Studio portrait of 401638 Pilot Officer (PO) James Andrew Harold Nimmo, who was born at Bondi, ...

Studio portrait of 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.