LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Brian HOLMES-A’COURT
Service No: 413121
Born: Woollahra NSW, 12 June 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 16 August 1941
Unit: No. 286 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Weston-Super-Mare
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 286 Squadron Hurricane aircraft V6725), Cornwall, 24 June 1943, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Bath (Haycombe) Cemetery, Somerset
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Dr. Alan Worsley Holmes a Court and Eileen Holmes a Court, of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Sydney NSW
Remembered: Panel 124, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1755 hours on 24 June 1943, Hurricane V6725 crashed when detailed to carry out a low flying army cooperation exercise. The aircraft stalled from a steep climbing turn from the ground and Flying Officer Holmes-A’Court was killed. A Court of Inquiry into the accident found that: “the Pilot of this aircraft was engaged in low level attacks on coastal gun posts. It appeared that he made a series of these attacks and went into a climbing turn after passing over the various posts. From one of these turns he appears to have side slipped into the ground. The Pilot was killed and the aircraft smashed. It is possible that the Pilot blacked out temporarily and lost height on his turn thereby striking the ground, which was of undulating nature, or the aircraft stalled owing to the mishandling of the controls at high speed. It was considered that the Pilot who was comparatively inexperienced tried to turn too violently near the ground. “
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/18/118