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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) CVO 1980 ? OBE 01.01.1962 New Year 62 MID 16.08.1940 Dunkirk MID 05.12.1944 actions near Le Havre 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