The Wartime Memories Project - The Second War



This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site you agree to accept cookies.


If you enjoy this site

please consider making a donation.




    Site Home

    WW2 Home

    Add Stories

    WW2 Search

    Library

    Help & FAQs


 WW2 Features

    Airfields

    Allied Army

    Allied Air Forces

    Allied Navy

    Axis Forces

    Home Front

    Battles

    Prisoners of War

    Allied Ships

    Women at War

    Those Who Served

    Day-by-Day

    Library

    The Great War

 Submissions

    Add Stories

    Time Capsule

    TWMP on Facebook



    Childrens Bookshop

 FAQ's

    Help & FAQs

    Glossary

    Volunteering

    Contact us

    News

    Bookshop

    About


Advertisements











World War 2 Two II WW2 WWII 1939 1945

230649

Pte. Joseph Holmes

British Army 9th Btn. Parachute Regiment

from:London

My dad, Joe Holmes, was transferred from the Royal Ulster Rifles into the 9th Btn Parachute Regt. He underwent extensive training around Derbyshire and again in the Newbury area of Berkshire. His battalion were to drop over Normandy and seize the gun emplacement at Merville. This was deemed to be a positive obstacle to the men landing on the beaches as it overlooked the beaches. Unfortunately, many men of the Battalion were dropped wide of the DZ (Dropping Zone) and many of them landed in marshland.

My dad was one of the lucky ones who landed safely and, with others, fought their way back to link up with the rest of the Battalion, who by this time had indeed taken the Merville battery. After many weeks of action, the Battalion was returned to the UK in September for R&R refitting. However the R&R was interrupted when the 6th Airborne Division was rushed back to take part in what became known as the Battle of the Bulge.

During this time, one of his recollections is of when they were lying up in their trenches awaiting the next onslaught from the German infantry and tanks, and one of the men was overheard speaking to his friend - which was heard by everyone. The conversation went along the lines of "Why don't you tell the Platoon Commander your real age and he can arrange for you to be returned to England?" The other guy apparently thought about this for a few seconds before replying, "No I don't think so, because my dad will kill me". Gales of laughter apparently went around the position as everyone who heard it burst out laughing.

Shortly after this the Battalion were relieved and moved back from the line. Later, my dad took part in the crossing of the Rhine. This, he says, was the most perfect parachute action that ever happened, until they got on the ground that is. Sometime after this my dad was wounded in a further action when his section was blasted by a grenade attack. He came to and found himself surrounded by German soldiers and with a badly damaged leg.

He, along with others, were then moved through the German lines and eventually placed in POW camp in the north of the country until they were released by an American unit at the end of the war. He still has the card he filled out in the POW camp that was sent to my mum saying that he was alive, as she had been warned that he was missing in action. He returned to UK sometime at the end of summer 1945 where he underwent various operations on his leg. He was eventually discharged from the army in 1947.






Related Content:








Can you help us to add to our records?

The names and stories on this website have been submitted by their relatives and friends. If your relations are not listed please add their names so that others can read about them


Did you or your relatives live through the Second World War? Do you have any photos, newspaper clippings, postcards or letters from that period? Have you researched the names on your local or war memorial? Were you or your relative evacuated? Did an air raid affect your area?

If so please let us know.

Help us to build a database of information on those who served both at home and abroad so that future generations may learn of their sacrifice.




Celebrate your own Family History

Celebrate by honouring members of your family who served in the Secomd World War both in the forces and at home. We love to hear about the soldiers, but also remember the many who served in support roles, nurses, doctors, land army, muntions workers etc.

Please use our Family History resources to find out more about your relatives. Then please send in a short article, with a photo if possible, so that they can be remembered on these pages.














The free section of the Wartime Memories Project website is run by volunteers. We have been helping people find out more about their relatives wartime experiences since 1999 by recording and preserving recollections, documents, photographs and small items.

The website is paid for out of our own pockets, library subscriptions and from donations made by visitors. The popularity of the site means that it is far exceeding available resources and we currently have a huge backlog of submissions.

If you are enjoying the site, please consider making a donation, however small to help with the costs of keeping the site running.



Hosted by:

The Wartime Memories Project Website

is archived for preservation by the British Library





Copyright MCMXCIX - MMXXIV
- All Rights Reserved

We do not permit the use of any content from this website for the training of LLMs or for use in Generative AI, it also may not be scraped for the purpose of creating other websites.