Person    | Male  Born 1891  Died 30/12/1940

Auxiliary Fireman Sidney Alfred Holder

Categories: Emergency Services

War dead non-military, WW2 i

Commemorated on a memorial as being a civilian who was killed in WW2. Includes mercantile marines and emergency services personnel.

Crushed under a collapsing wall in Shoe Lane or St Bride Street while fighting a fire in the Blitz. Our picture, 'House Collapsing on Two Firemen, Shoe Lane' is a painting by Leonard Rosoman who, as a member of the Auxiliary Fire Service, was a witness to the event that killed Holder and one other. Holder came from Hendon.

The day we published this plaque David Underdown (via Facebook) gave us this CWGC link which provides:"... of 49 Cool Oak Lane, Hendon, Middlesex. Injured at Wine Office Court; died same day near St. Bartholomew's Hospital." However Wine Office Court is some distance away so either the plaque is wrong or the CWGC record is. Also Blitzwalkers says he was aged 49, but the CWGC says 33.

2018: A London Inheritance, discussing this painting,says "As an example of the challenges of accurate source data, the book “The War Artists” states that both firemen were killed whereas Rosoman’s obituary states that one of the firemen was the novelist and travel writer William Sansom (a friend of Rosoman), and the other, unnamed fireman, died in the collapse." The more we learn the less we know.

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Auxiliary Fireman Sidney Alfred Holder

Commemorated ati

Fireman Sidney Alfred Holder

Blitzwalkers give a good description of the incident. The AFS squad sent to ...

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Other Subjects

Frederick G. Parcell

Frederick G. Parcell

Fireman killed as a result of an air raid on Old Palace School, Bow, E3 on 20 April 1941. Our colleague Andrew Behan has kindly researched this man: Auxiliary Fireman Frederick George Parcell was ...

Person, Emergency Services

War dead non-military, WW2
1 memorial
Henry J. C. Carden

Henry J. C. Carden

Auxiliary Fireman Henry John Clifford Carden was born on 23 December 1911 and his birth was registered in Bromley, Kent. He was the fourth child of John Henry Clifford Carden (b.1876) and Emily Jan...

Person, Emergency Services

War dead non-military, WW2
1 memorial
Fireman William George Brum
War dead non-military, WW2
2 memorials
Auxiliary Fire Service / AFS

Auxiliary Fire Service / AFS

The Auxiliary Fire Service was formed in 1938 as part of the Civil Defence Service and was superseded in August 1941 by the National Fire Service. After the war the AFS was reformed alongside the C...

Group, Emergency Services

16 memorials
Hugh John Moore

Hugh John Moore

Commander in the City of London police force. He oversaw the investigation into the death of Roberto Calvi, (dubbed 'God's Banker'), and was also involved with the investigations into the collapses...

Person, Armed Forces, Emergency Services, Tragedy

1 memorial