Herbert John Holly

Story:
Herbert John Holly was born in Melbury Abbas, Shaftesbury, Dorset, on 8th December 1892 and baptised there on 5th March 1893, the son of Mark Holly and Harriet Holly (née Smith).   He spent his early life in and around the Melbury Abbas and Cann Common area.  He enlisted and served successively with the Dorsetshire Regiment (service No. 25813), the Devonshire Regiment (Service No. 52660) and the Hampshire Regiment (Service No. 30396).  His rank in all cases was Private.  On his discharge he was awarded the Victory and British War medals.  The 1921 Census shows him living with his parents in Higher Blandford Road, Cann, Shaftesbury, working as a Baker for Ernest Otto of Iwerne Minster, Shaftesbury.  He married Winifred Beatrice Gaisford at Shroton, Dorset, in 1923.   By the time of the 1939 Register he was living at 1 The Corner, Blandford, Dorset, still working as a Baker.  He died in Shroton on 2nd October 1983. 

Herbert's brother, Harry Percival Holly (b.1891) also served and survived but his brother Ernest Walter (b.1895), died in the conflict while serving with the Royal Army Service Corps in Greece.