Alfred Holmes

Infobox Military Person
name = Alfred Holmes


caption = Alfred Holmes on duty at the Upper Rock (Gibraltar)
lived = February 1 1931 - January 1 1994
placeofbirth = Gibraltar
placeofdeath = Gibraltar
nickname = "El de los monos"
allegiance = Gibraltar, United Kingdom
serviceyears = 1954 - 1986
rank = Sergeant
branch = British Army
unit = Gibraltar Regiment

Alfred Holmes (February 1, 1931 - January 1, 1994) was a sergeant of the Gibraltar Regiment (now the Royal Gibraltar Regiment) known for his work with Barbary macaques. [cite news |first= Leslie|last= Shepherd|title= Fed, Nursed, Guarded by British Gibraltar Apes Rate Royal Treatment|url= http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/59923887.html?dids=59923887:59923887&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Jun+19%2C+1988&author=LESLIE+SHEPHERD&pub=Los+Angeles+Times+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&desc=Fed%2C+Nursed%2C+Guarded+by+British+Gibraltar+Apes+Rate+Royal+Treatment&pqatl=google|work= Los Angeles Times|quote= For 25 years, Sgt. Alfred Holmes fed, nursed and guarded the famous Barbary apes that scramble among the upper crevices of the Rock of Gibraltar.|date= 1988-06-19|accessdate=2008-07-28]

Early life

He was born in Gibraltar to Gibraltarian parents Arthur Frederick Holmes and Mercedes Carrara. His father had been married once before and had five chidren. He was his mother's only child when she died when he was just three years old. His father remarried one last time and had a further five children, giving Alfred a total of ten half siblings.

In 1954 he married Leonor Corbacho Velasco, a Spanish lady born in Valverde del Fresno (Cáceres) whom he had met in La Línea de la Concepción where she lived at the time. They later had two children together, Maria de las Mercedes Holmes in 1955 and Edward Maximo Holmes in 1962.

Officer-in-Charge of the Apes

In the 1950s, Alfred joined the Gibraltar Regiment. Here he achieved his top rank of sergeant. He was later appointed "Officer-in-Charge of the Apes". Sgt. Holmes worked to maintain the well-being of the Gibraltar Barbary Macaques during his service.cite journal|last=Burton|first=Frances D|date=1972|title=The Integration of Biology and Behavior in the Socialization of Macaca sylvana of Gibraltar|journal=Primate Socialization|publisher=Random House|location=New York|language=English|url=http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/~burton/burt-web/poir-social.pdf|quote=I would like to extend many thanks to Sergeant Alfred Holmes of theGibraltar Regiment, Officer-in-Charge of monkeys, for tutoring me in theway of life of the monkeys and for generally assisting me with them. Hisextensive knowledge and comprehension of them was invaluable.] [cite journal|last=La Fay|first=Howard|year=1966|month=July|title=Gibraltar—Rock of Contention|journal=National Geographic Magazine|volume=130|issue=1|pages=118|accessdate=2008-07-30]

Holmes' time in the job made him an authority on these Barbary macaques, with his knowledge being sought by various scientific studies on the monkeys. cite news|url=http://www.vox.gi/Local/The_Apes_Our_New_Symbols_of_Shame.html|title=The Apes: Our New Symbols of Shame|date=2007-08-03|work=VOX|language=English|accessdate=2008-07-28|quote=An army sergeant was responsible for their welfare. The sergeant, a local man by the name of Holmes, had a great love for the apes and a similar affection seemed reciprocated. He would personally feed them in the morning which, at the same time, gave him the opportunity to inspect for injuries. The apes when injured were taken to the RN hospital and received the same treatment as would an enlisted service man. He knew them all by the names he himself had given them. They were all named after Governors, brigadiers and high ranking officers. When Holmes retired he was replaced by Asquez and then Zammut, both of whom followed the same procedure Holmes had kept in terms of discipline caring for them.] cite book|last=Fa|first=John E|coauthors=Donald G, Lindburg|title=Evolution and ecology of macaque societies|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=London|date=1996-05-30|pages=615|isbn=0521416809|url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=5BoM1Z3K1DsC&pg=PA259&lpg=PA259&dq=sgt+Holmes+barbary+macaque&source=web&ots=BqFfQl3gpy&sig=gMeE4blgTqga9Z3vKX2WJjj4stc&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=8&ct=result|language=English|quote=This chapter is dedicated to the late Sgt Alfred Holmes, in memory of his more than 38 years' tireless caring for the Gibraltar macaques. Without his attention to individual monkeys between 1954 and 1992 our record of a 250 year tradition would have been much poorer.] [ [http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/110523087/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0] ] For this he was best known locally by the nickname of "El de los monos" ( _es. He of the monkeys).Fact|date=July 2008

Death

In the early 1990s, Alfred was diagnosed with esophageal cancer, and he flew to London to undergo major abdominal surgery. The cancer eventually resulted in his death on January 1 1994. He passed away at St Bernard's Hospital in Gibraltar with his body now resting in a family grave together with his father, grandfather and various half siblings at North Front cemetery also in Gibraltar.

References

ee also

* List of Gibraltarians