Territory Stories

John Arthur Holmes

Details:

Title

John Arthur Holmes,

Name

John Arthur Holmes,

Also known as

Holmes, John Arthur,

Collection

WWII Roll of Honour, HistoryNT, Second World War, 1939-1945,

Date

2021,

Date of birth

1899,

Nation of service

Australia,

Service

Australian Merchant Navy,

Unit

HMAHS Manunda,

Rank

Steward,

Next of kin

Kathleen Holmes - Wife,

Date of death

1942-02-19,

Place of death

HMAHS Manunda,

Memorial

Northern Territory Memorial, Panel 13.,

Biographical notes

John Arthur Holmes was born in 1899, he was the son of John Arthur and Emma Holmes. He married Kathleen Holmes of Coburg, Victoria. John Holmes was forty-three years old when killed during the bombing of Darwin. He has no known grave.,

History

A member of the Australian Merchant Navy and worked as a steward on the Australian Hospital Ship Manunda. HMAHS Manunda was anchored in Darwin Harbour near the merchant ship Zealandia and the oil tanker British Motorist when it was first hit by shrapnel and then a bomb, during the first Japanese air attack on Darwin, 19 February 1942. Twelve members of the crew and hospital staff were killed, including John Holmes, and forty-seven others were wounded. The medical and nursing staff quarters were destroyed, B and C decks were severely damaged and fires started on board. Despite the chaos, Manunda continued to treat incoming wounded and staff manned the life-boats rescuing injured men from the sea.,

Notes

Metadata: Attribution International 4.0 (CC-BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0,

Language

English,

Subject

Second World War, 1939-1945, Bombing of Darwin, Roll of Honour, Northern Territory history, Hospital Ship Manunda,

File type

image/tiff,

Use

No known copyright,

Copyright owner

Library & Archives NT, Library & Archives NT,