Info: Australian? Allied Unit, John Arthur Holmes - 1st Steward - HMAHS Manunda (Melbourne)

Any further information would be appreciated.



Need assistance on Who/Where/What/How for this man who is on the Australian Commemorative Roll which is for those "Australians" who died in other Allied Services. If proved not to be "Australian" their names will not be removed from the Commemorative Roll however their details will be updated accordingly.

I have researched the Air Force members but there are many more Land and Sea deaths in a myriad of different forces.

There is not a lot of information on these people that can be accessed easily and I ask your assistance to fill in at least some of the gaps.

Hopefully some relatives may see this thread and add more.

I will make a different thread for each along the way as they may tend to get lost if clumped together.

Commemorative Roll - John Arthur Holmes

Rank: 1st Steward
Unit: Australian Hospital Ship Manunda (Melbourne)
Service: Merchant Navy
Conflict: 1939-1945
Date of death: 19 February 1942
Place of death: Darwin, Northern Territory
Cemetery or memorial details: Northern Territory Memorial, Adelaide River, Northern Territory



Service Record Name HOLMES, JOHN A Service Merchant Navy Service Number Not Applicable Year of Birth 1899 Place of Birth Unknown Date of Engagement 18 Aug 1939 Locality on Engagement HULL Place of Engagement SYDNEY, NSW Next of Kin Unknown Date of Last Engagement Unknown Capacity Unknown Last Ship MANUNDA WW2 Honours and Gallantry None for display Prisoner of War No
John Arthur Holmes
Remembered with Honour
Northern Territory Memorial
In Memory of
Steward
Hospital Ship Manunda (Melbourne), Australian Merchant Navy
who died on 19 February 1942 Age 43
Son of John Arthur and Emma Holmes; husband of Kathleen Holmes, of Coburg, Victoria.
Northern Territory Library | Roll of Honour : HOLMES, John Arthur
HOLMES, John Arthur

HMAHS Manunda.




John Arthur Holmes was a member of the Australian Merchant Navy and worked as a steward on the Australian Hospital Ship Manunda. Born in 1899, he was the son of John Arthur and Emma Holmes. He married Kathleen Holmes of Coburg, Victoria.

HMAHS Manunda was anchored in Darwin Harbour near the merchant ship Zealandia and the oil tanker British Motorist when it was first hit by shrapnel and then a bomb, during the first Japanese air attack on Darwin, 19 February 1942. Twelve members of the crew and hospital staff were killed, including John Holmes, and forty-seven others were wounded. The medical and nursing staff quarters were destroyed, B and C decks were severely damaged and fires started on board. Despite the chaos, Manunda continued to treat incoming wounded and staff manned the life-boats rescuing injured men from the sea.

John Holmes was forty-three years old when killed during the bombing of Darwin. He has no known grave.