Collection contains:
Obituary from THE TIMES, 10 December 1957; flimsies, 1900 - 191926 (commissions); photographs taken in Oportom 1921; letters to Mrs Holt from the VANITY, based especially in Berehaven; letters to Mrs Holt from the VAMPIRE, Western Mediterranean, 1923-1925; letters to Mrs Holt from the CAMPBELL, especially from the Orkneys, Invergordon, 1927-1928; Royal Navy Sailing Association papers, circa 1931-1932; lettes to Mrs Holt from the SHROPSHIRE, Mediterranean, 1932-1934; file of papers on House system, Royal Naval College DARTMOUTH, 1934; official signals, China Station, 1937; official letters and reports, China Station, 1937-1938, including plan of the upper deck of the BEE; letters to Mrs Holt from China between 1937 and 1938; letters to Mrs Holt from the SCORPION between 1939 and 1940, Yangtse Flotilla, China Station; file of official papers on the Coast Guard in 1940; two photographs while Flag Officer, Humber papers on mission to USA, 1942 to 1943, concerning LSTs; some unofficial letters with those to Mrs Holt from the Azores, 1943 to 1944; one folder of copy-reports and other papers while Flag Officer, Denmark, 1945.

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Administrative / biographical background
Holt entered the Navy as a cadet at BRITANNIA in 1899 and went to sea in 1900 as midshipman of the JUPITER, Channel Squadron; in 1901 joining the GOLIATH in China. In 1904 he was appointed sub-lieutenant in the destroyer DEE in 1905-1906 and then promoted to lieutenant in 1906, serving in the MAGNIFICENT. In 1909 he took his fist command, being assigned to the torpedo boat No.055 at Portsmouth. Upon the inauguration of the Royal Canadian Navy in 1910, Holt was made officer to the cruiser RAINBOW. During 1914 - 1918, he took command of the destroyer ITCHEN; the torpedo boat No.16 and the destroyers MASTIFF and REDOUBT. In 1917 Holt received his Distinguished Service Award (DSO) in 1917 for service in action again a U-boat. Whilst serving in the VESPER, in 1923, he was made an M.V.O for escort duties with the King's Yacht BRITANNIA. He was promoted to Captain in 1925 and served as commander of the 6th Destroyer Flotilla, Atlantic Fleet and between 1928 and 1930 was captain in charge at Bermuda. He was chief of staff to Admiral Hugh Tweedie, Commander-in-chief at the Nore, between 1931 and 1933; later commanding the cruiser SHROPSHIRE in the Mediterranean in 1933. Holt was promoted to Rear-Admiral in 1936 and in 1937 served as senior naval officer in the Yangtze; commanding the river gunboat BEE. The American gunboat PANAY was sunk by Japanese aircraft near Nanking. Holt defied Japanese warnings that any assistance would be met with fire; the BEE came to her assistance and Holt personally conducted the search for survivors and exposed himself to danger. He was award the CB in 1938 and the U.S. Distinguished Service Medal for 'courageous action and cooperation.' He was to continue to hold Yangtze command when war began in 1939. He was promoted vice-admiral in 1939 and placed on the retired list but continued to serve. He became flag officer in charge in the Humber, October 1940, and was on the staff of combined operations, HQ, in 1943 and for six months in 1944 was naval officer in charge in Newhaven, during the Normandy Invasion. In May 1945, when the war had ended, Holt was flag officer, Denmark, taking charge of the remnant Nazi fleet at Copenhagen which included the cruisers PRINZ EUGEN, NURNBERG and EMBEN, plus fifty torpedo boats and small craft.