Profile image
Military service
Service number:
131279
Age:
29
Rank:
Lieutenant
Force:
Army
Unit/Regiment:
Royal Electrical & Mech Engrs
Death:
November 9, 1942
Burial/memorial information
Grave reference:
V. A. 19.
Additional information
Son of George Selwyn Holmested and Julia Helen Holmested, of Toronto, Ontario. B.Sc. (University of Toronto).
Digital gallery of Lieutenant David Selwyn Holmestead
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Newspaper Clipping
Memorialized on the pages of the Globe and Mail. Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me -
Memorial
The Soldiers' Tower was built by the University of Toronto Alumni Association in 1924 as a memorial to the Great War of 1914-1918. The names of those who died in that conflict are carved on the Memorial Screen at photo left. After the Second World War, more names were carved in the Memorial Arch at the Tower's base. In total, almost 1,200 names are inscribed. A Memorial Room inside the Tower contains mementoes and artifacts, and a 51-bell carillon serves as the audio element of the living memorial to the alumni, students, faculty and staff who died in the World Wars. The Soldiers' Tower is the site of an annual Service of Remembrance. Photo: Kathy Parks, Alumni Relations. -
Memorial Arch West
The names of those who died in the Second World War were added to the archway beneath the Soldiers' Tower in 1949. The name of "Lt. D.S. HOLMESTED R.E.M.E." is among the names inscribed. -
Memorial Room
Soldiers' Tower, University of Toronto. Photo: David Pike, courtesy of Alumni Relations. -
Memorial Book
University of Toronto Memorial Book, Second World War 1939-1945. Edited by H. E. Brown, published by the Soldiers' Tower Committee, 1993. Entry on page 30 reads: "Lt David Selwyn HOMESTEAD [sic] REME - British Army. Former student Trinity College, Arts 1931-32. BASc 1935. Died of wounds in the Libyan Campaign, 9 November 1942. Buried in Alamein Cemetery, Egypt." -
Memorial Stele
This stone stele is located in the chapel at Trinity College in the University of Toronto. "AS DYING AND BEHOLD WE LIVE. TO THE MEMORY OF THOSE MEMBERS OF THIS COLLEGE WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE TWO GREAT WARS." The name of "D.S. HOLMESTED" is among those inscribed. -
Memorial Scroll
This framed illuminated scroll, written in calligraphy, is entitled "Men and Women of Trinity College on Active Service. Met'Agona Stephanos". It hangs in the hallway outside the narthex of the chapel at Trinity College in the University of Toronto. Small symbols beside the names indicate men and women who are fallen, decorated, and prisoner of war. The list of names includes: '34 Holmested, D.S. Photo: Cody Gagnon, courtesy of Alumni Relations. -
Photo
Photo from Torontonensis, University of Toronto yearbook, 1935 -
Photo
Group photo of Zeta Psi fraternity members, Theta Xi Chapter, showing Holmested in second row, third from photo left. He is seated beside E. N. Heighington, who also was killed in the war. From Torontonensis yearbook, 1935. -
Newspaper clipping
From the Toronto Star December 1943. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me -
Newspaper clipping
From the Toronto Telegram December 1942. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me -
Newspaper clipping
From the Toronto Telegram February 1943. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
Digital gallery of
Lieutenant David Selwyn Holmestead
Digital gallery of
Lieutenant David Selwyn Holmestead
Digital gallery of
Lieutenant David Selwyn Holmestead
Digital gallery of
Lieutenant David Selwyn Holmestead
Digital gallery of
Lieutenant David Selwyn Holmestead
Digital gallery of
Lieutenant David Selwyn Holmestead
Digital gallery of
Lieutenant David Selwyn Holmestead
Digital gallery of
Lieutenant David Selwyn Holmestead
Digital gallery of
Lieutenant David Selwyn Holmestead
In the Books of Remembrance
Commemorated on:
Page 82 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance.
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EL ALAMEIN WAR CEMETERY Egypt
Alamein is a village which is bypassed by the main coast road approximately 130 kilometres west of Alexandria on the way to Mersa Matruh.
The first Commission road direction sign is located just beyond the Alamein police checkpoint and all cemetery visitors should turn off from the main road onto the old coast road, which is parallel to the former. The EL ALAMEIN WAR CEMETERY and memorial both lie beyond the ridge. Road direction signs are in place approximately 25 metres before the low metal gates and stone wing walls which are situated centrally at the road edge at the head of the access path which leads down through the memorial building and into the cemetery. The Cross of Sacrifice feature may be seen from the road.
For more information, visit Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
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