealing tabs. Inside the flap is a pair of green elastic straps. There is an adjustable external nylon web carrying strap with a Fastex clip attached to the rear of the pack. The excess strap has been gathered and neatly bound with black electrical tape. Also on the rear of the bag is a press stud and Velcro belt clip for attachment to the waist of the wearer's uniform. A short loop of green cotton tape stitched into the seam at each lower corner. A 1.4 m length of this cotton tape is knotted on to the right hand loop, and tucked into a small external pocket on the left hand side of the bag. On the right hand side is a small pouch with a Velcro flap, and inside the bag is a similar pouch located centrally, and a pair of canvas pockets to hold mask accessories. A green fabric label sewn to the flap of this pouch is printed in black with the words 'HAVERSACK RESPIRATOR O/D 1998 8465-99-720-4971 074468 REMPLOY LTD'.

Respirator haversack issued to Lieutenant P J Kimlin RAN whilst on active service in the Persian Gulf. Paul John Kimlin was born in Canberra in 1976, and joined the Royal Australian Navy as a direct entry pilot trainee in 1996. After completing his fixed-wing training as part of 175 Pilot Course, he went on to graduate from the Australian Defence Force Helicopter School in Canberra. He served with 723 Squadron, flying the Aerospatiale AS 350B Squirrel, before joining 817 Squadron, which operates Westland Sea Kings. From September 2000 to April 2001, Kimlin served with the United Nations in East Timor, and during 2003 he was embarked on HMAS Kanimbla for service in the Persian Gulf as second pilot of the attached Sea King helicopter N16-118, callsign 'Shark 07'. During the month of March 2003, this helicopter and crew set a squadron record by flying 126.4 hours, and also became the first RAN aircraft to land in Iraq following the commencement of hostilities. He returned to Australia in July 2003. After the Boxing Day 2004 tsunami off the Indonesian province of Aceh, HMAS Kanimbla, with its embarked helicopters, spent three months providing humanitarian relief. The ship was on its way home to Australia after this deployment when it was diverted to the provide further humanitarian aid to the Indonesian island of Nias, which had been hit by another earthquake. Paul Kimlin, piloting Kanimbla's Sea King Helicopter 'Shark 02' was killed, together with another eight of the eleven RAN and RAAF personnel on the aircraft, when it crashed on Nias due to mechanical failure on 2 April 2005.