Ian Sutherland Gordon Holms

Forenames

Ian Sutherland Gordon AWMM

Surname

Holms AWMM

Service number

WWII 6839 AWMM

Gender

Male AWMM

Birth

1913 AWMM

Date of birth

b. 1913

Public - Lorraine Mona - Researcher - 19 October 2024 - https://www.nzwargraves.org.nz/casualties/ian-sutherland-gordon-holms

Birth notes

Son of Archibald Crawford Holms, J.P., & Euphemia Gordon Holms (nee Melville), of Waipukurau, H.B.

Public - Lorraine Mona - Researcher - 19 October 2024 - https://www.nzwargraves.org.nz/casualties/ian-sutherland-gordon-holms

Address before enlistment

WW2 Nelson Street, Waipukurau AWMM

Next of kin

WW2 Mr. Archibald Crawford Holms (father), Nelson Street, Waipukurau. AWMM

Relationship status

Pre 1940 AWMM Single/WWII AWMM

War

World War II, 1939-1945 AWMM

Armed force / branch

Army AWMM

Service number

WWII 6839 AWMM

Enlistment

WW2 1940 2NZEF Nom. Roll 2, p.89 Nurseryman/Civilian 2NZEF Nom. Roll 2, p.89

Embarkation details

WW2 Private 2NZEF Nom. Roll 2, p.89 Headquarters, 22nd (Wellington) Battalion 2NZEF Nom. Roll 2, p.89 Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force AWMM

Medical notes

Killed on Active Service, Cause of Death AWMM

Last rank

Private AWMM
22 Infantry Battalion AWMM

Ian Holms was the son of Archibald Crawford Holms, J.P., and of Euphemia Gordon Holms (nee Melville), of Waipukurau, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand.

Holms was the first man in 22 Battalion to be killed as a result of enemy action. (Henderson, J. (1958), p. 10). AWMM

Death

27 Oct 1940 AWMM
Age  27 AWMM

Cause of death

Killed on Active Service AWMM

Cemetery

Maidstone Cemetery, Kent, England AWMM Plot C.C.1. Grave 56. AWMM

Obituary

Private lan Sutherland Holms, killed in England as a result of enemy air action- Death while on Leave
A message from the official war correspondent in Britain, dated October 28, and dealing with the casualties in England, states that one soldier killed in his billet and two others in the same room were wounded when an enemy aeroplane, turned from its course by anti-aircraft fire, jettisoned its bombs over south-eastern England. The men were just going to bed in the loft of a brick farm building. The bomb fell eight or 10 yards from the foot of the wall against which, on the oilier side, their Blankets were spread. It burst upwards and outwards, and the fragments tore a way through the double bricks. This was the first death from enemy action of a New Zealand soldier while on duty in England [Private Ian Holmes],

Public - Lorraine Mona - Researcher - 19 October 2024 - https://www.nzwargraves.org.nz/casualties/ian-sutherland-gordon-holms

Memorial name

• Featherston War Memorial, 89 Fitzherbert Street, Featherston, Wairarapa AWMM
• Featherson Anzac Hall, Roll of Honour AWMM

Related Serviceperson

External links

• Henderson, J. (1958). 22 Battalion. Wellington, Dept. of Internal Affairs, War History Branch.
  http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-WH2-22Ba-f6.html
  Sources Used
• Commonwealth War Graves Commission record
  https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2654573
  Sources Used
• Ron Palenski (2009) How We Saw THE WAR 1939-45 Through NZ Eyes
  p108
  Public - Kiwi Scribe - Other relative - 10 January 2021 - Hodder Moa Book

References

• Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force. (1941). Nominal Roll Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force No. 2 (Embarkations to 30th June, 1940). Wellington, N.Z.: Govt. Printer.
  p.89
• Henderson, J. (1958). 22 Battalion. Wellington, N.Z.: Department of Internal Affairs, War History Branch.
• Information kindly provided by family
• Not Just Ordinary Blokes (2009) John GM Holms Boolarong Press QLD
  Public - Kiwi Scribe - Other relative - 10 January 2021 - A personal historical historical narrative of the Holms Family