Nomex aircrew gloves : Lieutenant P J Kimlin, HMAS Kanimbla

Pair of US issue Size 10 leather and Nomex summerweight fire resistant airman's gloves. The sand brown Nomex gloves have tan leather palms, inner fingers and thumb. A further strip of leather extends from the inner wrist to the base of the thumb. The gloves cover a third of the lower arm. The left glove is marked inside in white with manufacturer's specifications and instructions, and both are marked inside the wrist in blue pen with the name 'KIMLIN'.

Pair of US issue desert brown nomex airman's gloves worn by 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. The US manufactured desert brown gloves, flying suit (REL31867) and T-shirt (REL31868) were issued to RAN aircrew for operations in the Persian Gulf. They replaced the standard Australian issue olive green items, the colour of which, it was felt, too closely resembled that of the Iraqi Republican Guard uniform. 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.