An Australian Staff Officer who served his nation for 54 years from 1912 to 1966. Robert Nimmo was in the second intake to the newly raised Royal Australian Military College Duntroon when it was founded in 1912, and went on to serve in combat and staff roles in the Australian Light Horse Regiment through Gallipoli and the Desert Campaign. Staying in the military during the significant downsizing of the Army and the Great Depression.
He was a cavalry officer at the start of the Second World War. He worked to develop armoured warfare in Australia before operating once more in Staff positions at the Regiment, Division, Corps and Army levels during the Second World War. He would go on to be the commander of the Australian contribution to the British Commonwealth Occupation Force, and gained service number 1/1 in Australia’s Interim Army, the precursor to the Modern Australian Army.
Despite serving in both World Wars, his greatest contribution would be the 15 years he would serve as the Military Commander of the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan, and in doing so would become the longest-serving UN Peacekeeper Commander, and the First Australian to command a UN mission.
Only Death would bring an end to his service and he is the oldest eligible person to be included on the Australian War Memorial’s Roll of Honour.
This podcast episode is by Ross Manuel from the excellent I Was Only Doing My Job: Australian Military History podcast. This podcast series tells the stories of Australia’s Military History through the individual stories of those who served; where they grew up, what they did, and invariably what happened to them. Ross is working with History Guild to ensure these stories reach a wide audience.
Listen to the podcast
Articles you may also like
Maths swayed the Battle of Jutland – and helped Britain keep control of the seas
Reading time: 5 minutes
If you’re about to fight a battle, would you rather have a larger fleet, or a smaller but more advanced one? One hundred years ago, on May 31 1916, the British Royal Navy was about to find out if its choice of a larger fleet was the correct one. At the Battle of Jutland – as the major naval battle of World War I is known in English – these choices were unusually influenced by mathematics.
Venezuela’s Fight For Independence: The Battle of Carabobo
This year marks the 200th anniversary of the battle of Carabobo, a major battle in Venezuela’s history. Fought during the Spanish-American wars of independence, the second battle at Carabobo in 1821 ultimately led to Venezuela’s independence from the Spanish Empire. The Battle of Carabobo was not the last in the fight for Venezuelan independence. However, […]
Japan’s Pacific War – Podcast
This podcast episode was commissioned by History Guild as part of our support of THE BLOODY BEACHHEADS: THE BATTLES OF GONA, BUNA AND SANANANDA – ONE DAY CONFERENCE. Angus Wallace, creator of the fantastic WW2 Podcast is joined by Peter Williams, author of Japan’s Pacific War: Personal Accounts of the Emperor’s Warriors.
