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Canadian Virtual War Memorial

John Sinclair Holmes

In memory of:

Leading Aircraftman John Sinclair Holmes

July 16, 1944

Military Service


Service Number:

R/188236

Age:

22

Force:

Air Force

Unit:

Royal Canadian Air Force

Division:

438 Sqdn.

Additional Information


Born:

August 4, 1921
Niagara Falls, Ontario

Enlistment:

August 21, 1942
Toronto, Ontario

Son of Alexander Brown Holmes and Deborah Elizabeth Holmes of Toronto, Ontario.

Commemorated on Page 337 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance. Request a copy of this page. Download high resolution copy of this page.

Burial Information


Cemetery:
Grave Reference:

XII. H. 9.

Location:

Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery is about 1 kilometre east of the village of Reviers, on the Creully-Tailleville-Ouistreham road (D.35). Reviers is a village and commune in the Department of the Calvados. It is located 15 kilometres north-west of Caen and 18 kilometres east of Bayeux and 3.5 kilometres south of Courseulles, a village on the sea coast. The village of Beny-sur-Mer is some 2 kilometres south-east of the cemetery. The bus service between Caen and Arromanches (via Reviers and Ver-sur-Mer) passes the cemetery.

It was on the coast just to the north that the 3rd Canadian Division landed on 6th June 1944; on that day, 335 officers and men of that division were killed in action or died of wounds. In this cemetery are the graves of Canadians who gave their lives in the landings in Normandy and in the earlier stages of the subsequent campaign. Canadians who died during the final stages of the fighting in Normandy are buried in Bretteville-sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery.

There are a total of 2,048 burials in Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery. There is also one special memorial erected to a soldier of the Canadian Infantry Corps who is known to have been buried in this cemetery, but the exact site of whose grave could not be located.

Information courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Digital Collection

Send us your images

  • Newspaper Clipping– Memorialized on the pages of the Globe and Mail. Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me
  • Id Card– Photo of ID card, LAC, Ottawa
  • Temporary Grave Marker– Temporary grave marker, LAC, Ottawa
  • Document– Findings from the Court of Inquiry, LAC, Ottawa
  • Letter– Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me
  • Id card– Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me
  • Photo of JOHN SINCLAIR HOLMES– Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me
  • Attestation paper– Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me
  • Attestation paper– Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me
  • Newspaper clipping– From the Toronto Star July 1944. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
  • Newspaper clipping– From the Toronto Star July 1944. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
  • Cemetery– Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery - August 2012
Photo courtesy of Marg Liessens
  • Beny-Sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery– The Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery, located at Reviers, about 4  kilometres from Juno Beach in Normandy, France. (J. Stephens)
  • Cemetery– Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery
Photo courtesy of Marg Liessens
  • Grave marker– While in France in May/05, went to Beny-sur-Mer cemetary and selected the grave of an RCAF soldier, J.S. Holmes, to place flag & poppy. (My father had been in RCAF in England during part of the war.)
  • Grave Marker– Grave marker - Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery - August 2012
Photo courtesy of Marg Liessens

Learn more about the Canadian Virtual War Memorial

To learn more please visit our help page. If you have questions or comments regarding the information contained in this registry, email or call us. For inquiries regarding the names and information found in the RCMP Honour Roll, please email the RCMP.

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