Edward James Gibson Holland (2 February 1878 – 18 June 1948) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

and Commonwealth forces, for actions taken during the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

Early life

Holland was born in Ottawa,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, son of Andrew Holland and Mrs. (Gibson) Holland. He was educated at Ottawa Collegiate Institute (now called

Lisgar Collegiate Institute Lisgar Collegiate Institute is an Ottawa-Carleton District School Board secondary school in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The school is located in downtown Ottawa by the Rideau Canal. History In 1843, a grammar school with 40 paying students ...

) and at Ottawa Model School (Teachers College).

Military career

At the start of the Second Boer War, Holland, now 22 years old, enlisted as a sergeant in

The Royal Canadian Dragoons The Royal Canadian Dragoons (RCD) is the senior armoured regiment of the Canadian Army by precedence. It is one of three armoured regiments in the Regular Force and forms part of the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps. The colonel-in-chief of The RC ...

. He was one of three men from his regiment who were awarded the VC during a desperate rearguard action on 7 November 1900 at the Battle of Leliefontein near the Komati River. (The others were Lieutenant

Hampden Zane Churchill Cockburn Hampden Zane Churchill Cockburn (19 November 1867 – 12 July 1913) was a Canadian soldier, and recipient of the Victoria Cross, the most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwea ...

and Lieutenant

Richard Ernest William Turner Lieutenant General Sir Richard Ernest William Turner, (25 July 1871 – 19 June 1961) was a senior Canadian Army officer who served during the Second Boer War and the First World War, and was a recipient of the Victoria Cross. While Turner ...

.) During a dramatic retreat in the face of a superior force, Turner and Cockburn commanded a small group of men tasked with repulsing a large force of Boers at close range to prevent two 12-pound field guns from being captured. During the action, Holland helped to hold back the Boers using a Colt machine gun mounted on a carriage between the two guns. However, when the Colt machine gun overheated and jammed, Holland was unwilling to let it fall into the hands of the Boers. Realizing that the horse that pulled the machine gun carriage was too exhausted to outrun the Boers, Holland quickly detached the hot weapon from the carriage, caught and mounted a nearby horse and rode from the scene with the machine gun under his arm. His citation for the Victoria Cross was published in ''

The London Gazette ''The London Gazette'' is one of the official journals of record or government gazettes of the Government of the United Kingdom, and the most important among such official journals in the United Kingdom, in which certain statutory notices are ...

'' of 23 April 1901: Following his return to Canada, Holland became a commissioned officer. During the visit to Canada of the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York, Holland received the Victoria Cross from the Duke of Cornwall and York (later

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...

) in Ottawa on 21 September 1901. Holland eventually achieved the rank of Major and served in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

with the

Canadian Machine Gun Corps The Canadian Machine Gun Corps (CMGC) was an administrative corps of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) and of the Canadian Militia. It was part of the CEF sent to France during World War I. The Canadian Permanent Machine Gun Brigade was or ...

. He commanded and actively recruited for the Borden's Machine Gun Battery in Cobalt, Ontario and the surrounding Temiskaming District. From an article in New Liskeard Speaker, Friday, 15 January 1915 - Off to the Front ''Temiskaming friends of Major "Eddie" Holland will be interested in knowing that he is making all arrangements for the proper filling up of vacancies in the "Borden Armoured Light Battery", which will be sent to the front to aid the Allies just as quickly as all plans can be made. Major Holland, who is a veteran of the Boer War, where he received the V.C. for gallant service, is in Temiskaming this week, where he is recruiting a number of men with whose ability to rough it he is already well acquainted. Major Holland has come to the right quarter for the men he most desires to enlist. No where but in a mining region; where the prospector and miner is hardened to the severest kind of work, could he secure men fit to take to the road in as short a space of time as can the chaps he is after, and we are sure he will find that the difficult part of his job will be to select the best men from the large numbers who will want to enlist under the command of the genial Major. ''Speaking of the equipment over which the Major will have command, the Nugget says:'' ''"Major Holland, V.C., will have seven armoured cars, one semi-armoured car, six motor-cycles, machine shop and ammunition and transport car in his equipment. He has 60 men under his command and the majority of these men are all well known in Temiskaming, having been prospectors at various times in the north. Four men and one officer are attached to each car".'' ''Following are the names of the men recruited by Major E.J. Holland for service in the Automobile Battery being and outfitted by Sir George Drummond and other Montreal gentlemen. All the men named below are residents of New Ontario.'' ''Major E.J. Holland, Capt. B. McCarthy, Lieut. J.H. Rattery, Lieut. W. Patterson, Sergt.-Major E.H. Holland, I.H. Holland, F.B. Reece, W.H. Bruce, E.D. Carrier, H.W. Mauce, Reg. Moore, Sandy McIntyre, Doc Dowsley, Dave Moore, W. Mayor, T. Rogers, I.J.P. Morgan, J. Kennedy, Dan MacRae, D. Kipper, W. Maudley, Joe McDonald, Pete McDonald, O.J. Leeman, B.E. Sorpos, E. Moore, J. Oswald, F. Kennedy, Geo. Scott, M. Montgomery, J. Brennon, D. Saltrold, L. Coyne, Geo. M. Scott, A. Fraser, W. Taylor, A. Brady, A. McEcheram, J. Sullivan, A. Close, C. Ross.''

Later life

Holland died on 18 June 1948 in Cobalt, Ontario, a town at the south end of Lake Temiskaming and former centre of the silver-mining industry in Canada. He was cremated at St James's Crematorium, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Ashes were scattered Island 17, Lake Temagami and at Prescott, Ontario, Canada (south of Ottawa, Ontario).

Honours

*His Victoria Cross is currently stored as part of the Archives and Collection of the Royal Canadian Dragoons at

CFB Petawawa Garrison Petawawa is located in Petawawa, Ontario. It is operated as an army base by the Canadian Army. Garrison facts The Garrison is located in the Ottawa Valley in Renfrew County, northwest of Ottawa along the western bank of the Ottaw ...

. *A plaque erected in 1969 at Trafalgar House on Argyle Street in Ottawa and dedicated to Holland relates the story of how he earned his VC. *A brass plaque and print were erected in 1986 at his alma mater, Lisgar Collegiate Institute, by students and alumni in 1986 in remembrance of his bravery at Leliefontein. *The Canadian Department of National Defence named an armoury in Ottawa the Major E.J.G. Holland VC Armoury. It is home to four local reserve units: 33 Signals Regiment,

33 Combat Engineer Regiment 33 Combat Engineer Regiment (33CER) is the Primary Reserve (Militia) unit of the Canadian Military Engineers in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is assigned to 33 Canadian Brigade Group, part of 4th Canadian Division. Location The regimental headqu ...

, 33 Service Battalion, and 33 Military Police Platoon.

References

External links