Kenneth Holland: Waverley’s Battle of Britain Pilot

By Chris Taylor on July 22, 2012 in Other

The Battle of Britain occurred over the skies of southern England in 1940. It lasted four months and involved pilots from at least twenty different countries. In British history it ranks along side Waterloo and Trafalgar in its significance.

Over 540 Allied pilots died in the conflict, which delivered the first major defeat to German armed forces during WWII and prevented the invasion of Britain.

There were at least 30 pilots and aircrew who fought in the Battle of Britain with an Australian connection. Kenneth Christopher Holland was the tenth Australian to be killed in action and, at twenty years old, the youngest. His involvement in one of the most significant battles of the Second World War was quite by chance.

Born in Sydney in 1920, Kenneth Holland grew up in the Waverley area. His father, Harold Holland, was from Cowra but met his wife Ina at Weymouth in England during the WWI while serving with the Australian Imperial Forces (AIF). They moved back to Australia in 1919 and on return Harold was medically discharged suffering from ‘shell shock’. Records indicate that by 1923 they were living in the Bondi area.

Kenneth Holland grew up in a suburb that was changing rapidly. Beach culture was taking off, marked by the opening of the Bondi Pavilion in 1929. Holland went rock fishing along the coast and attended the Intermediate High School at Randwick. At age 15 he applied to join the Tamarama Surf Life Saving Club, just down the road from his home in Wonderland Avenue, Tamarama.

During his time at the club he would have met Hugh Ripley, a wealthy businessman. At some stage during 1935 Ripley invited Holland to accompany him on a trip back to England. This was no ordinary invitation. Hugh Ripley offered to sponsor Holland to attend an aviation engineering college at the Airspeed Company in Portsmouth.

During 1936 the British Government announced a major expansion of the Royal Air Force (RAF). The RAF Volunteer Reserve was formed to provide flying lessons for any suitable candidate to learn to fly at weekends. Holland joined the RAFVR in around 1938.

With the outbreak of WWII in September 1939, Holland was called up fulltime into the ranks of the RAF for pilot training. He was posted to Perth in Scotland to train in Tiger Moth bi-planes. During this time he was assessed as being suitable for fighter pilot training.

In June 1940, Holland was posted to 152 Squadron at Ackrington in northern England. On July 10 the squadron were posted south two days before the Battle of Britain commenced. They were directed to defend the Portland/Weymouth area and defend channel shipping.

Squadron records show that Holland took part in a number of actions and that he was responsible for the destruction of at least three enemy aircraft.

Kenneth Holland was killed on September 25, 1940 while attacking German bomber planes returning from bombing Bristol. According to combat reports he was involved in shooting down a German bomber, but was hit by return fire.

Holland was cremated on October 2, 1940 at Weymouth. His ashes were removed by Hugh Ripley on the same day. There is some mystery as 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.

There are a number of memorials for Kenneth Holland, however our local Waverley memorial is inside the Tamarama Surf Life Saving Club. He is also listed on the Roll of Honour at the War Memorial in Canberra.