The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (405792) Squadron Leader John Cecil Holmes, No. 460 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, Second World War.

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by Chris Widenbar, the story for this day was on (405792) Squadron Leader John Cecil Holmes, No. 460 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, Second World War.

405792 Squadron Leader John Cecil Holmes, No. 460 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force
Killed in flying battle 5 March 1945

Photograph: P02630.001

Story delivered 8 November 2017

Today we pay tribute to Squadron Leader John Cecil Holmes.

Born in Brisbane on 2 September 1921, John Holmes was the son of Ivor and Joan Holmes.

The Holmes family resided in Albany Creek, in the Moreton Bay region of Queensland. John Holmes attended the Church of England Grammar School in Brisbane, where he served in the cadets.

Following his schooling, Holmes was employed as a wool classer. On 20 June 1941, at the age of 19, Holmes enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force and began training as a pilot. After his initial training in Australia, he embarked in Sydney for overseas service in August 1942.

As part of the Empire Air Training Scheme, Holmes was one of almost 27,500 RAAF pilots, navigators, wireless operators, gunners, and engineers, who, throughout the course of the war, joined Royal Air Force squadrons or Australian squadrons based in Britain.

After his arrival in Britain in November 1943 Holmes undertook further specialist training until June 1944, when he was posted in to No. 460 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force.

No. 460 Squadron would become the most highly decorated Australian squadron in Bomber Command, and the squadron that suffered the highest casualties. Flying twin-engined Vickers Wellingtons medium bombers and then the four-engined Avro Lancaster heavy bomber, the squadron lost over 1,000 men: Australian, British, Canadians, New Zealanders and South Africans. Almost 600 Australians from 460 Squadron are listed here on the Roll of Honour.

Holmes completed a full tour of 32 operational missions with 460 Squadron, but chose to continue for a second tour.

On the night of 5 March, 21 Lancasters from 460 Squadron were taking part in a large raid targeting the oil refinery at Chemnitz, Germany. Holmes – now acting Squadron Leader – was on his 44th consecutive operation. The Lancaster in which Holmes was pilot crashed near the small village of Pfieffe, near Spangenberg in central Germany. The local mayor reported that the aircraft had circled low with its engines on fire before crashing.

All eight people aboard the aircraft died. Their bodies were recovered and buried in the Pfieffe churchyard. They were later reinterred, and are now buried side-by-side in the British and Commonwealth War Cemetery in Hanover, Germany.

John Holmes was 23 years old.

Upon his headstone is the following epitaph chosen by his family:
One who never
Turned his back
Never doubted
Clouds would break
For his “fortitude, courage and devotion” during 44 operations, Holmes was posthumously award the Distinguished Flying Cross.

His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my left, among almost 40,000 Australians who died while serving in the Second World War.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Squadron Leader John Cecil Holmes, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Lachlan Grant
Historian, Military History Section