A British War Medal awarded to Captain S. H. Holland, Royal Air Force, late Royal West Surrey Regiment, who was killed in action in 1936 as a Pilot for the Republican forces during the Spanish Civil War

British War Medal 1914-20 (Capt. S. H. Holland, R.A.F.) nearly extremely fine £250-300

Sydney Henry Holland was born on 17 March 1883 at Petworth, Sussex, where his grandfather, Prebendary Holland was Rector. With the outbreak of the Great War, Sydney Holland volunteered for service with the Army. In May 1915 he attained the rank of Temporary Captain with the 9th Battalion Royal Surrey Regiment and in September was attached to the 1st and 2nd Battalions. He was transferred the Royal Flying Corps in September 1917 and qualified as an Observer, serving with No.9 Squadron in France. During this time his aircraft was engaged in several combats with enemy aircraft but with no confirmed results. He returned to the United Kingdom in February 1918 to undertake pilot training at No.1 Armament School and No.1 Flying School. Having qualified, he was then posted in September 1918 to No.139 Squadron at Villaverla in Northern Italy flying Bristol F.2b fighters. On 8 October 1918 whilst on reconnaissance, he was attacked by seven enemy aircraft. The Combat Report states,

‘Captain Holland’s front gun would not fire. His Observer, Lieut. Fullagar, was wounded, but continued to engage the attacking E.A., one of which, after a good burst at close range, went down vertically and crashed just E. of Borgo (unconfirmed). The E.A. then broke off the combat and dispersed. ...’ During the last few weeks of the war Captain Holland crashed or forced landed his machine several times, usually due to engine failure. As a Lieutenant (Hon. Captain) in the R.A.F. he was transferred to the Unemployed List in April 1919.

By nature an adventurer and finding few opportunities for his talents at home, he then moved to South America. Based at Buenos Aires, he was employed as a Pilot by the River Plate Aviation Company. He also became a self-taught aerial photographer, producing an air map of the city of Buenos Aires - taking photographs, leaning over the side of his aircraft whilst holding the control column between his knees! Further air surveys were performed in Brazil on behalf of the Aircraft Operating Company at Rio de Janeiro. There he fell foul of the authorities by taking photographs over a restricted area which resulted in a spell in prison. Released through the efforts of his wife, he then took to flying for the Brazilian Paulista Revolutionaries based at Sao Paulo - transporting personnel and aircraft for them. With the defeat of the Paulistas by the Government forces, Holland swiftly vacated Brazil, the country having become too 'hot' for him. Returning to England, he left his redoubtable wife to realize their assets, most of which she successfully gained.

In England he resumed his flying and photographic work, eventually becoming a pilot with Wrightways Ltd. of Croydon, flying regular services from Croydon to Paris. Sadly, his employment with Wrightways came to a sudden end in November 1936 when he was dismissed for failing to observe air navigation regulations. The Spanish Civil War having broken out, Holland, then aged 53, promptly offered his services to the Spanish Republican Government as a flyer. After induction and agreement of terms, Holland along with other air volunteers were posted to Sondica airfield near Bilbao. Here they were allotted the most dilapidated of a motley collection of aircraft by the commandant who despised the volunteers as expendable mercenaries and who threatened to shoot any who did not complete their missions. Lack of supplies and drunken brawls between the Spanish and the volunteers also added to the ill-feeling and tension. Despite this, day after day, bombing raids were made on enemy positions, their protection being a flight of Russian I-15 fighters and the generally poor weather. One such aircraft pressed into military service was a Monospar ST-25 - a British-made twin-engined commercial aircraft. Aside from the pilot it carried an observer/bombardier, whose job was to throw out, by hand, the eight bombs it carried and, if need be, shoot at attacking aircraft with a hand held machine-gun from out of the cabin window!

On 12 December 1936 the squadron was sent on a mission to bomb Lacua Airfield at Vitoria. Sydney Holland was the pilot of a Monospar ST-25 with a crew of two. Because of the different speeds of the disparate aircraft it was not possible for the few Russian fighters to protect all the bombers. In the attack on Lacua, one of the last to drop its bombs was the Monospar flown by Holland. Having been alerted by the earlier attackers, German He 51B fighters of the German Condor J-88 at Vitoria, flying for the Nationalists, were by then in the air and ready for action. Holland's aircraft was attacked and riddled with bullets. Despite the brave action of his observer, seen firing his machine-gun through a broken cabin window, the plane was shot down in flames and Holland and his crew were killed. The plane crashed in Nationalist territory and Holland's body was recovered. On it was discovered his contract and an unposted letter to his wife in which he lamented the lack of organization in the Republican forces. Details of these and his last flight were published in The Daily Mail, 16 December 1936.

Sold with a quantity of copied research including photographs, m.i.c., squadron record book extracts, combat report extracts and extracts from The Flyers by Brian Bridgeman which provides details of Holland's remarkable flying career.