Steve Holmes

It took fifteen years to complete this book in memory of my late father Flight Engineer John Holmes and his comrades who flew with him and those on the ground who supported them. My father was fascinated by aircraft from a young age and I suppose as a chip off the old block I followed suit. It was when I discovered his exact role in World War II that I concentrated on and fell in love with the aircraft he flew twenty four sorties in, The Stirling. My father never talked too much about the war and 196 Squadron or the brave men he came into contact with. I wish he had because I've spent literally thousands of hours on research, read over a hundred books and called upon the personal memories from the daughters and sons and nieces and nephews of those great men who are sadly no longer with us. Steve Holmes