FALLEN AND WOUNDED.
PERSONAL NOTES.
KILLED IN ACTION.
Private A. Holmes. Mrs Emmett, of Thames street, has received word that her nephew, Alex Holmes, has been killed.in action in France. He was a son of Mr John Holmes, of Totara, and, prior to his enlistment, was working for a grain merchant at Wyndham. -North Otago Times, 21/10/1916.
Alexander Holmes was in the 10th Company, 1st Battalion of the Otago Regiment when he went into action in the Battle of the Somme in 1916. The Regiment's Official History gives some idea of what he went through on the final day of his life.
At seven o'clock on the morning of October 1st a heavy preliminary bombardment of the enemy's defences over the Corps front was commenced. Zero hour was fixed for 3.15 p.m., and in order to deceive the enemy it was decided that at zero hour an additional and intense bombardment should be put down over his lines on a part of the front on which no attack was to be launched.
The 2nd Battalion of the Regiment assembled in Goose Alley for the attack, and under cover of an artillery barrage extending over a line parallel thereto, moved forward at zero hour to the assault in four waves, each perfect in line and interval, and with rifles at the slope. Almost immediately, 4th Company on the right, together with portion of 8th Company, came under heavy machine gun fire from the direction of Gird Trench. The 10th and 14th Companies on the left were at this stage advancing across a depression which afforded comparative cover, and thus escaped the PAGE 135gruelling fire which confronted the right companies. The 4th and 8th Companies had moreover a difficult manoeuvre to execute. After advancing for a distance of about 200 yards to their front it was necessary to incline to the right and then eventually to change direction to that quarter; and despite the heavy fire encountered the movement was effectively carried out.
The 10th and 14th Companies had fared badly in the matter of losses. The first real opposition encountered was from a trench south of the Circus, where the enemy was finally either shot down or ran away. Touch had now been lost with 8th Company owing to the gaps created in its ranks and the dense smoke of battle which obscured the outlook. Furthermore, the extent to which the enemy trenches had been smashed by our artillery fire made it a difficult matter to determine the actual objective. The Circus was naturally thought to be a well defined point, but from a defensive point of view it had ceased to exist, and the men of Otago, together with those of the Wellington Company who had come up in support, pushed on to the ridge about 300 yards ahead and established themselves on what was certainly a very strong position, this step being taken as the result of a decision arrived at by the officers on the spot after a careful reconnaissance. Orders were subsequently received, however, to bring the flank back to the Circus in order to conform to the general line; and at 10 p.m. Captain W. G. A. Bishop, M.C., succeeded in getting into touch with our right Companies and Wellington troops, and before daylight the whole position was consolidated and made secure by punctuating the front with strong-points and the aid of machine guns.
The entire attack had been splendidly carried out under galling fire and consequent severe losses, its success being entirely due to the dash of the assaulting troops under conditions of a most exacting nature. The artillery's part in the attack was certainly gruelling work for the men behind the guns; but even in spite of their devastating fire the enemy showed surprising quickness in getting his machine guns into action once the barrage had lifted. A very considerable number of the enemy were killed, and the prisoners taken totalled 200. Otago entered the attack with a strength of 19 officers and 314 other ranks; and the casualties sustained in the operation and while holding the line on October 2nd amounted to four officers and 33 other ranks killed, six officers and 93 other ranks wounded, 49 other ranks being recorded as missing; making a total of 10 officers and 175 other ranks.
Alexander Baird Holmes is remembered on the caterpillar Valley Memorial at Longueval, Somme, France. He has no known grave.
A military funeral was accorded the mortal remains of Private John Thomas Holmes, son of Mr J. T. Holmes, Totara, this morning. Returned soldiers were the pall bearers, and members of the Returned Soldiers' Association and of the local Defence Staff were among the cortege. The ceremony was conducted by Rev. S. F. Hunter." The "last post" was sounded by Bandsman May. -Oamaru Mail, 29/11/1918.
Mr John Thomas Holmes, of Oamaru, a brother of the late Miss Edith Holmes who died recently from influenza has passed away as the result of the malady. The deceased was a returned soldier having been invalided home, with shell shock and the effects of having been gassed. He had been back about twelve months, and was still receiving a pension. He has two sisters and one brother in Gisborne —Mrs McDowell, Miss Margaret Holmes and Mr A. Holmes. Another brother was killed in action in October, 1916. There are two sisters in the Wellington district — Mrs Parker, Lower Hutt and Miss Holmes, of Wellington. The latter has just recovered from an attack of influenza. Another brother, Mr S. Holmes, is at Hautapu. Sincere sympathy will he felt with the relatives. -Gisborne Times, 2/12/1918.
John Thomas Baird's Army record has no mention of his being gassed, but does mention complete debility due to shell shock, describing his condition as follows: "A shell fell on the dug-out which he occupies and from that time he began to have palpitations and shortness of breath and attacks of trembling when subjected to sudden shock. Attacks of vertigo come in when marching, with tinnitus."
Both conditions would leave no outward signs, and shell shock was a divisive complaint in many cases. It is possible that his condition was something of a family secret.
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