Frederick William Holmes

Template:Short description Template:Otherpeople Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox military person Frederick William Holmes VC (15 September 1889 – 22 October 1969) also known as F. W. Holmes, was a British Army officer and an English recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Biography

Early life

Holmes was born on 27 September 1889 in Bermondsey, London, England.<ref name="bio vcgca">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="bio IWM">Template:Cite web</ref> He was educated at the local school run by the London School Board.<ref name="Gliddon 1994" /> He joined the British Army on 28 September 1907, the day after his 18th birthday.<ref name="bio VC">Template:Cite web</ref> In May 1914, he married Violet Imelda (Template:Nee Daley); she was known as Margaret.<ref name="VCO">Template:Cite web</ref> After seven years service, he transferred to the Army Reserve.<ref name="Gliddon 1994" /> Only two weeks later, in August 1914, he was called up for active service following the outbreak of the First World War.<ref name="Gliddon 1994" />

Victoria Cross

Holmes was 24 years old, and a lance corporal in the 2nd Battalion, The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, British Army during the First World War when the following deed took place at the Battle of Le Cateau for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross (VC):

On the first day of the Battle of Le Cateau, Holmes came across Bugler H. Norman Hawthorne, who was lying in the open with two broken legs.<ref name="bio vcgca" /><ref name="bio IWM" /> He proceeded to pick Hawthorne up and carried him on his back until he reached the stretcher bearers, two miles behind the trenches.<ref name="bio vcgca" /><ref name="bio IWM" /> He then ran back to the frontline.<ref name="bio vcgca" /> He returned to his battalion only to find "a scene of carnage",<ref name="bio VC" /> with much of the men "killed or wounded and a gun in danger of being captured by German forces".<ref name="bio IWM" /> A wounded artilleryman asked Holmes if he could ride, as all the drivers were dead and someone had to guide the six horses to take the 18-pounder gun to safety.<ref name="bio VC" /> He limbered up the gun, placed the wounded artilleryman on one of the horses, and drove the artillery gun team away from the front line until they were out of range of the German artillery.<ref name="bio IWM" /><ref name="bio VC" /> Unfortunately, the injured man fell off somewhere in the dark and was lost.<ref name="bio IWM" /> Eventually, on the second day of the battle, Holmes and his gun team reached the rearguard of a retiring artillery column.<ref name="bio VC" /> His story was first met with suspicion by the unit's major but was verified after a while and he became the battery's guest.<ref name="bio VC" />

Following the events of the Battle of Le Cateau, on 30 August 1914, Holmes rejoined 'A' Company of his battalion.<ref name="bio VC" /><ref name="Gliddon 1994">Template:Cite book</ref> However, in October 1914, he was seriously wounded in the ankle during a counter-attack; this resulted in the army doctors at the dressing station wishing to amputate his leg but he refused.<ref name="bio IWM" /><ref name="bio VC" /> He was instead repatriated to a hospital in England and then on Aldershot to recuperate.<ref name="bio VC" /> During his convalescence, Holmes was awarded the French Médaille Militaire and received notice that he was to be awarded the Victoria Cross (VC), the United Kingdom's highest award for bravery in the face of the enemy.<ref name="bio VC" /> He was also mentioned by Sir John French in his despatch, dated 8 October 1914.<ref name="LG 8 December 1914">Template:London Gazette</ref> On 13 January 1915, he attended Buckingham Palace where he received his VC from King George V.<ref name="Gliddon 1994" />

Later service

In October 1915, having recovered from his leg injury, Holmes joined the 1st Battalion, Green Howards and was promoted to sergeant.<ref name="Gliddon 1994" /> In December 1915, he was posted to India with his regiment.<ref name="bio VC" /> On 14 March 1917, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Green Howards, thereby becoming an officer.<ref name="Gliddon 1994" /> He was soon attached to 9th Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment.<ref name="bio IWM" /> In July 1917, he was posted to Mesopotamia.<ref name="bio IWM" /> There he suffered an accident during which he fractured his skull and was repatriated back to England in January 1918.<ref name="Gliddon 1994" />

After recovering from his second major injury of the war, he was promoted to lieutenant on 14 September 1918.<ref name="Gliddon 1994" /><ref name="LG 29 October 1918">Template:London Gazette</ref> He was assigned to the Infantry Record Office in October 1918.<ref name="Gliddon 1994" /> On 4 April 1919, he was gazetted under special appointments Class HH.<ref name="LG 16 May 1919">Template:London Gazette</ref> He also served in Ireland during the Irish War of Independence.<ref name="bio IWM" /> He relinquished the special appointment on 1 April 1921, having ceased to be employed by a Record Office.<ref name="LG 9 May 1921">Template:London Gazette</ref> He retired from the British Army on 20 August 1921 due to ill health.<ref name="bio VC" /><ref name="Gliddon 1994" /><ref name="LG 19 August 1921">Template:London Gazette</ref>

In addition to his Victoria Cross and Médaille Militaire, he ended his war service with the 1914 Star with Mons clasp, the British War Medal, and the Victory Medal with Mentioned in Despatches oak leaf.<ref name="VCO" />

Later life

After leaving the army, he settled in London with his wife and at least one child.<ref name="bio IWM" /><ref name="Gliddon 1994" /> He and his wife would go on to have a total of seven children together.<ref name="VCO" /> He attempted to set up his own business but this failed and he sold his medals in the 1920s.<ref name="VCO" /> On 27 September 1939, he reached the age limit of liability for call up and so ceased to belong to the Regular Army Reserve of Officers.<ref name="LG 24 November 1939">Template:London Gazette</ref> However, during the Second World War, he voluntarily once more became a British Army officer and served in a number of administrative appointments in the United Kingdom until ill health led to his discharge in June 1943.<ref name="VCO" /> He then served with the Observer Corps until the end of the war.<ref name="VCO" /> By 1954, he was living in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire.<ref name="Gliddon 1994" />

Having emigrated to Port Augusta, Australia in 1960,<ref name="bio VC" /><ref name="VCO" /> he broke one leg and then the other, leaving him disabled in the early 1960s.<ref name="Gliddon 1994" /> He died on 22 October 1969 in Port Augusta.<ref name="Gliddon 1994" /> He was cremated at the Stirling District Crematorium, Adelaide.<ref name="bio VC" /> His ashes are interred in the Stirling North Garden Cemetery, Port Augusta, alongside his wife who predeceased him by one year.<ref name="bio VC" />

Indian rope trick

File:F. W. Holmes Indian rope trick.jpg

Holmes' photograph of the "Indian rope trick" in May 1917

In 1917, Holmes, who was a Lieutenant at the time, stated that whilst on his veranda with a group of officers in Kirkee, he had observed the Indian rope trick being performed by an old man and young boy. The boy climbed the rope, balanced himself and then descended. The old man tapped the rope and it collapsed.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> This demonstration did not include the disappearance of the boy. In February 1919, Holmes presented a photograph he had taken of the trick at a meeting with members of The Magic Circle. It was examined by Robert Elliot, who stated it was not a demonstration of the Indian rope trick but an example of a balancing trick on a bamboo pole. Elliot noted that "the tapering of the pole is an absolutely clear feature and definitely shows that it was not a rope."<ref name="Elliot 1934">Template:Cite book</ref> Holmes later admitted this, however, the photograph was reproduced by the press in several magazines and newspapers as proof the trick had been successfully demonstrated. Although discredited, the photograph is considered to be the first ever taken of the trick.<ref name="Elliot 1934"/><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Bibliography

• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book

External links

• Lance Corporal Frederick Holmes (biography)
• Burial location of Frederick Holmes "South Australia"
• [1] "Official Imperial War Museum photo"