A D-DAY MEMORIAL TRIBUTE:
LESLIE HOLMES 1914 - 1944
This page is dedicated to Royal Marine
Commando Peter Leslie Holmes Marine PLY/X 101828 one of the original
members of No. 45 (four-five) Royal Marine Commando Unit, who died whilst
taking part in the Allied forces D-Day landings on the beaches of
Normandy, France on the 6th June 1944.
45 COMMANDOS: When the Second World War broke out Leslie was conscripted into the
Royal Marines on 28th January 1941 aged 26.
The first commando units were formed at the request of Winston
Churchill in a call for specially trained troops of the hunter class, who
can inflict terror on the enemy and were generally seen as "elite"
soldiers who had to meet relatively high physical and intellectual
requirements. The Commandos bravery did much to raise the morale of the
British public in the Second World War. The first Royal Marine Commando
(40 Commando Royal Marines) came into being on St. Valentine’s Day 1942.
Leslie became one of the original members of the 45 Royal Marine Commandos
(pronounced four five) on the 1st August 1943, the day it officially came
into being at Burley.
After successfully completing his
training Leslie was entitled to wear the much-coveted Commando's green
beret, the distinctive hallmark of the Commando ethos.
The Commando units suffered heavily in
the D-Day landings On the 5th June 1944 and
overall the battle cost the Allied armies some ten
thousand men, who were either killed, wounded or listed as missing.
Leslie was listed as missing,
presumed killed on War Service with 'no known grave' and that his
character on discharge was 'Exemplary'. It is known that Leslie actually make it ashore and would have reached Pegasus
Bridge and most likely died around the Merville-Franceville Plage area
where the 45 commandos were involved in heavy fighting to take control of
German occupied territory.
SUMMARY: As Leslie
has no grave he is commemorated by name on Panel 92, column 1 of the
Plymouth Naval Memorial. Leslie had just turned 30 when he died.
For The Fallen:
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow
old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going
down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them.
Before the war, Leslie would
save enough during the year so he could go visit Blackpool every Good Friday
with his friends and as he could play the organ, it became a
tradition that before he left the family would gather together and sing
whilst he played Easter Parade. This was a song made popular by Bing Crosby, one of
Leslie's favourite singers. (Click on the left button on the music bar
below to hear a snippet)
