Holmes, William

Title

Holmes, William
William Cyril Holmes
W C Holmes

Description

Ten items. An oral history interview with Flying Officer William Holmes DFC (b. 1921, 131013, 176554 Royal Air Force), his logbook, a memoir by his bomb aimer, official documents, Guinea Pig Club memorabilia, photographs of him and his crew and a memoir of his time training in Canada. He was a Stirling pilot on 149 Squadron in 1944. He flew 17 operations before crashing his aircraft at RAF Thorney Island 18 June 1944 and subsequently becoming a member of the Guinea Pig Club.

The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by William and Bill Holmes and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.

Date

2015-11-05

Publisher

IBCC Digital Archive

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.

Identifier

Holmes, WC

Collection Items

William Holmes memoir - training in Canada
Describes crossing the Atlantic to Canada and journey to Bowden, Alberta and then on to Estevan, Saskatchewan. Day by day account of activities, flying and life in Canada, Concludes with journey back across Canada

Four photographs
Top left - an airman wearing tunic and side cap on the right of an older couple in civilian clothes. In the background trees. Top right - eight airmen in a variety of uniform in the doorway of a bomber. Bottom left - an airman wearing tunic and side…

William Holmes crew
Seven aircrew standing and sitting in two rows. All wear battledress with brevet and side caps. From left to right, rear row: Sergeant Cyril Marjoram, gunner; Sergeant Douglas Richard Bacon, gunner; Flight Sergeant Tom Smith, wireless operator and…

Annual dinner Guinea Pig Club 1992
Cover shows a guinea pig in top hat and tails, inside a humorous account of plastic surgeons, a history of the guinea pig club and a menu for dinner on 26 September 1992, a cartoon and the guinea pig club anthem.

Guinea Pig club annual dinner 1979
Guinea Pig club anthem and diner menu for event help at the Copthorne Hotel Crawley 22 September 1979.

William Holmes' Royal Canadian Air Force pilot's flying log book
Royal Canadian Air Force pilots flying log book for W C Holmes, covering the period from 18 August 1942 to 18 May 1945. Detailing his flying training, operations flown and post war flying with 512 squadron and transport command. He was stationed at…

Postgram congratulating William Holmes on award of Distinguished Flying Cross
Postgram dated 30 June 1944 from Air Chief Marshall A T Harris congratulating William Holmes on award of Distinguished Flying Cross. It is sellotaped to a document dated 30 June Signed by A T Harris.

Two letters from Air Ministry to William Holmes notice of appointment on short service commission
First letter is notice of appointment on a short service commission of 5 years as Flying Officer in the Air Control branch. Second letter confirms arrangements and reporting instructions to RAF Biggin Hill.

This item was provided, in digital form,…

Extract from Harry Stannus' (bomb aimer) memoir
Account of operation to mine Brest harbour entrance, William Holmes was pilot and captain of aircraft. Used acoustic mines, describes briefing by naval officer, trip out, being engaged by heavy anti aircraft fire and finally dropping mines after…

William Holmes remembers his time as a pilot in the RAF. Gives a vivid and graphic account of the dramatic crash-landing which left him badly injured and brought him to join the Guinea Pig Club. Remembers various episodes of his operational life:…
View all 10 items

Collection Tree

  • Holmes, William