Holmes, Frank

BORN HULL 1895. HULL PAL. BOARDER AT ABOVE ADDRESS 1911. LABOURER
Hull Pals Memorial Post. PRIVATE FRANK HOLMES 10/305. Born in Hull and one of the original Pals, Frank enlisted in the early days of September 1914 training in Yorkshire throughout the following year before shipping out to Egypt in December 1915. He fought to defend the Suez Canal from the Turks until March 1916 when the battalion was reposted to the trenches of France. Frank was a veteran of the Somme and Oppy Wood and will have watched in detached horror as one by one those Pals fell until the battalion was a group of doomed strangers who fell and were replaced and fell and were replaced. Frank Holmes was killed in action on 12th April 1918 attempting to stem the tide of the German Spring Offensive near the French village of Bethune, his body was never recovered and his name is commemorated on the Arras Memorial.
Joanne Bone writes: Through a process of elimination I think I may have found a few details about Frank. Although there were other Franks in Hull almost all had another christian name or were too old to have fought in the war. I think Frank was born in 1895 and was the son of John William Holmes b 1869 Sydenham, London & Annie Elizabeth Pogson b 1869 Newport, Lins and they were married in 1890, Sculcoates, Hull, Franks father moved with his family at approx 2yrs of age to Hull and was a sawyer by trade.Frank’s siblings were Wiiliam Selin b 1892, John b 1893, Edith b 1896, Harry b 1899, Lily b 1900. In 1911 Frank was boarding at 25 Folkestone St, Beverely Rd and was described as a joiner. If this the correct Frank, which I beleive it is, he would have been 23yrs when he died. RIP Frank Holmes. 2 November 2012 at 15:09