Preparation
  Sergeant Jack Holmes - 432 Squadron  
 

Sergeant Jack Holmes - RAFVR
 
Sergeant Jack Holmes was serving as Wireless operator on board Wellington Mk. X HE-660 coded QO-B during an operation to Koln on July 3/4 1943. The aircraft was low on fuel and encountered heavy fog upon its return to base and crashed into a house at Gravesend, Kent. Four of the six crew were killed, including Sergeant Holmes.

The rest of the crew consisted of:

Name

Service

Trade

Hometown

Age

Sgt Johial Baker

RCAF

Pilot

Smith’s Falls, Ontario

22

Sgt Glen Lewis

RCAF

Bomb Aimer

USA

-

P/O E.W. Bovard - INJ

RAFVR

Navigator

-

-

Sgt D.K.Ryan - INJ

RAFVR

Air Gunner

-

-

Sergeant Jack Holmes RAFVR was the son of John and Florence Ann Holmes of Bradford Moor, Bradford, Yorkshire. He had three sisters, Violet, Jean and Connie and prior to enlisting worked as a gardener for Bradford City Council at Manningham Park. He was 21 years of age at the time of his death.

Sergeant Lewis, an American from Missouri is buried in Plot G, Row 3, Grave 6 in the American cemetery at Madingley,Cambridge.

The other crew members are buried in the Brookwood Military Cemetery

 

 
  Photo courtesy of Jack Fosse (nephew of Jack Holmes).