John Kenneth Hollis (1894 – 1948) – What he did after WW1

Introduction

Almost three years ago, one of us (Don Fox) wrote an entry on this blog about Jack Hollis, a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps during WW1who served with great bravery on the Western Front, being shot down and seriously injured on 22 April 1917.  He was subsequently sent to a prisoner-of-war camp at Solthau in northern Germany, where he met and was painted by fellow prisoner Georges Goffart, a Belgian artist.   Geoffart’s painting, which is in the possession of Don Fox’s partner, Sally, perfectly captures the psychological consequences of combat through its portrayal of Jack Hollis’ gaunt, haunted stare.  The contrast with a photograph of Jack on receiving his wings about two years previously could not be more marked. 

All that was available to identify sitter and artist was an inscription on the back of the canvas.  Although sufficient information was present to track down both subject and painter, the story remained incomplete.  In particular, Don’s partner, Sally, had no idea how the painting came into her possession and at that time nothing was known about what happened to Jack Hollis after the end of WW1.  Don wrote at the end of the piece, “This story has been posted in the hope that others will be able to add to it. ….  Let us hope that the power of the internet will be equal to this task.”  

To the delight of all concerned, the reach of the internet proved to be profound and Don was approached from Canada by two of Jack Hollis’ grandchildren, siblings Glenn Hollis and Laurel Hollis Chappell.  The result has been the following collaborative article, which deals mainly with what happened to Jack Hollis and his brothers after WW1.

The Return of the Hollis Family from India

To set the scene for this exploration, it is necessary to take stock of the return of the Hollis family, Leonard Hollis with his wife, Susan and children Sydney, Douglas and Hilda, from India in the late 1890s.  The place of birth of the children fixes the location of Susan Hollis as Mozafferpore July 1886 and February 1888, Darjeeling August 1891, Little Hadham, Hertfordshire (Jack) May 1894, Tean, Staffordshire (Phyllis), late 1899, Leek, Staffordshire (Enid), 1902 Highgate, London (Joan) 1907.  If the family had stayed together as a unit that would put the date of return between August 1891 and May 1894.  However, Sydney Hollis is known to have been at school in India until 1897 and then continued his education in Cheadle, Staffordshire from 1897 to 1900.  Father Leonard Hollis, who had been a locomotive engineer in India and was designated as a locomotive foreman in 1883, had returned to Britain by April 1900 when he began employment with the Midland Railway.  No journeys to and from India by the members of the Hollis family have been detected, so it is unclear if the return was phased, or interspersed with periods of leave.  Ford House, Little Hadham, Hertfordshire, where Jack Hollis was born in May 1894 could have been temporary accommodation for Susan around the time of Jack’s birth, all other locations for the family in the period 1894 to 1903 being in Staffordshire, a major centre of the railway and engineering industries, where Leonard Hollis would have been likely to be employed.

The Hollis Marriage Breaks Down 

However, between 1907 and 1911the marriage of Leonard Hollis to Susan Hollis ended.  At the 1911 census, Susan and her four daughters were found far from London in the North Devon village of Combe Martin, which lies about a mile from the sea.  Susan was described as living on private means.  Significantly, she entered her marital status as “widow”.  However, she had not been widowed.  Possibly she was trying to conceal her true situation from new neighbours and friends, that she and her husband had parted and that she had been left with the task of bringing up four girls.  Her husband Leonard probably had his own fiction recorded in the census.  He appeared as a lodger living at High Street, Hanford, Stoke-on-Trent and was described as a retired locomotive fitter.  Leonard was recorded as being married to a 23-year-old woman called Violet and the couple had been matrimonially joined for less than one year.  No formal registration of such a marriage has been found.  It is easy to understand why Susan Hollis might have preferred the fictitious status of widowhood.  The three Hollis boys, Sydney, Douglas and Jack, who would have been respectively 15, 13 and 7 in 1901, had apparently ceased to live with Susan and the girls by 1911.

Sydney Hollis becomes an Engineer

A detailed account of the movements and employment of Sydney Hollis is available from his application to join the Institute of Mechanical Engineering in 1921.  In 1901 he became an apprentice engineer with Kerr Stuart in Stoke on Trent.  They manufactured steam locomotives and other rolling stock between 1892 and 1930 at the California Works.  (In 1911, RJ Mitchell the designer of the Spitfire, would become an engineering apprentice with the same company).  Sydney’s engineering apprenticeship continued with a varied range of companies.  From 1902 to 1903 he was with Thomas Bolton and Sons, who were manufacturers in copper and brass and had works in Cheadle.  In 1903 and 1904 Sydney had moved on to Craven Brothers in Manchester who designed and built large machine tools for railway and other engineering businesses.  Then Sydney had a brief stay in Glasgow with the Hozier Engineering Company, an early and successful manufacturer of Argyll motor cars.  The final stage of his apprenticeship was spent with Dennis Brothers in Guildford, another early motor car and commercial vehicle manufacturer.  During this period of apprenticeship from 1901 to 1904, Sydney continued to take a series of technical classes in both Stoke and Glasgow.

The impression gained from Sydney’s pattern of employment is of an ambitious and able young engineer in a hurry and this was confirmed by his first move into permanent employment.  He was appointed as workshop manager for the Argyll (London) Motor and Engineering Company, a subsidiary of Hoziers of Glasgow, where he was already known, in 1905.  In this position he had responsibility for 200 employees.  Sydney’s career path was now firmly wedded to the motor car and in 1905 – 1906 he was chief technical lecturer and engineer at the Motor Academy, Boundary Road, Shepherd’s Bush.  A contemporary advertisement made clear their mission.  “We qualify any student for the Automobile Club Examination.  Our premises contain the only private track in London where ladies and gentlemen can learn motoring in privacy and comfort; repair works open for use of students at all times; lathe work and screw-cutting taught.”

In Europe and America car ownership grew rapidly in the early years of the 20^th century.  There were about 100,000 cars in Britain in 1910 and this created a demand for insurance services.  The Car and General Insurance Corporation Ltd was formed in London in 1903 to provide motor, general accident and fire insurance.  In order to inform their underwriting there was a necessity to have specialist engineering knowledge and in 1906 Sydney Hollis was appointed as Inspecting and Assuring Engineer to the company.  Later the same year he moved on yet again, this time to Reynolds, Brudient and Company which had an automobile and general engineering supply business on the Iberian Peninsula, with branches in Lisbon, Estremoz, Badajoz and Sevilla.  The following year, 1907, he was charged with reorganising the Ford Motor Company’s interests in Australia and New Zealand and became Manager of Davers and Echon, Sydney and all other Australian state branches of the sole agent for Ford products.  The company also distributed general engineering supplies and power and pumping equipment.  This was a remarkable rise for a young engineer still only 21 years old.

Sydney Hollis marries Monica Higgs 

After his mission in Australia had been accomplished, Sydney Hollis returned to Britain where he married Mrs Edith Monica Higgs, a recent divorcee with two children, in late 1909.  The marriage was registered in Westhampnet, near Chichester, Sussex, though the place of marriage is not currently known, nor is the year and means by which Sydney became acquainted with Mrs Higgs.  At marriage, Edith was 26 and Sydney was 23.  Edith had been born Edith Monica Brown and had married William Miller Higgs, a builder, in July 1902.  It seems likely that Higgs was wealthy, since his address was given as Cyril Mansions, Battersea Park, London.  After the marriage the couple lived together concurrently at Burleigh Road, Wimbledon and at Cyril Mansions.  Two children were born, William Oswald Barrett Higgs in 1903 and Archibald Geikie Higgs in 1906 but the relationship became both fraught and violent.  In the petition for divorce by Edith in March 1909, William Higgs was alleged to have consorted with prostitutes on several occasions and to have caught a venereal disease.  It is not clear if he transmitted this condition to his wife.  Higgs also “treated her with great unkindness and cruelty and otherwise assaulted her and frequently struck her, abused, swore and used threats”.  The petition was granted and Edith was awarded custody of the two children.  So shocking was the case that the Court papers were closed for 100 years, only being opened to public scrutiny in 2010.  Perhaps not surprisingly, no reports of the divorce have been uncovered in the contemporary newspapers.

Jack Hollis and Felpham

There are reasons to suspect that Sydney Hollis was living in or near Bognor Regis before his marriage and that his brother Jack may have been living with him.  Westhampnet, where Sydney’s marriage was registered, lies about 7 miles from Bognor and during summer 1909 Sydney played two cricket matches for the Bognor team.  Almost immediately after the marriage Sydney and his new bride departed for Argentina.  The purpose of the voyage is not known but seems likely to have been work-related, possibly involved with the car industry.  Although the actual sailing has not been detected, it must have occurred before 8 January 1910.  Brother Jack was charged by the police with using a magazine rifle on the beach at Felpham, which lies immediately to the east of Bognor Regis, on that date.  Jack, who was only 16 at the time, had been shooting over a public footpath and terrifying local residents, who called the police.  When asked if he had a licence, he produced one in the name of Sydney Leonard Hollis but then admitted that it belonged to his brother, who had recently gone abroad.  Jack was fined 4/- with 6/- costs for his youthful indiscretion.  It is unclear what Jack Hollis had been doing since 1901 but, given his age, it is likely he had been at school.

Bognor was developed as a seaside resort for the upper classes and enjoyed great popularity in the second half of the 19^th century after the coming of the railway to the town.  Not only did the wealthy take holidays there but those of significant means often retired to Bognor.  The town acquired “Regis” as part of its name following the association with King George V in the late 1920s, though he did not have a high regard for the town.  He is reputed to have said “Bugger Bognor” when, after a bout of illness, he was informed that he was almost well enough to visit again!  The town’s status as a health resort for the well-to-do may have some significance for the presence there of Sydney Hollis and Mrs Edith Higgs in 1909.  At the 1911 census, Jack Hollis was still living in the environs of Bognor, as a lodger at the house of Walter Hedley Gatford, Rock Villa, Felpham.  Jack was described as a motor trade worker and this choice of job suggests the influence or guidance of brother Sydney might have been involved.

Walter H Gatford was the son of Walter Gatford senior.  Both Gatfords had private means, “income from houses and funds” and Walter H appears never to have had a job.  He had lived in or near Bognor since before 1891.  It is likely that he was lodging Jack Hollis as a favour, because he clearly did not need the income from a lodger.  Perhaps such a favour was to Sydney Hollis, or to his new wife, who may not have been comfortable leaving 16-year-old Jack to his own devices during their absence?

Sydney and Edith Hollis returned to Britain almost exactly a year after they left.  Arriving in Southampton on the Konig Friedrich August of the Hamburg American Lines on 4 December 1910, having embarked in Buenos Aires, travelling first class.  Sydney and Edith were accompanied by three children, Barrett, Archibald and “ARD”, all aged between 1 and 12 and all using the surname “Hollis”.  Interestingly, the two older boys who were the product of Edith’s first marriage, were then using the “Hollis” surname.  The third boy proved to be Leonard Ruffo Denzil Hollis, who had been born in Argentina on 21 August 1910.  His initials had been entered incorrectly on the passenger manifest.

Sydney Hollis, Australia and the Solomon Islands 

Sydney Hollis also recorded in his application to the Institute of Mechanical Engineers that in 1910 he had established a private company, Hollis Brothers Solomon Islands, who were general and marine engineers and manufacturers, agents, Government contractors and consultants.  It is not clear if, during his year away in 1909 – 1910 when he travelled to Argentina, Sydney had also travelled on across the Pacific to Australia and the Solomon Islands.  That would seem to have been the only opportunity he would have had during 1910 to establish the company.  However, it may be that the date of formation given by Sydney was inaccurate and that the company was not formed until 1912 when he was present in Queensland (see below).  The Solomon Islands, which lie about 1,000 miles north-east of Queensland, were created as a wholly British Protectorate in 1899.  Foreign companies moved in to farm rubber, copra and palm oil and in 1912 the British Government decreed that it alone could buy or lease land.  Hollis Brothers Solomon Islands erected and controlled a power and lighting station, a refrigeration plant, slipway and workshops.  It is presumed that the company also serviced the engineering needs of the plantation companies who were developing land in the Solomons.  Later, Douglas Hollis revealed that his permanent address in the Solomons had been Tulagi, which is a small island off the south coast of Ngella Sule.  Tulagi was the designated capital of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate between 1899 and 1942.  It was chosen as a comparatively isolated, healthier alternative to the disease-ridden larger islands of the archipelago.

In early 1912 Sydney Hollis returned to Australia and became manager of the Queensland Motor Agency Ltd, Adelaide Street, Brisbane.  They were agents for Ford, Crossley and Metallique cars but the Ford franchise constituted their main business.  Sydney’s brother Douglas was appointed as the company’s engineer and it seems likely that Douglas was also involved with Hollis Brothers Solomon Islands.  Sydney resigned his position with the Queensland Motor Agency in June 1913. And in early August of that year he travelled back to Britain on the RMS Ophir but his visit was short as he was back in Australia by the end of October 1913.  Sydney Hollis was a skilled, all-round cricketer and played for the Goodna Asylum team near Brisbane in the period 1913 – 1915.  Sydney appears to have still been active in the Solomon Islands, because he was a passenger on the steamer Kulambangara travelling between the Solomons and Sydney, New South Wales in May 1915, though his brother Douglas may have been in charge of the Solomons operation.

The Hollis Boys and WW1

WW1, which began on 28 July 1914, had a profound effect on the lives of all three Hollis boys. Although Sydney and Douglas were located 12,000 miles away from the action they saw themselves as Britons with a duty to defend the mother country.  By August 1915 Douglas Hollis had joined the Legion of Frontiersmen in Australia.  The Legion was a paramilitary organisation, founded in 1905 by Roger Pocock, in response to a perceived threat to Britain and its Empire.  Douglas married Ivy Valera Nicholls in Queensland in May 1916 and the couple must have departed immediately for Britain from Sydney.  They arrived at Tilbury on the P&O liner Morea on 1 July 1916.  Douglas and his wife gave their destination in Britain as Chambercombe Road, Ilfracombe, North Devon, the home of Susan Hollis and her daughters.

Sydney Hollis and his son Leonard also travelled back to London in May 1916 on the P&O ship Malwa.  They gave their country of last permanent residence as the Solomon Islands and their address in Britain as 1, Colville Terrace, Bayswater.  Both Sydney and Douglas Hollis had indicated that they intended in future to settle in Great Britain.  On 16 November 1916 Sydney Hollis was granted a commission for service under the “Tank” Department, Ministry of Munitions but only one week later he was required to resign his commission on the grounds of ill-health.  He then appears to have been appointed as head of the Tank Department at William Beardmore and Company, Parkhead, Glasgow, a major engineering company, which was involved in the production of tanks for the British Army during WW1. 

In February 1918 Sydney Hollis met James Clark Bunten, who was on leave from the Army.  In civilian life, he was an art dealer.  Bunten let his flat at 402 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow to Sydney Hollis and he remained there until August of the same year.  When Bunten returned home in 1919, he found that six etchings were missing from the flat, five by David Young Cameron, a well-known Scottish painter and etcher and one by Muirhead Bone (later Sir Muirhead), the first official British war artist.  The etchings had an estimated value of £750.  In 1920, Sydney Hollis was charged with the theft of the paintings.  Evidence was given that he had presented two etchings to an art dealer for sale, but Sydney denied any knowledge of the missing art works.  However, he was found guilty and sentenced to one month in prison.  

Douglas Lowndes Hollis joined the Royal Flying Corps in August 1916 with the rank of 2^nd Lieutenant, later promoted to Lieutenant and served throughout the rest of the war, but little is known of his activities during that time.  It is possible that he served in an engineering capacity since no record has been found of him receiving flying training.

Jack Hollis had stayed in Britain after his brothers departed for Australia and the Solomon Islands about 1912 and it is likely that at some stage he returned to his mother’s home in North Devon as, in late 1916, when he underwent flying training he gave his home address as 26 Chambercombe Road, Ilfracombe.  He signed up for service with the Royal Flying Corps as a mechanic sometime in early 1915 and served for almost two years in this capacity in France with 16 Squadron.  Jack Hollis’ detailed WW1 history is given in the original blog post about him on this site.

The Hollis Boys after WW1

The euphoria which greeted the signing of the armistice in 11 November 1918 did not last long.  Though Britain was the victor it had borrowed heavily, especially from the USA, to fund the war effort and austerity led to a limitation of public spending in consequence.  In addition, demobilisation, coupled with reduced demand, especially in heavy industry, led to mass unemployment, which reached over 11% in 1921.  Trades union membership and activism grew and led ultimately to the General Strike of 1926.  In these circumstances many returning members of the armed forces sought economic salvation abroad, especially in the Empire.

Sydney Hollis

In 1920 Sydney Hollis listed his main employment as Director and Senior Partner, Hollis Brothers Engineers, Solomon Islands and Director Perrins Ltd London, Engineers and Exporters, Catherine St WC2.  In the latter position he was involved in the selection and purchase of engineering plant and machinery for export.  Most of his time was spent in England during the next few years.  He was elected an Associate Member, later (1939) a Member, of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, the highest professional accolade for an engineer.   He was also elected a member of the Freemasons at Salisbury Lodge in 1921.  For the whole of the 1920s his home address was 25 Great Russell Mansions, Great Russell Street in the Bloomsbury area of Central London.  In 1926 he visited New York and in 1928 and again in 1929 he visited Queensland, Australia.  He continued to live in Central London but in retirement he appears to have moved to Chislehurst in Kent.  Sydney Hollis died in 1957, leaving personal estate of just over £5,300 (equivalent to over £122,100 in 2017 money).

Douglas Hollis

Douglas Hollis returned to Australia after the war and his presence was recorded in both Brisbane and Melbourne but in 1926 he moved to Launceton, the second city of Tasmania, as a representative of the Rover Car Company.  Shortly after arriving in Launceton, Douglas Hollis picked up a conviction for speeding.  He remained in Launceton for the rest of his working life in car retailing, though he and his wife Valera visited Britain in 1954.

Jack Hollis

John Kenneth (Jack) Hollis was released from Solthau Prisoner of War Camp in Germany in late 1918 and returned to live with his mother, who by this time had moved to Wester Cottage, Combe Martin in North Devon.  This village is now a linear settlement running back about one mile inland from the coast and lies about 4 miles east of Ilfracombe, the location of Susan Hollis’ previous abode.  In June 1919, Jack Hollis married Eleanor Edith (Nollie) Collier the daughter of a licensed victualler.  Late in 1920 the couple had a child, John Collier Hollis, whose birth was registered at Christchurch, Hampshire.  At the time Jack and his wife Eleanor were living at 25 Windsor Road, Boscombe, which is roughly equidistant between Bournemouth and Christchurch.  Jack was working as a motor engineer.  Three years later, a daughter, Gloria Eleanor Hollis was born in Boscombe on 23 May 1923.

Jack Hollis Emigrates to Canada

Possibly due to the economic conditions in Britain, Jack and his wife decided to emigrate to Canada.  Jack left alone, sailing from Liverpool, cabin class, on 23 October on the Canadian Pacific steamer Montlaurier, which also took on passengers at Greenock before crossing the Atlantic.  The Montlaurier arrived in Quebec on 1 November.  (This vessel was built in Germany and was acquired as part of war reparations.)  On his immigration form Jack stated that he was travelling to Canada to settle there.  His present occupation was given as clerk and his intention was to work as a bank clerk, possibly for the Bank of Montreal.  Jack’s wife Eleanor travelled out to Canada a year later, on the SS Minnedosa (11,000 tons) with their two children, John and Gloria.  Jack Hollis’ address was given as 813 Attwater Avenue, Montreal on the immigration form.  Interestingly, Edith’s next of kin was given as her mother, Mrs A Collier, 15 Leybourn Avenue, West Ealing and the ticket booking agent was also located in Ealing, which suggests that Eleanor and her children were living with her mother while waiting to travel out to Canada to re-join Jack.

In Canada another child was born to Jack and Eleanor, Patricia (Molly), arriving in late 1926.  The family lived in Montreal throughout the period to 1935.  Although Jack Hollis initially worked as a bank clerk after his emigration to Canada, he soon returned to the motor trade.  In 1931 he was listed as Service Manager at Auburn Motor Sales, St. Catherine W., Montreal and in 1935 he was a Mechanic at Tanguay Garage, Montreal.  In both 1931 and 1932, Jack travelled to the United States, though the purpose of the visits and whether he was accompanied are not known.

Jack Hollis Returns to Great Britain

Nineteen thirty-five saw the Hollis family return to Great Britain.  The reason, or reasons, for this move may have included concern for the deteriorating world situation with the concomitant risk of isolation in North America and also the extreme cold of the Canadian winter.  Eleanor Hollis, with her children John, Gloria and Pamela boarded the Cunard White Star liner Aurania in Montreal.  Jack was not with them and his journey across the Atlantic has not yet been traced.  The vessel sailed on 22 November 1935, calling at Quebec the following day and arriving at Plymouth on 1 December and Tilbury, London the following morning.  On the passenger manifest the family indicated that they intended to settle in England and that their destination address was 15 Leyborne Avenue, Northfields.  This was the home address of Edith’s mother but was apparently only a staging address. 

According to the autobiography of Pamela Hollis, the family moved to 12 Ellys Road, Coventry in 1935.  The house can be viewed via Google Maps and is a large, three storey semi-detached building, which is located about ½ mile north of the city centre.  If this year is accurate, the family must have travelled on from London soon after their arrival from Canada.  Had Jack travelled ahead of the rest of the family to secure housing for them?  If so, had he already secured a job in Coventry.  This city was and is a major centre for automotive and other branches of engineering.  Jack’s employer at this time is not known but at the end of WW2 he was employed by the Self-Changing Gear Company, which was based in Coventry.  Obtaining a job in Britain from a base in Canada must have been challenging and it is to be wondered if his brother Sydney, a senior engineer in London, with many contacts in industry, was helpful in this regard.

On March 11, 1939 Jack Hollis, travelling alone, sailed on the RMS Alcantara from Southampton to Buenos Aires.  The vessel arrived at the Argentine capital on 28 March.  His return voyage to London aboard the RMS Highland Brigade started on 8 June, arriving back at Gravesend on 29 June.  Thus, Jack was based in Argentina for a little over two months.  The purpose of his journey is not known but looks most likely to have been work-related.

Jack Hollis and Family in WW2 

The family lived at Ellys Road until after mid-June 1940 when they moved to the rural village of Earl Shilton, which lies 13 miles north-east of Coventry in the direction of Leicester.  The reason for this change of location for the family home is not definitely known but is likely to have been related to the German bombing campaign against Coventry.  The city contained many industrial works manufacturing products directly related to the war effort, including munitions and aircraft engines.  Between August and October 1940 there were 17 minor aerial bombing raids on Coventry which killed 176 people and injured many more.  Ellys Road was close to the manufacturing base of the city and anyone with the ability to move out of the area would probably have done so.  On 14 Nov 1940 there was a major raid on the city by over 500 German bombers which damaged many houses and factories and killed about 570 people.  This raid infamously also destroyed the city’s Anglican cathedral.  Earl Shilton would certainly have been a safer location than Coventry for the Hollis family.

World War 2 broke out on 3 September 1939 and at some stage early in the war Jack Hollis undertook work for the UK Government.  He was employed by the British Purchasing Commission, based in New York to arrange production and purchase of armaments from American manufacturers.  The BPC was established in 1939 as the Anglo-French Purchasing Board but underwent a change of name in 1940 after the French surrender.  It also took over orders made on behalf of Belgium and, later, Norway on the capitulation of those countries.  The BPC existed formally until 1942 but its work was then taken over by other missions.

Jack Hollis travelled to the United States on the Pan American “Dixie Clipper”, which left Lisbon on 18 August 1941 and travelled via the Azores and Bermuda, arriving at New York the following day.  The aircraft was a Boeing 314 Clipper long range flying boat which was introduced to service with Pan American and BOAC between 1938 and 1941.  It had a range of 2,150 miles.  The Pan American B314 aircraft and their crews were requisitioned for US Government service later in WW2. Jack Hollis was described on the manifest as “Consultant British Comm” (Commerce?) and “Govt official”.  The purpose of Jack’s visit was stated as “Gov Bus” and his ticket was paid for by the British Government.  Visa, no 279, in Jack’s name, was issued at London on 13 August 1941, thus his Government service must have started before that date.  Jack Hollis’ home address was given as Earl Shilton, Leicester, where his wife was living and his destination was recorded as British Purchasing Commission, 15 Broad Street, New York City.  His intended stay in the USA was indefinite but he did not anticipate settling there.
The other passengers travelling on the Dixie Clipper to New York were an interesting bunch, most prominently Lord Louis Mountbatten and his exotic wife Lady Edwina.  They were destined for the British Embassy in Washington.  In August 1941, Mountbatten was appointed captain of the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious which lay in Norfolk, Virginia, for repairs following action at Malta in the Mediterranean during January.  This was a period of relative inactivity for Mountbatten during which he paid a flying visit to Pearl Harbour, three months before the Japanese attack on the US naval base there. Mountbatten was appalled at the base's lack of preparedness and, drawing on Japan's history of launching wars with surprise attacks as well as the successful British surprise attack at the Battle of Taranto, which had effectively knocked Italy's fleet out of the war and the sheer effectiveness of aircraft against warships, he accurately predicted that the US entry into the war would begin with a Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbour.  However, before Captain the Earl Mountbatten could take Illustrious back across the Atlantic, he was diverted to a new task, a speaking tour to influence American public opinion, concerning entering the war.  The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour on 7 December 1941 tipped that balance.  Also on the Dixie Clipper from Lisbon were Ethel Chen, the daughter of the Nationalist Chinese Ambassador to Germany, Lady Essendon, the wife of the Governor of Bermuda, Senator Francis Charles McDermot, a prominent Irish politician and a variety of wealthy Europeans of different stripes.

Jack Hollis Returns to Canada

Towards the end of WW2 Jack Hollis returned to life as an engineer in the private sector and in April 1945 he is known to have been working for the Self-Changing Gear Company, based in Coventry, though it is not known if they were his pre-war employers.  The Self-Changing Gears Company was a British company founded by Walter Gordon Wilson and John Davenport Siddeley to exploit the pre-selector gearbox designed by Wilson.  The company was incorporated in 1928 (it was then known as Improved Gears Ltd).  In 1938 the company moved to Lythalls Lane, on the northern outskirts of Coventry.  Siddeley sold his shares in Armstrong-Siddeley Motors (including Self-Changing Gears) to Hawker Aircraft in 1935, which resulted in the formation of Hawker Siddeley.).  This company manufactured pre-selector gearboxes mainly for locomotives and buses.  Possibly as part of his job with the Self-Changing Gear Company, Jack Hollis sailed for Canada on the Cunard-White Star liner Bayano from Liverpool to Halifax, Nova Scotia, on 16 April 1945.  On the passenger manifest he indicated that his country of intended future residence was England, though no return journey has been detected.  At about this time it appears that the relationship between Jack Hollis and his wife Eleanor broke down and that he then settled in Canada, never returning to England.  She lived in the family house at Earl Shilton, Leicestershire for many years, dying there in 1980.

The Children of Jack Hollis

Patricia (Molly) Hollis (1926 – 2016), who was deaf, having contracted mumps at the age of approximately18 months, never married and continued to live in the Earl Shilton house, where she was a keen gardener.  She took care of her mother and the family’s Alsatian dogs.  Molly died in 2016.

Gloria Hollis (1923 - 1989) married Peter Cort (1924 – 1994), an RAF officer, during WW2. Their first child was born in Cornwall and then they were stationed in Malta, where their second child was born. After the war they moved to the tiny village of Hawkeshead in the Lake District, Cumbria where they lived for many years in the cottage that William Wordsworth had occupied when he wrote “I wandered lonely as a cloud”.

John Hollis (1921 – 1981) married Audrey Mary Chad in London, England on June 12, 1948. John, who had enlisted in the British Navy and served as a Chief Petty Officer on the minesweeper “HMS Pincher” in the Pacific during WW2, was a mechanical engineer by trade. He and Audrey emigrated to Canada in 1952 and lived in Montreal and Toronto, where their three children were born. He worked for many years with the John T. Hepburn Company.  John died in July 1981.  His widow, Audrey, continued to live in Toronto and moved to Barrie, Ontario in 2003 where she died in February 2014.

The Brothers and Sisters of Jack Hollis

Little is currently known of the descendants of Jack Hollis’ brothers, Sydney Leonard Ruffo Hollis (1886 – 1957) and Douglas Lowndes Hollis (1888 - 1972 ) and nothing has been discovered about the descendants of his sisters Hilda Susan Hollis (1891 - ), Phyllis May Hollis (1899 - ), Enid Jessie Hollis (1902 - ) and Joan Annie Hollis (1907 - ).  Once again, we are hoping that the power of the internet will be up to the task of reaching the far-flung places of the world and will furnish contacts or information about these branches of the family.

Jack Hollis – the End

When Jack Hollis settled in Canada in 1945 he moved to the west coast city of Vancouver, where he worked as a motor mechanic. Jack died suddenly on 30 March, 1948 in Stanley Park, Vancouver, British Columbia, aged 53, a sad, almost anonymous end for a man who had served with great bravery in the Royal Flying Corps in WW1, who had suffered severe wounds and who had witnessed the death of his fellow crewman, Bernard Tolhurst.  Jack served his country also in WW2, fulfilling an unglamorous but crucial role sourcing armaments and aircraft in the USA, principally for the British forces. 

We remember the smiling face of a young man in 1916, who had just secured his “wings” but we also remember the tortured countenance, captured by artist, George Goffart in 1918, of a young man grown old in a few short months from his experiences in the air and on the ground.  Jack Hollis, although only one of millions who fought bravely in the Great War, was a true war hero.

Laurel Chappell (nee Hollis)

Don Fox

donaldpfox@gmail.com

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