[Chris Goss]

What I have on Holmes:


On June 27, 1944, the new Commanding Officer Sqn Ldr Manu Geerts led six aircraft on an armed recce in the Le Mans/Laval area. One aircraft suffered engine failure on take-off but managed to land safely and the remainder went on to attack Parennes railway station (east of Laval) but when attacking another target at Sillé on the way back from Parennes, they were bounced by three Fw 190s. Flt Eric Roberts jettisoned his rockets but could not get his tanks away so quickly turned for home. Flt Sgt Roland Ashworth got onto the tail of one only to have another two on his tail so he dived for the coast at low-level. However, despite 'Spud' Holmes being the first to spot the Fw 190s when he was about a mile behind the rest of the Squadron, nothing more was heard from him and no aircraft was seen to crash. It is believed that he had become the seventh air combat victory for Oblt Georg Hiebl of 1./JG 11and Holmes was killed when his Typhoon crashed near Alençon. Hiebl was the only German pilot to claim an Allied aircraft at the time Holmes was shot down and in the approximate location