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Holtum, William

Date of birth:
1920 (Hollingbourne/Kent, United Kingdom)
Date of death:
November 20th, 1944
Buried on:
Commonwealth War Cemetery Brunssum
Service number:
14684069
Nationality:
British (1801-present, Kingdom)

Biography

William Holtum served with the 4th Battalion Dorsetshire Regiment.
Second of the eleven children of Edward and Son of Alice Elizabeth (née Smith) Holtum.
William married Gladys Lillian Lippingwell in 1940 and they had two daughters - Jean in 1941 and Joanne Lilian in 1943

Holtum''s battalion formed part of the 43rd Wessex Division. After spending nearly five years of war in the UK, guarding the south coast against invasion he trained for the invasion of France and landed with the 4th Battalion in Normandy - seventeen days after D-Day.
Holtum was involved in the fighting for Hill 112 near Maltot on 10 July 1944 and following this battles followed at Cahagnes and Jurques on the Regiment's way to Ondefontaine towards Mont Pincon.
He was wounded wounded on 27 August.

The 4th Battalion was also participating in Operation Market Garden and the Rhine Crossings.

Holtum was killed in action during Operation Queen, an unsuccessful campaign to gain control of the Roer Valley and the Hürtgen Forest.

William''s wife, Gladys, who lived in Newnham, did not remarry and she died in 1964.

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