Jack Nissen (1918-1997) was a technician who worked on radar developments and installations during World War II. His story is interesting for its Canadian connections.

Recounted in his memoir, Winning the Radar War, Jack Nissen was part of a secret reconnaissance assignment during the Dieppe Raid. The Canadian South Saskatchewan Regiment escorted Nissen in his quest to find out more about the German Freya radar installed at Pourville, near Dieppe. His job was to find out if Germany possessed precision radar technology. However, because of his valuable knowledge of the British radar, the South Saskatchewan Regiment was under orders to shoot and kill the radar specialist should the task be intercepted by the Germans and the raiding party be in danger of capture; under no circumstances could the British afford to let Nissen be taken alive.

With numerous close calls during the raid, which was eventually successful, Nissen escaped capture and returned to England. His action in cutting the land lines and forcing the Freya operators to resort to radio transmissions, which the British radio listeners were able to monitor, confirmed that the German Freya radar was indeed a precision installation.

Jack Nissen immigrated to Canada in 1978 and founded Museum Electronics Inc. based in Thornhill, Ontario. Nissen came to Canada following his British mentor Sir Robert Watson-Watt, who was the original inventor of radio detection and ranging. Watson-Watt was involved in one of those strange twists of fate, which was noted in Winning the Radar War.