NAME; Holmes, Alexander
Erskine (Sandy)
– D.C.M
RANK; Sergeant
SERV. NO; 12/17889
UNIT/SERVICE; 12th
Battalion
REGIMENT; Royal Irish
Rifles
BORN; Belfast
LIVED; Elmwood,
Carrickfergus
ENLISTED;
Carrickfergus, 15 September 1914 aged 22 years and 8 months
FATE; Survived the
war
CEMETERY; N/A
CHURCH;
Congregational
MEMORIAL; N/A
REMARKS; Alexander
Erskine Holmes (Sandy) was born in the Shankill
area of Belfast
in 1892, the son of James and Matilda and brother to Joseph, Margaret and
John. In 1911 he was living with his
family in the west division of Carrickfergus serving his time as an apprentice
joiner. He was a member of the Central
Antrim UVF and when war broke out enlisted into the 12th Battalion
Royal Irish Rifles at Barn
Mills School
on 15 September 1914. Following training
he was posted to France
in October 1915 and quickly promoted to the rank of Sergeant. He served across the Western Front in 1916
and 1917 involved in all major offensives with the 12th Battalion. He was taken Prisoner of War on 21 March 1918
along with many other men from the Battalion during the German Spring Offensive. He served out the rest of the war in
captivity in German and was repatriated in December 1918. On his return to Britain
he is informed that he had been awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal; the
official commendation in the London
Gazette recorded “he did excellent work in keeping up communication under heavy
fire during two engagements. He has
consistently shown great courage and energy in his work”.
Sandy was demobilised from the army in April
1919, by which time he family home is recorded as Elmwood, Belfast Road, Carrickfergus. After the war he had a long service with the
Royal British Legion.
No comments:
Post a Comment