Born at Lenton Nottinghamshire, England, CoE. Enlisted 8 July 1915 age 26, warder at the Fremantle Asylum for the Insane. Nok father, John Holmes, Orlando St, Cottesloe Beach and later at Ostranto, Solomon St, Cottesloe Beach. Embarked at Adelaide 18 November 1915 per A2 Geelong. The Troop ship A2 Geelong arrived at the Suez 18 December 1915 and by then the Anzacs had been withdrawn from Gallipoli. Arnold spent March and April in hospital with mumps and influenza. The battalion arrived at Marseilles on 23 June 1916 and in less than a month Arnold was killed during the Battle of Fromelles 19-20 July 1916; the worst day in Australian military history during which 5500 men were killed or wounded. Today the Fromelles War Memorial at Pheasant Woods is a shrine to an Australian tragedy. Using DNA sampling, more than 124 entombed and forgotten soldiers have been identified and one skeleton, identified in 2010, was that of Arnold Holmes. Service medals: 1914-1915 Star. BWM and VM.
