Occasionally I post a query on this site that goes unaddressed for months or years, and then suddenly, out of the blue, the mystery is addressed. This happened to me last week. 

In 2015 I had published a post titled “Italian Helpers—Two Queries.” My friends Anne Copley and Giordano Viozzi were searching for information on Ronald P. Holmes, who had been sheltered by Oreste Belleggia of Piane di Falerone.

At the time I couldn’t help.

However, last week I received an email from James Davis:

“My grandfather’s Wellington Bomber ran out of fuel and landed in Sicily, with at least some of the crew ending up in PG 59.”

It turns out Ronald P. Holmes was the navigator on this downed Wellington Bomber.

“I’m slowly working through archives to find out more of his story,” James explained. “I’m organizing my notes at fettle.org.uk/DV416/.

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