Desmond7 Posted 20 January , 2004 Share Posted 20 January , 2004 From a 1919 newspaper report of fatalities in WW1 (source at bottom) Overseas Forces. The Follwing are the names of the men in the overseas forces who have made the supreme sacrifice, the address given after each name being the place of residence before emigration: List follows (available via e-mail) but here is the interesting one:- Holmes, Pte. Arthur, Canadians, Hugomont Villas, Ballymena. If you look up CWGC search site, there is only one private who is not clearly ID'd (no home address given on site) and that private A.Holmes is the winner of a MM. Details from site are: Holmes A. Canadian Private Canadian Inf. (Manitoba Regt 16th battn) died 30/4/17 serial number A/21026 MM, buried Orchard Dump Cemetery, Arleux En Gohelle. I cannot find any Arthur Holmes - could this be him? If so, does anyone know what he got his medal for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desmond7 Posted 20 January , 2004 Author Share Posted 20 January , 2004 Forgot source - 'Ruined France and Flanders' small pocket sized account of battelfield tour undertaken by the Editor of the 'Ballymena Observer' in immediate aftermath of war. He does state at beginning of roll of honour:- "In memory of our fallen heroes, we publish the names of Ballymena and Rural District Men who made the supreme sacrifice. It is a long list; 127 from the township and 150 from the rural district; and we regret it is not the total list, as we have not included many names of men reported missing who have not yet been accounted for." I assume from that he was covering his back for errors. The list does throw up some mysteries - but Holmes is a local name - if anyone wants to see names from Canada/Australia/Scots/NZ please post and I will key in details. Thanks, Des Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mordac Posted 20 January , 2004 Share Posted 20 January , 2004 Hi Des: This is your man: A21026 Pte. Arthur Holmes, MM - originally with the 43rd Battalion until February 18, 1915. Joined the 16th Battalion in France on July 17, 1915. Wounded on September 6, 1916 and kia on April 30, 1917. You can check his attestation papers here. Garth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desmond7 Posted 20 January , 2004 Author Share Posted 20 January , 2004 Mordac - you ARE the man! Thanks so very much. If I can return favour in any way - get in touch. Forum strikes again. Sometimes you feel you put nothing in but questions but I suppose (and hope) it all adds to the information content. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mordac Posted 20 January , 2004 Share Posted 20 January , 2004 Hi Des: Glad I could help. If you can give me a couple of days I'll check the 16th Battalion history and see if there's any information on how and why Holmes received his MM. Garth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desmond7 Posted 20 January , 2004 Author Share Posted 20 January , 2004 Thanks - much appreciated - virtually entire Thompson family ended up in Toronto (Eatons Store - old ballymena story) in 1950s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mordac Posted 21 January , 2004 Share Posted 21 January , 2004 Hi Des: Sorry, I couldn't find any additional information for you in the 16th's official history. I've attached a couple of pages from their war diary: one for the end of April 1917 (when Holmes was kia) and the other from May 1917 which mentions Pte. Holmes receiving his Military Medal. Garth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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