The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (NX205833) Sapper Jack Clinton Nixon, 1st Training Battalion, Royal Australian Engineers, Second World War.

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by Joanne Smedley, the story for this day was on (NX205833) Sapper Jack Clinton Nixon, 1st Training Battalion, Royal Australian Engineers, Second World War.

NX205833 Sapper Jack Clinton Nixon, 1st Training Battalion, Royal Australian Engineers
Killed in training accident 21 May 1945

Story delivered on 20 May 2017

Today we pay tribute to Sapper Jack Clinton Nixon.
Born in Cobar in the central west of New South Wales on 3 November 1914, Jack Clinton Nixon was the son of William and Elsie Nixon. He had two brothers, Bob and Bill.

After leaving school Jack Nixon worked as a miner. On 26 July 1943, he married Alice Margory Nicholson in Sydney. Together they had a daughter, Nery.

At the time of his mobilisation and voluntary enlistment in the Second Australian Imperial Force in February 1945 Nixon had been working as a cutter in Sydney for the Colonial Sugar Refining Company.
Shortly after his enlistment, in May 1945 Nixon was posted to the 1st Training Battalion, Royal Australian Engineers, at the large Australian Army training base at Kapooka.

On afternoon of 21 May, two groups were crowded within a dugout during a routine demolition training exercise on the preparation of hand charges. Inside the dugout were 110 pounds of explosives that were stored for day’s training exercise. In circumstances that remain unknown to this day, the explosives ignited. In the explosion, 24 men were killed instantly, two died of injuries shortly afterwards, and two more were severely injured.

Sapper Jack Nixon was one of those killed in the accident. He was 31 years old.

A large funeral was held for the men in Wagga Wagga on 24 May. Thousands of people lined the route of the funeral parade. The 26 flag-draped coffins were carried on four army trucks. The cortege included
over 100 military vehicles carrying members of the army and air force. The dead were buried in the Wagga Wagga War Cemetery.

Jack Nixon’s name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my left, among some 40,000 Australians who died while serving in the Second World War.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Sapper Jack Clinton Nixon, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Lachlan Grant
Historian, Military History Section