Irving Edward Holmes
PFC Irving E. Holmes served with Able Company, First Battalion, 4th Marines in the Philippine Islands.
He was killed in action at Corregidor on 24 April 1942.
Branch
Marine Corps Regular
Service Number 250437
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
Pursuit Category
The DPAA has not publicized this information.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
August 30, 1911
at San Francisco, CA
Parents
William W. Holmes
Edna Zoe (Konkle) Holmes
later Edna Reale
Education
Details unknown
Occupation
Details unknown
Service Life
Entered Service
November 29, 1935
at San Francisco, CA
Home Of Record
Sonoma, CA
Next Of Kin
Mother, Mrs. Edna Holmes
Specialty
—
Primary Unit
A/1/4th Marines
Campaigns Served
Defense of the Philippines / Corregidor
Individual Decorations
Purple Heart
Additional Service Details
—
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
PFC Irving Holmes served with Company A, 4th Marines during the Philippine campaign and the defense of Corregidor.
On 24 April 1942, Japanese artillery unleashed a bombardment against Marine-held positions at Corregidor’s Infantry Point. Unable to strike back, the defenders took cover from the shelling. Several Marines sheltered in a nearby magazine, which subsequently suffered several direct hits.
When the explosions ceased, the survivors turned out to search for the casualties. They identified four bodies, and found other men “beyond recognition.” PFC Holmes was one of those confirmed killed in action; he had suffered “wounds, multiple, shrapnel, generalized over body” as a result of the artillery strike.
Burial Information or Disposition
All remains recovered from the destroyed magazine were buried in the Fort Mills Station Cemetery, Corregidor. A casualty report states that Holmes was interred in Plot C, Row 5, Grave 3 – but this notation was later crossed out and amended to read “Missing In Action.” A statement from Captain Lewis H. Pickup further clarifies that “Holmes is known to have been… in an ammunition magazine at Infantry Point prior to the bombardment,” but that his remains were not subsequently identified.
It took three days to remove the last of the men, by which time they were long beyond recognition. The Graves Registration guessed that the remains represented four Marines, but “all efforts were made to identify without results. Impossible to fingerprint.” They received a collective burial in the Station Cemetery, Plot C, Grave 40.
The four Marines are almost certainly Corporal Vernon E. Putnam, Corporal Walter W. Meyer, PFC Truman K. Fain, and PFC Holmes.
Memorials
Next Of Kin Address
Address of mother, Mrs. Edna Holmes.
Edna also resided in Globe, Arizona during the war years.
Location Of Loss
Holmes was last seen near an ammunition dump at Corregidor’s “Infantry Point.”
