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Acting Major
THOMAS LEONARD STANLEY HOLBROW, MC
Royal Engineers 

by 

Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Edward De Santis, MSCE, P.E., MinstRE
(October 2023)

Figure 1. Acting Major Thomas Leonard Stanley Holbrow, MC, R.E.
(Image courtesy of the Imperial War Museum) 

1.  INTRODUCTION[1] 

In Memory of Major

THOMAS LEONARD STANLEY HOLBROW, M.C.

156^th Field Company, Royal Engineers 

Who Died on 28 March 1918, Age 28

Son of Stanley Charles and Katherine Yuille Holbrow of Charing, Kent 

Remembered with Honour

BLANGY-TRONVILLE COMMUNAL CEMETERY, Grave 32 

2.  FAMILY INFORMATION AND EARLY LIFE

Family Information

            Thomas Leonard Stanley Holbrow was born in Simla, Punjab, India on 22 February 1891.  He was the son of Stanley Charles Holbrow (1844-1902) and Katherine Yuille Holbrow, née Wilkes (1857-1945).[2]  

Early Life

            In 1905 young Thomas Holbrow entered Eastbourne College, Sussex as a boarder in Wargrave House.  He had a distinguished career at Eastbourne, where he was Head of Wargrave and captain of one of the best XVs the college had before the Great War.  It was said of him that he got into the excellent 1908 side mainly by his tackling and rush stopping and in 1909 made an excellent Captain.  In 1909 he passed from Eastbourne and entered the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich where he gained his colours for football.[3] 

3.  COMMISSIONING AND TRAINING 

Commissioning 

            Holbrow was commissioned a 2^nd Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers on 20 July 1911  after completing his studies at the Royal Military Academy.  He proceeded from Woolwich to the School of Military Engineering at Chatham, Kent where he was trained as an engineer officer.[4] 

Training 

            At Chatham he took courses in field fortifications, construction, surveying, telegraphy, electric lighting, submarine mining, photography, chemistry, military law and tactics.[5]  His training there lasted about two years and he graduated about July 1913.  On 23 August 1913 he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant.[6]           

4.  POSTINGS AND CAMPAIGN SERVICE

Hendon 1913-1914) 

            After leaving Chatham Lieutenant Holbrow attended a flying course at the Ewen School in Hendon, London.  On 13 December 1913 he passed the Royal Aeronautical Club qualification and was awarded an Aviator’s Certificate for flying a Caudron Biplane, probably a Caudron G.3.[7]   

            The Caudron G.3 was a single-engine French sesquiplane built by Caudron, widely used in the Great War as a reconnaissance aircraft and trainer.  The aircraft had a short crew nacelle, with a single engine in the nose of the nacelle, and an open tail boom truss. It was of sesquiplane layout, and used wing warping for lateral control, although this was replaced by conventional ailerons fitted on the upper wing in late production aircraft. Usually, the G.3 was not armed, although sometimes light machine guns and small bombs were fitted.  It was ordered in large quantities following the outbreak of the war with the Caudron factories building 1,423 of the 2,450 built in France, 233 built in England and 166 built in Italy along with several other countries. The British used the G.3 for reconnaissance on a wide scale until 1917, as did the British RFC, who fitted some with light bombs and machine guns for ground attack.[8]  

Figure 2. The Caudron G.3 Biplane.
(Image courtesy of Wikipedia) 

            Holbrow’s flying instructor, William Hugh Ewen (1879-1947) was a pioneering Scottish Aviator. Born on 1 December 1879 in Shanghai of Scottish Missionary parents, William Stevenson Ewen and Selina Blakeway.  He travelled to Edinburgh in 1882 where his father became the Master Printer at Messrs. Peddle, Ewen and Co., Edinburgh. He was the fifth Scottish aviator to gain his pilot's certificate from the Royal Aeronautical Club, on 1 February 1911.

Previously W.H. Ewen had founded W.H. Ewen Aviation Co. Ltd. In May 1911 he opened the Lanark Flying School, with flights in June of that year, before moving in 1912 to Hendon near London. Once there he set up his second Flying School.

He was instrumental in teaching many to fly at the Ewen Flying School, Hendon before becoming a Lieutenant in the Royal Flying Corps on 15 November 1915. In November 1916 the War Office commandeered the flying schools at Hendon, after which the aerodrome trained 490 pilots. All passed on the Caudron biplane, which was later supported in the UK by the British Caudron Company.  Ewen transferred to the Royal Air Force on 1 April 1918 in the rank of Major, before resigning his commission due to ill health.[9] 

Figure 3.  Holbrow’s Flying Certificate.
(Image courtesy of the Holbrow family tree) 

            His flying certificate shows that at the time that he was enrolled in the flying course, Holbrow was stationed at Haslar Barracks in Gosport, Hampshire.  The 4^th Submarine Mining Company was stationed at Gosport during this period, so it is likely that Holbrow was on the rolls of this company.  By April of 1914 Lieutenant Holbrow was at Pembroke Dock in Wales, presumably assigned to the 35^th (Fortress) Company, which prior to that time also had been a Submarine Mining Company.[10] 

Royal Flying Corps (1914-1915) 

            Probably because he had qualified as an aviator, Lieutenant Holbrow was attached as a Flying Officer with the Military Wing of the Royal Flying Corps (R.F.C.) on 30 June 1914.  He was posted to No. 2 Squadron of the R.F.C. under the command of Major C.J. Burke, R.F.C.  In early August 1914 the squadron began deployment to France.  Some officers, probably the most experienced ones, flew their aircraft to France.  Seven officers of the squadron, including Holbrow, went by sea.  These officers embarked aboard SS Dogra[11] at Glasgow Docks on 8 August 1914, but the ship did not sail until 12 August.  On 15 August the ship docked at Boulogne and Holbrow disembarked to take up his duties with the squadron as a pilot and an observer.[12] 

            After arriving at the Western Front, Lieutenant Holbrow quickly saw action.  On 1 September 1914 he was flying over enemy lines as an observer in an R.E.1 aircraft with No. 2 Squadron.  In an attempt to land in friendly territory to warn troops of an enemy advance, his aircraft  was damaged.  The aircraft had to be burned to prevent it from falling into enemy hands as he and the pilot and the infantry troops in the area retreated before the German advance.[13] 

Figure 4. A British R.E.1 Aircraft.
(Image of the Royal Aircraft R.E.1 Web Site)    

            At the time of this incident, reconnaissance or scouting was seen as the only military purpose of aircraft. The R.E.1, completed in July 1913, was described in contemporary reports as intended for the same purposes as the B.E.2,[14] using the same engine but being an aircraft of more modern refinement. It was a single bay biplane with equal span, constant chord wings, unswept but with stagger. Wing warping was used for lateral control. The rudder was similar to that of the B.E.2, curved and extending below the fuselage, but a triangular fin was fitted that reached forward to the strongly swept leading edge of the B.E.2 style tailplane.[15]  

France and Flanders (1915-1918) 

            On 25 June 1915 Lieutenant Holbrow returned to duties with the Royal Engineers.[16]  This reassignment may have come about for one of two reasons: either more experienced flyers were being posted to the R.F.C. or the Royal Engineers were short of officers to fill positions in field companies in the divisions.  Whatever the reason, Holbrow was posted to the 156^th Field Company in the 16^th (Irish) Division.  This company did not arrive in France until 18 December 1915, so between June and December of 1915, Holbrow must have filled a staff position, perhaps with the staff of a division’s Commander Royal Engineers (C.R.E.).  This period of time could not be accounted for during this research project.  

            Other units of the Royal Engineers in the 16^th Division at the time that Holbrow joined the 156^th Field Company included the 155^th and 157^th Field Companies and the 16^th Divisional Signal Company.  There was no Pioneer Battalion in the division at this time. 

            In April of 1916 Holbrow’s company was located in the Hulloch Sector to the north of Lens.  Holbrow probably was serving as a Section Commander in the company.  On 26 August 1916 he was appointed and Acting Captain,[17] probably making him the Adjutant of the 156^th Field Company. 

            From this point on, Holbrow and his company would be involved in many of the major actions on the Western Front, shown in bold type below.  Men of the 156^th Field Company who were killed in action in the battles are also shown. 

Battle of Guillemont (3 to 6 September 1916) 

Battle of Ginchy (9 September 1919)

            65789 Sapper William Hester, killed in action

            97873 Sapper Frank William Hurst, killed in action

            113696 Sapper John William French, killed in action

            97432 Sapper William Clewley, MM, killed in action 

On 30 November 1916 Lieutenant Holbrow, an Acting Captain, was appointed to be an Acting Major while commanding a Field Company.[18] From this it must be assumed that he was appointed the acting Officer Commanding the 156^th Field Company as a result of the actual commander being wounded or killed during the battle of Ginchy.  A review of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission indicates that there were only two officers in the company who were killed in action, a Lieutenant and Major Holbrow; hence, it must be assumed that the original Officer Commanding the company must have been wounded or transferred to another unit. 

After a spell out of the line during the winter of 1916/1917 the 16^th Division remained in a relatively quiet location.  On 7 February 1917 Lieutenant Holbrow relinquished his rank as Acting Major on ceasing to command the 156^th Field Company.[19] Presumably he returned to command of a section. 

Battle of Messines (7 to 14 June 1917): Capture of Wytschaete 

On 26 June 1917 Holbrow is again appointed a Temporary Major and O.C. of the 156^th Field Company. 

Battle of Ypres: Pilckem Ridge (31 July to 2 August 1917) 

Battle of Langemarck (16 to 18 August 1917)

On 24 September 1917 Holbrow was again listed as a Captain, to be Acting Major, and O.C. of the 156^th Field Company.  By 20 November he and his company were located to the north of Bullecourt and on 17 December Captain (Acting Major) Holbrow  was awarded the Military Cross.  The citation for his medal read as follows:

“ For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty.  Having been directed to detail an officer to assist in the reconnoitering of an enemy trench, he proceeded himself with a raiding party of infantry which entered the enemy’s trenches. He carried out his duties with the utmost deliberation, measuring distances with a tape brought for that purpose.  His reconnaissance completed, he personally took part in the fighting, and when, on returning to our lines, he found one of his sappers was missing, he went to find him and brought him safely back. The reconnaissance he made were of the greatest value.”

Battle of St. Quentin (21 to 23 March 1918)

            Lieutenant J.W.G. Whitehouse, killed in action

            359688 Sapper John Harney, MID, killed in action

            155284 Sapper Vashni Peacock, killed in action

            471625 Sapper Thomas Stevens, killed in action

            213525 Sapper John William Curtis, killed in action

Battle of Rosieres (26 to 27 March 1918)

            146405 Sapper Frederick Frost, killed in action

            94180 2^nd Corporal William Fryer, DCM, killed in action

Third Battle of Arras (28 March 1918)

On this date Major Holbrow was killed in action about 1500 hours in Hamel.  There is a very brief entry in the company war diary stating the following:

“O.C. Coy killed at 3-0 pm in Hamel”

            Major Holbrow was 28 years old when he was killed in action.  He is buried at Blangy-Tronville Communal Cemetery, Grave 32, in the Somme region of Picardie, France.

            All the men of the 156^th Field Company who died during the war are shown in Annex A below.

5. MEDALS, AWARDS AND DECORATIONS

            For his service during the war Major Holbrow was awarded the Military Cross, the 1914 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal.  His Medal Index Card shows that the 1914 Star was awarded for his service in the Royal Flying Corps, while the remainder of the awards was for his service in the Royal Engineers.  Of course these medals were forwarded to his next of kin. 

Figure 5. The Medal Index Card (front side) of Major T.L.S. Holbrow, MC, R.E.
(Image courtesy of Ancestry.com) 

Figure 6. The Medal Index Card (back side) of Major T.L.S. Holbrow, MC, R.E.
(Image courtesy of Ancestry.com)

Figure 7. The Medals Awarded to Major Holbrow.
(Image from the author’s collection) 

NOTE: The medals shown above and the plaque shown below are not those of Major Holbrow.  They are presented here for illustrative purposes only. 

            In addition to these medals, his family would also have received a bronze Memorial Plaque similar to the one shown below.  The plaque would have been cast with his name in the rectangle just above the lion’s head. 

Figure 8. The Memorial Plaque.
(Image from the author’s collection)

ANNEX A
Fatal Casualties of the 156^th Field Company

ANALYSIS  OF CASUALTIES 

Total Fatal Casualties: 36 

Casualties by Rank

Major:              1 )                    Officers:          2         (5.5%)

Lieutenants:    1 )

CQMS:            1 >                   Senior NCOs: 3         (8.3%)

Sergeants:        2 >

Corporals:        2 ]

2^nd Corporals:  2 ]                    Junior NCOs:  5         (13.9%)

L/Corporals:    1 ]

Sappers:           20 >

Drivers:           5   >                 Other Ranks:   26        (72.3%)

Pioneers:          1   > 

Casualties by Year

1916:   16        (44.4%)

1917:   6          (16.7%)

1918:   14        (38.9%) 

The Largest Number of Casualties by Battles (St. Quentin, Rosieres, Arras) 

21 – 28 March 1918:   8 (22.2%) 

The Largest Number of Driver Casualties 

Four of the five Drivers (80%) were killed or died of wounds on 29 & 30 June 1916.  At this time the 156^th Field Company was in the Hulloch sector.  It is likely that these men were caught on a road by artillery fire while moving tools and supplies from the company headquarters to work sites.

REFERENCES: 

Army Lists 

1. Monthly Army List, December 1912, p. 805.

2. Monthly Army List, April 1914, p. 804.

3. Monthly Army List, February 1915, pp. 194 and 803.

4. Monthly Army List, April 1915, pp. 194 and 802.

5. Quarterly Army List, October 1916, p. 1200.  

Books 

Eastbourne College Roll of Honour. 

Family Trees 

Family Tree of Thomas Leonard Stanley Holbrow (by emidee)  

Internet Web Sites 

1. Wikipedia: Caudron G.3 Biplane.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caudron_G.3#/media/File:Gervais-Courtellemont_franz%C3%B6sisches_Kampfflugzeug_1914_001.jpg

2. Royal Flying Corps

http://www.airhistory.org.uk/rfc/EF3.html

3. Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/587596/thomas-leonard-stanley-holbrow/

4. Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.1.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Aircraft_Factory_R.E.1

5. Wikipedia: Battle of Guillemont.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Guillemont

6. Wikipedia: Battle of Ginchy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ginchy

7. Wikipedia: Battle of Messines (1917).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Messines_(1917) 

London Gazette 

1. The London Gazette, 22 August 1911, pp. 6226 and 6227.

2. The London Gazette, 14 August 1914, p. 6398.

3. The London Gazette, 29 December 1916, p 12662.

4. The London Gazette, 19 March 1917, p. 2741.

5. Supplement to the London Gazette, 9 May 1917, p. 4446.

6. Supplement to the London Gazette, 25 June 1917, p. 6272.

7. Supplement to the London Gazette, 11 December 1917, p. 12893.

8. Supplement to the London Gazette, 17 December 1917, pp. 13181 and 13183.

9. Supplement to the London Gazette, 26 April 1918, p. 5040.  

Military Documents 

1. Aviation Certificate, 13 December 1913.

2. Chronological Outline of the Service of the 156^th Field Company, R.E. in the Great War.

3. Royal Engineers Medal Roll: British War Medal and Victory Medal.

4. Medal Index Card of Acting Major T.L.S. Holbrow, M.C., R.E.

5. 156^th Field Company War Diary.  

Periodicals 

1. Battle Honours of the Royal Engineers.  The Royal Engineers Journal, Chatham, Kent, 1925-1932.

2. The Kentish Express 4 May 1918.

    

ENDNOTES: