LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant James Edwin NIXON
Service No: 409578
Born: Barham NSW, 19 April 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 12 September 1941 (at Melbourne VIC)
Unit: No. 51 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Snaith
Died: Air Operations: (No. 51 Squadron Halifax aircraft LW287), North West Europe, 2 October 1943, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Herbert and Mary Olive Nixon, of Barham, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Barham NSW
Remembered: Panel 197, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 128, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Barham Cenotaph, Barham NSW
At 1757 hours on 2 October 1943 Halifax LW287 took off from Snaith to carry out mine laying operations in enemy shipping waters in the Baltic. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after-take off and it did not return to base. Following post war enquiries and investigations, it was recorded in 1949 that the missing crew members had lost their lives at sea.
The crew members of LW287 were:
Sergeant George Frederick Austin (948873) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flying Officer James Gibson Connor (J/22199) (RCAF) (Navigator)
Sergeant Edward Cecil Kent (1176581) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator)
Sergeant David MacLean (1545886) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant Charles Storer Nelson (1627274) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant James Edwin Nixon (409578) (Pilot)
Sergeant Albert Frederick Simpson (2216150) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/29/55
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line