England, Andrews Newspaper Index Cards, 1790-1976 Name: Kenneth Christopher Holland Ripley Father's name: H I E Ripley Death Date: Sep 1940 TD
Battle of Britain pilot The Airmen's Stories - Sgt. K C HOLLAND Kenneth Christopher Holland was born in 1920 in Sydney, New South Wales. In the mid-thirties he was living in Camelford, Cornwall in the care of a guardian, a Mr Ripley. He was at Airspeed Aeronautical College in 1936-37 and joined the RAFVR in 1939 as an Airman u/t Pilot. Called up at the outbreak of war, Holland completed his flying training and joined 152 Squadron at Acklington in June 1940. On September 17th Holland shared in the destruction of a Ju88 and on the 19th he shot another down into the sea. On the 25th Holland attacked a He111 and set it on fire. Seeing a parachute, he went in for a closer look but was shot down by a gunner still in the stricken Heinkel. His Spitfire, N3173, crashed near Church Farm, Woolverton. Holland was found to have been shot in the head. The Heinkel crashed at Church Farm. The crew of four were killed, only the pilot baling out and being captured. Holland was cremated at Weymouth Crematorium but the fate of his ashes is not recorded. His guardian had a memorial stone placed near the site of the crash. Battle of Britain London Monument - Sgt. K C HOLLAND The untold story of a young, Camelford, Battle of Britain pilot
World War 2 Awards.com - RIPLEY, Kenneth Christopher Holland PERSONALIA Name: Ripley, Kenneth Christopher Holland (Service number: N3173) Date of birth: 1920 (Sydney, Australia) Date of death: September 25th, 1940 (Woolverton, UK) Buried on: Memorial Weymouth Crematorium Nationality: Australian Edit: His true RAF (not RAAF) service number was 754503. Extremely detailed bio here: Holland, Kenneth “Dutchy” Christopher
Eye Witness Account Mrs. Gladys Matthews, Church Farm, Wolverton 'I looked up and saw a bomber coming down followed by one of our planes which did a victory roll. I could se the gunner in the German plane was still firing his gun on the way down. The bomber looked looked like it was heading straight of the village, but all of a sudden it veered away and crashed in one of our fields higher up. Both planes fell near the farm no more than a couple f hundred yards apart. The Spitfire broke its back as it crashed. I sent the gardener out to see if the pilot was all right - nothing could be done for him - he had been shot right through the head. One of the German crew came down near Norton St. Philip - he was the only one to get out alive, but was badly injured, and when the ambulance came to take him away, they drove across the fields as fast as they could to give him a really rough ride - it was quite deliberate. There were a couple of crew still in the plane when it crashed. The Authorities removed the bodies of the two airmen from the bomber the next day and when they passed through the yard, the stench of burnt flesh was dreadful'. Source: Somerset at War 1939-45 - Mac Hawkins (Dovecote Press 1988)
He was cremated on 2 October 1940 at Weymouth. His ashes were removed by Hugh Ripley on the same day. There is some mystery to where the ashes might have ended up. The most likely scenario is that Ripley kept them until his death in 1964 in South Africa. If that is the case it is likely that they were buried with him http://www.waverley.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/17523/KC_Holland.pdf
The Luftwaffe Plane was HE111P - IG DN of 6/KG55. The crew were: Hptmn Helmut Brandt - Pilot (POW) Ofw Gunter Wittcamp - Observer (K) Ofw Rudolf Kirchoff - WOp/AG (K) Ufz Hans-Fritz Mertz - Flt Mech/AG (K) Gfr Rudolf Beck - AG (K) Source: Somerset at War 1939-45 - Mac Hawkins (Dovecote Press 1988)
