Grave of Sergeant S Holmes RNZAF and tribute
Title
Grave of Sergeant S Holmes RNZAF and tribute
Description
Colour photograph of the headstone of grave of 405274 Sergeant S Holmes, navigator RNZAF, 17 December 1942.
Explanatory note with b/w portrait of an airman wearing tunic and b/w photograph of same headstone. Note states a tribute to Holmes who was flying and was shot down the same night as Beckett's aircraft was lost. Mentions his base, operation and being washed ashore and his burial.
Explanatory note with b/w portrait of an airman wearing tunic and b/w photograph of same headstone. Note states a tribute to Holmes who was flying and was shot down the same night as Beckett's aircraft was lost. Mentions his base, operation and being washed ashore and his burial.
Temporal Coverage
Spatial Coverage
Language
Format
One colour and two b/w photographs and printed document
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Rights
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
Identifier
SBeckettG622136v10076
Transcription
[colour photograph of the headstone of the grave of 405274 Sergeant S. Holmes, Navigator, Royal N.Z. Air Force. Dated 17 December 1942]
[page break]
[black and white head and shoulders photograph of Sergeant Stanley Holmes]
It would be churlish indeed, not to pay tribute to the memory of Navigator, Sgt. Stanley Holmes, 405274, R.N.Z.A.F.
Aged 29, he was the son of William Edward and Edith Mary Holmes, of Whangarei, Auckland, New Zealand.
Captained by F/Lt L.C. Shepherd, their 218 Squadron Stirling bomber, BF 403 Coded HA-R, was also flying on 17-12-42.
Based at Downham Market and enroute to the Opel factory at Fallersleben, Germany, BF 403 was hit by Kreigsmarine flak and crashed in the Marsdiep Channel between Den Helder and Texel at 1915 hrs.
(Photograph courtesy of Bram van Dijk)
Sgt Stanley Holmes body was washed ashore and then placed with those of the crew of Lancaster W4126, at the church at Den Burg.
Dutch residents brought flowers which were placed with the seven aircrew.
They were accorded full Military Honours when they were buried the next day by the Germans.
Stanley Holmes grave is in Plot K Row 1, Grave 9.
[black and white photograph of the headstone at the grave of Sergeant Stanley Holmes]
(Authors Photograph)
[inserted] Sgt Holmes also shot down 17/12/42 in a Stirling. Washed ashore & buried with KM-B crew [/inserted]
[page break]
[black and white head and shoulders photograph of Sergeant Stanley Holmes]
It would be churlish indeed, not to pay tribute to the memory of Navigator, Sgt. Stanley Holmes, 405274, R.N.Z.A.F.
Aged 29, he was the son of William Edward and Edith Mary Holmes, of Whangarei, Auckland, New Zealand.
Captained by F/Lt L.C. Shepherd, their 218 Squadron Stirling bomber, BF 403 Coded HA-R, was also flying on 17-12-42.
Based at Downham Market and enroute to the Opel factory at Fallersleben, Germany, BF 403 was hit by Kreigsmarine flak and crashed in the Marsdiep Channel between Den Helder and Texel at 1915 hrs.
(Photograph courtesy of Bram van Dijk)
Sgt Stanley Holmes body was washed ashore and then placed with those of the crew of Lancaster W4126, at the church at Den Burg.
Dutch residents brought flowers which were placed with the seven aircrew.
They were accorded full Military Honours when they were buried the next day by the Germans.
Stanley Holmes grave is in Plot K Row 1, Grave 9.
[black and white photograph of the headstone at the grave of Sergeant Stanley Holmes]
(Authors Photograph)
[inserted] Sgt Holmes also shot down 17/12/42 in a Stirling. Washed ashore & buried with KM-B crew [/inserted]
Collection
Citation
“Grave of Sergeant S Holmes RNZAF and tribute,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed April 21, 2025, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/41297.
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