Arnold Holmes
- Family History
- Military History
- Extra Information
- Photographs
Arnold Holmes was born in 1889, the son of John (b.1859, Weston, Otley, Yorkshire) and Eva Holmes (b.1857, West Vale, Halifax, Yorkshire [née Pratt]). The family moved to New Lenton in about 1889 and, in 1901, was living at 9, Maxwell Street, Lenton where John was self-employed as a coal merchant. Arnold had been born soon after their arrival. In June 1910, John, with sons Eric and Arnold, left England for Western Australia By 1911, Eva was living at 3 Wollaton Road, Beeston, with her two youngest children, Sarah and Lewis, and her eldest son Joseph, who was trading there as a master butcher. Later that year, Eva, Joseph, Lewis and Sarah sailed to Western Australia to join the others in the family who had arrived in the previous year
Arnold Holmes enlisted at Perth, Western Australia, on 7th July 1915. He is buried in Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery.
The following is an extract from the AIF website : - 955 Private (Pte) Arnold Holmes, 32nd Battalion. A warder from Cottesloe Beach, Western Australia, prior to enlistment, he embarked from Adelaide aboard HMAT Geelong on 18 November 1915 for Suez. His battalion relocated to the Western Front, France, during June 1916. Pte Holmes was reported missing in action on 20 July 1916 after the Battle of Fromelles. Subsequently, his identity disc was returned from Germany and he was determined to have been killed in action on that date. He was aged 27 years. Initially he had no known grave but, in 2008 a burial ground containing the bodies of 250 British and Australian soldiers was located at Pheasant Wood, France. The soldiers died during the Battle of Fromelles on the night of 19-20 July 1916 and were buried by German troops. In 2010 all of the remains were reburied in the newly created Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery. At the time of the official dedication of the cemetery on 19 July 2010, ninety-six Australians had been identified through a combination of anthropological, archaeological, historical and DNA information. Since then other Australians, including Pte Holmes, have been identified. His younger brother Sergeant Lewis John MM, 11th Battalion served at Gallipoli and later in France where he was awarded the Military Medal, returned to Australia for discharge in March 1919.
