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Holden, Frederick William Died

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Personal Information

Rank P/O
Forename(s) Frederick William
Surname Holden
Gender M
Age 28
Decorations BEM
Date of Death 18-04-1941
Next of Kin Son of William Holden and Emily Kate Holden. Husband of Charlotte (Lottie) Evelyn Holden (née Pritchett, later Thresher), of Seaford, Sussex.
HOLDEN FW

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Handley Page Hampden I
Serial Number AD732
Markings QR-

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country France
Burial/Memorial Place Cherbourg Old Communal Cemetery
Grave Reference Plot 6. Row B. Grave 2.
Epitaph THERE IS NO DEATH, THE PHYSICAL SIDE IS NO MORE BUT THE SPIRIT IS UNDYING

IBCC Memorial Information

Map
Directions to panel 50
HOLDEN FW

Location

Row -
Panel 50
Column -
Line -

Directions From the Chadwick Centre, take the central path towards The Spire.

Phase 1
Panel Number 50

Enlistment Information

Service Number 45096
Service Royal Air Force
Group 5
Squadron 61
Squadron Motto Per puram tonantes (Thundering through the clear air)
Trade Observer
Country of Origin United Kingdom

Other Memorials

Location In front of the mess esplanade, Mailly-le-Camp, 10 - Aube Prefecture
Country France
Memorial Type Stone memorial sculpture, inscribed marble tablets and inscribed metal plaque
Memorial Text En souvenir des heros de la RAF. Qui ont participe au bombardment du camp de Mailly. Unites de la RAF engagees dans le raid sur Mailly-le-Camp, la nuit du 3 au 4 May 1944. N° 9-12-44-49-50-57 61-83-97-100-101 Special Duties Flight-103-105-106-166- 169-192-207-460 (RAAF)-463 (RAAF)-467 (RAAF)-550-576-617- 619-625-626-627-636
Translation "In memory of the RAF heroes who took part in the bombing of Mailly Camp. RAF units engaged in the raid on Mailly-le-Camp, the night of 3-4 May 1944. Squadrons that took part: N° 9-12-44-49-50-57 61-83-97-100-101 Special Duties Flight-103-105-106-166- 169-192-207-460 (RAAF)-463 (RAAF)-467 (RAAF)-550-576-617-619-625-626-627-636"
View On Google Maps View On what3words
Location Lincoln County Hospital Chapel, Lincoln, Lincolnshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Metal Plaque
Memorial Text In memory of Officers, NCO's & Other Ranks of 5 (Bomber) Group RAF who gave their lives Sept 1939 - May 1945
View On Google Maps View On what3words

Miscellaneous Information

BEM published in London Gazette 9 June 1938. Quoting Air Commodor (Retired) Guy W. Hayes: "The decoration awarded to HOLDEN at HABBANIA, IRAQ, 8th August 1938, was for an act of Extreme Bravery in regard to an incident concerning an aircraft of No 55 Squadron, at HELIOPOLIS, EGYPT on 23 October 1937. At the time HOLDEN was a W/T operator, a member of the crew of my aircraft, a Vickers Vicount #K6338, of 55 (Bomber) Squadron, of which I was the pilot, and incidentally Officer Commanding the Squadron. The Squadron was on an Inter-Command Colonial Development Flight, leaving Habbaniya, Iraq on the 4th October 1937, and landing at Heliopolis, Egypt on 21st October 1937, via various landing grounds around the Arabian Peninsula: Aden; Port Sudan; hartoom; and Cairo. Egypt. It was customary in those days, prior to landing at a strange location, to fire a cartridge from a very istol to obtain from the smoke, the direction of the wind, if not otherwise descernible and I ordered my crew to prepare to fire the pistol. In fact I saw the wind direction from dust blown on the wind and cancelled the firing of ther very pistol outright. Unfortunatley, as it later transpired, the very pistol was not unladed prior to landing at heliopolis, where we landed the same day after some 2 hours of flying. On 23 October 1937, all 12 aircraft were refueled prior to ompleting the long distance flight to Habbaniya, Iraq and engines were started in order to make a hort “test flight” prior to the initial “Take-off” for the last leg of the flight. It was then that i heard a loud report behind me and realized that by accident the very pistol had discharged inside he aircraft, and that an unfortunate and potentially dangerous inboard fire was likely! I immediaely taxied my aircraft clear of all others, and on reaching “open space”, Holden in an act of etreme bravery and total disregard of injury to himself, threw the burning signal flair out of the aircraft using only his bare hand to do so! It was most unfortunate that the very pistol had been left “loaded”, but no member of the crew can be blamed for that, and it most certainl does not detract in any way from the great act of bravery and extreme courage displayed by Holden, which undoubtedly prevented a more serious incident. After arranging for Holden to be taken to hospital for treatment to his badly burned hands, I reported the inciden to the Station Commander, Heliopolis and strongly recommended that Holden should be awarded a suitable decoration for his extreme act of selfless Gallentry. As the incident occurred in Egypt, it was left to the Station Commander to submit a recommendation the Air Ministry through the proper channels, leaving me free to complete the “special flight” to Habbaniya. Afer visiting Holden in hospital and wishing him well, the Squadron completed it’s task, landing at Habbaniya on 26th October 1937,minus, unfortunately, Holden who was a most efficient W/T Operator, and popular member of the Squadron, and had on that flight and at all times, carried out his duties most efficiently and energetically. He was a very worhty member of the Squadron”.
Born 29 June 1914, Brasted, Kent.

Casualty Pack Number Find Out More

AIR 81/5985 (P358518/41)

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

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The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/577/8
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/577/8

Fellow Servicemen

Please note that this list gives all the losses aboard the quoted aircraft and occasionally these may have occurred on an earlier date when the aircraft was not itself lost. Please check the dates of death carefully.

Name Outcome
Aldridge R S E (F/L) Died
Drury A (Sgt) Died

Last Operation Information

Start Date 18-04-1941
End Date 18-04-1941
Takeoff Station Hemswell
Day/Night Raid Day
Operation to attack an airfield near Cherbourg.
Reason for Aircraft Loss Airborne 1520 Shot down by Flak in the target area.

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Casualty Pack

IBCC is delighted to introduce a unique facility to link the Losses Database to the relevant RAF Casualty Pack on the National Archives website. This project is the result of on-going collaboration between IBCC, the MOD Records Office and National Archives, Kew. This document describes what Casualty Packs are, when they were created, the process of making them available to the public and then goes on to describe the process by which you can view the contents of the packs. Casualty Packs (CPs) were created by the RAF whenever there was serious injury or loss of life associated with operational activity within the RAF. This includes operational flying losses, enemy action due to air raids, road accidents either on station or even off-station if they involved RAF vehicles. Deaths due to natural causes in service or accidents that did not involve RAF vehicles did not generally give rise to a CP.

CPs were originally given a unique reference number by the RAF. Each begins with the letter ‘P’ and is followed by six digits, then an oblique (forward slash) and the finally the year in which the incident took place- for example P396154/42.

The CPs are in the process of being made available to the general public as they are passed from the MOD Records Office, Portsmouth to National Archives, Kew. This process requires some rework to the files which is very time consuming, so the process of making them all available to National Archives will take several years. They are being made available in increasing date order.

Once CPs arrive at National Archives they are assigned a unique AIR81 number, so each CP has both a P-number and an AIR81 number. Both are searchable on the National Archives website under ‘Search the catalogue’ and both are included on the IBCC website.

The AIR81 reference on the IBCC website is a link to the file on the National Archives website. When you click on it, the relevant page will open in a new tab on your browser.

There is currently no plan to digitise AIR81 files, partly because they are fragile and partly because the information they contain can at times be sensitive, even harrowing, since they may contain exhumation reports and even photographs of corpses. Family members wishing to read the AIR81 files relating to their ancestors are advised to exercise caution and be guided by National Archives warnings where appropriate.

There are two means for accessing AIR81 files- to attend in person or to order a copy by post.

To attend in person, the attendee should first create a Reader’s Ticket. This can be done online by following this link: https://secure.nationalarchives.gov.uk/login/yourdetails. Then click on the AIR81 reference on the IBCC website and click Order in Advance. Enter your Reader’s Ticket number and state the date on which you intend to visit. National Archives will have the file ready for you when you arrive, saving you time. When you visit Kew, you must quote the Reader’s Ticket number and take along two forms of ID- one bearing your signature and one bearing your address. When you view the files, you are permitted to take photographs of each page, should you wish.

Alternatively, if you wish to order a copy by post, please be aware that there is a charge for this service based on the number of pages in the file. Click on the AIR81 reference on the IBCC website and then click Request a Copy. There is an £8.40 charge for National Archives staff to access the file and give you a quotation for the copying service. The process takes around 24 days to complete and can be expensive.

IBCC wishes to thank the staff at the MOD Records Office and National Archives for their engagement and assistance in making this facility available to our website users.