Ajax Veterans Street Dedication: Simms Drive

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Street Name: Simms Drive
Name of Veteran: Ernest Alfred Sims Oct. 18, 1914-Aug. 21, 1964
Rank: Royal Air Force Radio Engineer
Ship Served: HMS Ajax
Date of Service on Ship: 1935-1940
Year of Visit/Dedication: n/a
Veteran or Family Visit: n/a
Veteran of the Battle of the River Plate: Yes
Died at Battle: No

Ernest Alfred Sims was born in Gosport, Hampshire, England in 1914 while his father was in the Royal Marines. His father was later invalided out of service in 1917 due to a heart condition, and the family moved to his mother’s native Wiltshire. While there, they took over the Cross Guns, at Avoncliff, near Bradford on Avon, in 1921. Subsequently they moved to Warminster where they ran the Lamb and Cock Pubs until 1936. His parents retired and moved to Crewkerne in Somerset, where his sister was teaching.

Ernest’s wife, Vera Lindsay Izatt, was in the WRNS (Women’s Royal Naval Service) during the war, ending up at Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton, in Somerset. Leaving the service after the war she also moved to Crewkerne to join his sister and mother-in-law. Ernest and his Vere had two children together while in Crewkerne, but the family moved to Chippenham in Wiltshire to be nearer his posting. Due to health reasons, the family would move back to Crewkerne in 1951.

Ernest retired from the RAF in 1960 after a Far East posting, ending up at RAF Gan while the airfield was being built. After leaving service he joined an engineering firm as Quality Control Inspector, which he held until his death.

Ernest was Mentioned in Despatches January 1, 1945, received the Burma Star, Defense Medal and the War Medal. Sadly in 1964, a few years after leaving the service, he was a victim of a road traffic accident suffering fatal injuries. He was only fifty years old.

Note: Photos courtesy of Ernest’s children, Richard Sims and Frances Vere Phillips

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