HOLMES

HOLMES, THOMAS HENRY ("Darky")

		Source
		CWGC	SDGW	Uttoxeter Advertiser	Other
Parents	Arthur and Fanny Holmes	Yes			2c
Parents	Mr. & Mrs. A. Holmes			8a, 8b, 8c	7
Where born	Uttoxeter		Yes		7
When born	1897
When born	About 1896				5
Address	15, Market Street, Uttoxeter (parents)	Yes		8e
	Market Street, Uttoxeter			8a, 8c, 8d	7
	Spiceal Street			8b	7
Spouse
Children
Employment Before Joining up
Where enlisted	Uttoxeter		Yes
Regiment	North Staffordshire (Prince of Wales’s)	Yes	Yes	8b, 8d	1, 7
Unit	1^st/6^th Bn.	Yes	Yes
	1/6^th (T.F.) Bn				7
	6^th Bn (Territorials)			8a
	6^th Bn			8b
	“A” Company			8d
Rank	Private	Yes	Yes	8b, 8c, 8d, 8e	1
Service Number	241142	Yes	Yes		7
Former service	3944, “A” Company, 6^th North Staffordshire Regiment				1
Date of Death	20 May 1918	Yes	Yes	8d, 8e	1, 7
Age at time of death	22	Yes		8d
Where Killed or died	France/Flanders: Canadian Casualty Clearing Station,			8d
Where Killed or died	Esartis, Pas de Calais – 1918
How he died	Died of Wounds		Yes	8d	7
	Died of Wounds sustained from machine-gun-fire during the night of 20-21 May 1918.			8d
	Died of wounds received 19^th May 1918				1
Location of Grave or Memorial	Pernes British Cemetery - Grave: I.F.2.	Yes
Location of Grave or Memorial	Uttoxeter Town War Memorial				7
Awards

Before the war Thomas lived with his parents at 15 Market Street, Uttoxeter..

This shows the modern building that now sits on the original site of their house.
The taller white building on the far left of this picture gives us an idea of the style of the house.

Very little remains of the original buildings that the Holmes family would have known – just a little outbuilding seen on the right in this photograph.

Thomas joined the Army soon after the outbreak of war^8d and by the first week in June 1915 he was in training at Burton^{7, 8a}. In joining the army he brought the family total of serving men to five sons (including Thomas) and three nephews^8a.

By the middle of July 1916 he was attached to the Lewis Gun Section (6th North Staffordshire) and the Uttoxeter Advertiser reported that he had been through the battle of the Somme and come out unscathed.

He came home for a period of leave in January 1918, just five months before his death from wounds on 20^th of May 1918. According to the Casualty List for the 6^th North Staffordshire Regiment, he had received his wounds in action on the 19^th May 1918. This does not agree with the details supplied to his parents in his Commanding Officer’s letter of sympathy.

William died in a Canadian Casualty Clearing Station^{7, 8d} after receiving wounds at the front.

Thomas went through the battle of the Somme in 1916 and in the middle of July 1916 the Uttoxeter Advertiser published an article about his brother Edward^8b, who had been wounded. This article included an extract from a letter that Thomas had written home:

I am sorry to say that Uncle Dick (Pte. Richard Holmes, of Church Street) is killed. Teddy is wounded over the eye, and E. Lomas is wounded in the hand.

At this time a sixth son was expecting to be called up soon^8b.

In June 1917 the Uttoxeter Advertiser reported the fact that Thomas was at home on leave after 21 months uninterrupted service at the front^8c. This tells us that he first went to the front in about October 1915.

By now he was one of six sons who were serving^8c.

He enjoyed another period of leave at home in January 1918^8d, and this was the last time his parents saw him alive.

In June 1918 the Uttoxeter Advertiser published his obituary^8d and quoted an extract from a letter which Mrs. Holmes had received from Captain Norman Hipkins:

The clouds of war have again darkened your dear home, and I know that you have given another noble son in this battle for existence of the dear homeland.

Darkie’, the nickname for Tom, was my faithful runner. He was always merry and bright and ever ready to carry his messages through the danger zones. Your loss is ‘A’ Company’s loss, and on behalf of the officers and men of ‘A’ Company, 1st-6th North Staffs., I convey my heart-felt sympathy in the loss of your dear boy.

He came out with the Division, and has served continuously in France. On the night of May 20-21 he was with me going round the posts, very near the hated foe. A hostile machine-gun fired upon us, and unfortunately your son was hit. I rushed to him and found the wound of a serious nature. Still, he was bright, and we hoped for the best. He was soon got away, and when I heard that he had died from wounds I felt that I had lost a good man.

May this letter bring a little sunshine into your home, and assure you above all that your son was a good soldier...

We write, “He fell”; immortals say “He rose”;

Weep not for him, but keep your tears for those

Who slumbered on in comfort’s easy bed,

Deaf to their country’s call – these are the dead..

Always think of him as a hero.”

In this letter^8d Captain Hipkins added the Postscript, “ ‘A’ Company miss ‘Darkie’. “

At the time of Thomas’s death, seven of the family’s sons had served^8d. William had been killed in 1915^8d, so Thomas was their parents’ second loss.