100 Stories > Holmes Brelsford (1894-1963)

Holmes was a cotton weaver before joining the Royal Army Medical Corps. He was on board HMHS Brittanic, sister ship of the Titanic, when the ship was sunk in the Kea Channel near Greece in 2015. Thirty people were lost, with Holmes being one of the last to leave the ship. He later served in Salonika, returning to civilian life in March 1919.

In the left hand image, Holmes is stood on the left.

Holmes sent home a post card from Athens, writing, with understatement: “…I suppose you will have heard of the misshap but I am alright.” The news will have been a tremendous relief to those back home in Burnley. Holmes’ brother had drowned on the Royal Edward the previous year.