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Holdsworth,
[Arthur*] John Arundell

* added at a later stage; all oldest Holdworths were called Arthur, but as he was killed in the war, John added the name Arthur, being the oldest in line

31.03.1915
-
12.06.1999

[Newton Abbot, Devon]
Cadet
01.05.1932
Midsh.
01.01.1933
A/S.Lt.
01.05.1935
S.Lt.
16.01.1936
Lt.
16.05.1938, backdated 16.04.1938
A/Lt.Cdr.
22.05.1944 [acting rank]
A/Lt.Cdr.
01.11.1944 [appointed rank]
Lt.Cdr.
16.10.1945 (retd 1965)
Commander of the Royal Victorian Order CVO
1980
?
Officer of the Order of the British Empire OBE
01.01.1962
New Year 62
Mention in Despatches MID
16.08.1940
Dunkirk
Mention in Despatches MID
05.12.1944
actions near Le Havre
Croix de Guerre (France) CdeG
?
?
Education: Stanmore Park Preparatory School; RN College Dartmouth (1929)
1928


entered RN
23.04.1932
-
(01.1934)
HMS Sussex (cruiser)
1934


HMS Leander (cruiser)
02.05.1935
-
(07.1935)
Lieutenant's courses, RN College, Greenwich
18.08.1936
-
(02.1937)
HMS Resolution (battleship)
1937
-
12.08.1938
First Lieutenant, MTB 9 [HMS Tamar]
12.08.1938
-
(08.1939)
CO MTB 9 [HMS Tamar] (Hong Kong)
(1940)


HMS Locust (gunboat)
12.12.1941
-
(08.1942)
First Lieutenant, HMS Escapade (destroyer)
(02.1943)


no appointment listed
(1943)


HMS Beaufort (destroyer)
(06.1943)
-
07.1943
HMS Nile (shore base Commander-in-Chief, Levant)
25.07.1943
-
05.1944
CO HMS Wishart (destroyer)
22.05.1944
-
(10.1944)
CO LCH 269 [HMS Copra]
31.07.1944
-
(04.1946)
CO HMS Talybont (destroyer) *
1946


Cambridge University (learning Russian)
1947
-
1949
Assistant Naval Attaché Warsa
1950
-
1951
British Joint Services Mission, Washingto
1952


HMS Savage
1953


HMS Ganges
1954
-
1956
Naval Staff, Germany
1956
-
1965
Flag Lieutenant to the  Board of Admiralty
Steward, Newton Abbot Race Course, 1967-1985; Deputy President, Devon Branch, BRCS, 1971-1985 (Patron, 1985-); Chairman, Silver Jubilee Trust Council, Devon, 1978-1985. Deputy Lieutenant 1973, High Sheriff, 1976-1977, Devon. An Extra Gentleman Usher to the Queen, since 1985 (Gentleman Usher, 1967-1985); Vice Lord-Lieutenant for Devon, 1982-1990
* Although the Navy List states date of appointment as 31.07.1944, a veteran of LCH 269 is quite certain he still served there late October 1944.

Column 1
Here the last name and full first names are given, followed (when applicable) by titles of nobility. Titles like "Sir" are placed between square brackets [] when the person was knighted after 1945. A first name in italics is the name by which one is generally known. A nickname is added in apostrophes.

Column 2
A date & place of birth are given when known, a question mark when not known, and a year with question mark when guessed. A month with question mark between round brackets indicates the quarter of the year ending with that month in which the person was born. E.g. (06?).1901 indicates that the person was born in 1901 in either April, May or June. When the first quarter of a year is indicated (with the month of March), there is also a slight possibility that the person was born in December of the year before.
A date of death is given when known. Place of death is indicated when known, or when not exactly known the last known place of residence, which in some (or most) cases may be the place of death as well. When known the last resting place is also indicated, or the Naval Memorial where the person is commemorated. If there's an indication the person was still alive at some date, this can also be indicated. Places of birth & death given are in many cases the wider areas / districts and not necessarily the smallest (exact) geographical location.

Column 3
Ranks
Ranks are given in sequence from lowest to highest (when known). When known, a date has been added to the rank. This date of promotion is the administrative date and doesn't necessarily indicate an actual date. E.g. someone is promoted Lieutenant on 01.01.1940, but receives a correction on this date somewhere in 1942 (in stead of a promotion), backdating his promotion to 01.01.1939. Such cases, when known, are indicated with "backdated". Between two promotions officers can hold an "acting" rank (indicated with "A/"). This can either be a temporary "acting" rank (for the duration of a certain posting only) or a substantive "acting" rank (kind of an in-between promotion). Only the substantive acting ranks are indicated by an exact date; temporary ranks either by a period or a guessed date/year (indicated with a question mark). Retired officers are indicated with (retd). Did an officer retire after being promoted to a certain rank, than (retd) is placed after the date. Was he promoted while being on the Retired List, then (retd) is placed before the date. Most retired officers listed here were activated upon the beginning of hostilities in 1939, and were reverted to the retired list either during the war, or upon the cessation of hostilities in 1945. Some Flag Officers were still on the active list in 1939-1945, but probably never had an active posting. The highlighted rank is the highest rank achieved in wartime (between Sept 1939-Aug 1945).

Decorations
Decorations are given in a somewhat random order; I've tried to put the higher ones on top, with the foreign awards at the bottom. Foreign awards and other honours can also be indicated below the decorations box. When known, of each decoration the ribbon has been given, the abbreviation, the date (mostly the date of gazetting in the London Gazette) and the action for which the decoration was awarded. Behind the icon (place your pointer on the icon and wait a few seconds) the full title of the decoration (and when applicable the class within the order) is given. For some decorations, such as the Victoria Cross, the citation for the award has also been reproduced.

Column 4
Here the career of the officer is given, starting (when known) with his education. In small print on a white background the information of his career before and after the period of 1939-1945 has been given. In larger print on a grey background his wartime career is shown. When known, a year or date is indicated. Dates between rounded brackets indicate that the person was at least serving on that date in the given posting, but exact information about when started or ended fail. E.g. 1942-(05.)1943 indicates that the person served in a certain posting in the years 1942-1943, and in an effort to specify it a bit more it is indicated that he at least still served in May 1943. Dates are generally taken from the Navy List, but given the fact that even the Navy List is quite inconsistent in several places,
some discrepancies may show. It is more than often the case that in the index of the list an officer is shown on a certain HMS, while the HMS listing itself doesn't show the person (anymore). When no posting (in the index) is listed for an officer, this has also been indicated. This doesn't necessarily mean that the officer is without a posting at that time, but is more than often a rough indication that the officer is "in between" two jobs, being on leave, sick or otherwise. All postings should be to a certain HMS. This HMS can be either a vessel (such as the destroyer HMS Escapade), a naval (shore) establishment with a "parent ship" or building ashore (the so-called "stone [or concrete] frigates", such as HMS Lanka, with the naval barracks at Colombo), or an administrative unit (such as HMS Copra, the administrative "home" of Combined Operations personnel). For most vessels the type of vessel has been indicated after the HMS name. It still remains complicated, for an officer serving on a certain HMS can still be "borne" on another (administrative) HMS. The dates (months) between round brackets are usually the Navy Lists of that month which show the person in a certain appointment. Be aware that a Navy List is usually corrected to the middle of the previous month, so the Navy List of August 1939 is corrected to 18 July 1939. But then again, the July 1945 list is corrected to 30 June 1945.
Underneath the career box details are given about a possible civil career and social & honorary positions.

Abbreviations

... indicating that possibly more information on a person's career is available, but has been left out for the time being
A/ Acting
(A) Air Branch
AA Anti-Aircraft
AB Sea. Able [Bodied] Seaman
ADDL Aerodrome dummy deck landing
Adm. Admiral
Art. Artificer
A/S anti-submarine
ASV Air-to-surface vessel
Boatsw. Boatswain
BPF British Pacific Fleet
CAG Carrier Air Group
Capt. Captain
Cd. Commissioned (Gunner, Engineer etc.)
Cdr. Commander
Cdre. Commodore
Chapl. Chaplain
cl. class
CO Commanding Officer
C/O Chief Officer
CPO Chief Petty Officer
(D) (Destroyer) [as in the position of Capt. (D)]
(D) (Dentistry) [as in the rank of Sg.Lt. (D)]
Dir Director
(E) (Engineer Branch)
El. Electrical
(emgcy) Emergency List
Eng. Engineer(ing)
ERA Engine Room Artificer
FAA Fleet Air Arm
(G) (Gunnery Branch)
Gnr. Gunner
HDML Harbour Defence Motor Launch
HMAS His Majesty's Australian Ship [post-war: Her Majesty's]
HMCS His Majesty's Canadian Ship [post-war: Her Majesty's]
HMS His Majesty's Ship [post-war: Her Majesty's]
HMNZS His Majesty's New Zealand Ship [post-war: Her Majesty's]
Instr. Instructor
KIA killed in action
(L) (Electrical Branch)
LCT Landing Craft, Tank
Ldg. Leading
Lt. Lieutenant
Lt.Cdr. Lieutenant-Commander
MASB Motor Anti-Submarine Boat
MGB Motor Gun Boat
MIA missing in action
Midsh. Midshipman
ML Motor Launch
Mne. Marine
MONAB Mobile Naval Air Base
MPK missing, presumed killed
MTB Motor Torpedo Boat
Ord.Sea. Ordinary Seaman
Paym. Paymaster [replaced by: (S)]
Prob. Probationary
QC Qualified for Command status
R&RT Physical & Recreational Training
R.Adm. Rear-Admiral
RAN Royal Australian Navy
RANVR Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve
RCN Royal Canadian Navy
RCNR Royal Canadian Naval Reserve
RCNVR Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve
reld released / relinquished
retd retired
(retd) Retired List
RM Royal Marine(s)
RME Royal Marine Engineers
RN Royal Navy
RNR Royal Naval Reserve
RNVR Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve
(S) (Supply & Secretariat) [formerly: Paymaster]
Sea. Seaman
Sg. Surgeon
SGB Steam Gun Boat
Shipwr. Shipwright
Skpr. Skipper
S.Lt. Sub-Lieutenant
SO Senior Officer
(Sp.Br.) (Special Branch)
Supt. Superintendent
T/ Temporary
(T) (Torpedo)
T/A/ Temporary Acting
TBR Torpedo Bomber Reconnaissance
Tel. Telegraphist
TSR Torpedo Spotter Reconnaissance
V.Adm. Vice-Admiral
WRCNS Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service
WRNS Women's Royal Naval Service
Wt. Warrant (Electricians, Telegraphists etc.)
W/T Wireless Telegraphy