Born Hull 13/12/1882. PRIVATE THOMAS CHRISTIAN HOLMES 12/1198.
Thomas was one of five children to William and Theodocia Holmes of 18 Lincoln Street, Hull. A Painter by trade, he married Annie Elizabeth Windle in June 1913. They lived at 9 Lime Terrace, Alexandra Street, Hull (War Pension address), with their daughter, Hilda.
He enlisted at City Hall joining the 12th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment, ‘The Sportsmen’, 3rd Hull Pals. Thomas was killed in action on 13th November 1916 as the 12th and 13th Battalions took lead in the last desperate attack of the doomed Somme campaign which had waked since 1st July and wiped an entire generation of men from the face of the earth. The attack began at 5.45am and the Pals were forced to wade through mud, up to their waists in places, to reach their objective, German positions in the ruins of the French village of Serre. It was a massacre. Thomas is buried in Euston Road Cemetery; he was 33 years old.
His name is recorded on the City Engineers WW1 Memrial, Hull
