Velma Holden was the second-in-command officer the day that she and 17 other WACs boarded a plane for their next World War II assignment. They were never seen again.

Her parents, Charles “Charley” Burr Holden, and Mamie Velma Elizabeth Gaddy Holden*, named their baby girl, Velma Elizabeth, when she was born in 1920.[i] Her two-year old big brother, Charles Burr Holden, welcomed her into the family. *Some documents list her name as Marnie.

Both of her parents were native North Carolinians. They married on October 7, 1917 and brother Charles was born almost exactly nine months later. Her father was working as a foundry molder. At the time she was born, her family lived in a rental house in Asheville, Buncombe County, North Carolina.[ii]

Her family continued to grow. Younger brothers came along. Reginald George Holden was born in 1925 and Eli Jackson Holden in 1927.[iii]

By 1930, her father, Charley had changed jobs and was a salesman for the Supply and Meed (Sic) Company. The family of six is renting a home in Brevard, North Carolina,[iv] not far from Asheville.[v]

HER LIFE BEFORE MILITARY

Velma finished three years of high school then went to work. Before she enlisted, she’d been working as an office clerk.[vi]

Both her little brothers are living at the family’s home on Julia Street in Asheville. The youngest brother, Eli, is working as a baggage clerk at the Union Bus Terminal.[vii] Her other younger brother, Reginald, is working at V. V. Hannie Groceries. On September 17, 1943, her younger brother, Reginald Holden, enlists in the army.[viii]

HER MILITARY STORY

Velma Holden, service number A-403766, served in the Women’s Army Corp, WACS. Velma enlists as a private on April 26, 1944 in Asheville, NC.[ix] She served in the 1202nd Army Air Force Base Unit, WACS.

According to HonorStates.org, the women who were in the 1202nd were older, with an average age of 28, than the usual recruit and were chosen for their “maturity and work experience.”

In November of 1944, Velma was one of 159 WACs in Accra, British West Africa to serve with the Air Transport Command. Their job was to deliver troops and supplies as well as transfer aircraft.[x]

HER LAST DAY

Corporal Velma E. Holden was with 17 other women of the Women’s Army Corp on a normally routine 776- mile[xi] flight from Accra, British West Africa to Robert’s Field[xii], Liberia. The WACs were onboard as they were being transferred to a new assignment. There were scattered showers that morning but no other weather of note.[xiii]

Her plane, piloted by a crew of three[xiv], a C-478 #44-76406, disappeared.[xv]

The plane was last reported over Takoradi, British West Africa, about 150 miles west of Accra, shortly after departure.[xvi]

Little is known about what transpired aboard the plane that day but several calls of “Mayday,” an emergency procedure used as a voice distress signal, were heard. The distress signal was loud and clear, lasting five minutes.[xvii] A search was conducted by aircraft and surface craft over a wide area of the French Ivory Coast.[xviii] The search consisted of seven PET’s and British, French, and Native forces, who were informed to search waters and coastline. No sign of the plane was found.

The plane is believed to have crashed into the sea near Takordi, Ghana.[xix] The Chicago Tribune reported the “[xx]18 WACs were the first ever reported lost overseas.”

She went missing on May 30, 1945 and was declared dead while missing in action off the coast of Ghana, Africa.[xxi] News of the missing planes made newspapers across America on June 6th, 1945.

Her parents were notified via telegram. No details were given at that time but a press release from Washington followed with news of the missing plane.

Velma Elizabeth Holden was 25.

**READ THE STORIES OF ALL 21 ON THIS FLIGHT **

Click here- https://www.fold3.com/page/653613892/flight-c-47b-44-76406-stories-of-21-missing-in-action/stories

AFTER THE WAR

Years later, her brother, Charles, named his daughter Velma.[xxii]

RESEARCH NOTES

*Research note: On Ancestry.com, the information for Velma’s father, Charles “Charley” Burr Holden Sr., is mixed up with a Charlie Halden. Charlie Halden spell his name differently. The Halden family is listed as colored on the census and the Holden family is listed as white. The marriage dates, children’s dates, and other vital information of the two families are entangled together on one page with many similarities.

COMMENDATIONS

Purple Heart

World War II Victory Medal

American Campaign Medal

Army Presidential Unit Citation

Army Good Conduct Medal

European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign[xxiii]

MEMORIALS

On June 16, 1945, a memorial service for the missing women was held by the WACs’ leadership in Portman Square in London and over 660 WACs attended.[xxiv]

Corporal Velma E. Holden is remembered on the Tablets of the Missing, an American Battle Monument, North Africa American Cemetery in Carthage Tunisia.

ABOUT THIS STORY

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen here on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smart phone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.

[i] https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/imageviewer/collections/6061/images/4442116_01107?pId=10288751

[ii] https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/imageviewer/collections/6061/images/4442116_01107?pId=10288751

[iii] https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/imageviewer/collections/6224/images/4608318_00355?pId=75341418

[iv] https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/imageviewer/collections/6224/images/4608318_00355?pId=75341418

[v] https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/imageviewer/collections/6224/images/4608318_00355?pId=75341418

[vi] https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=76375

[vii] https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/imageviewer/collections/2238/images/32892_1020705388_0083-03227?pId=881684

[viii] https://search.ancestryinstitution.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=2441&h=10685898&ssrc=pt&tid=6627803&pid=232098745356&usePUB=true

[ix] https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/family-tree/person/tree/6627803/person/232098705462/facts

[x] https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=334268

[xi]https://chicagotribune.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=22956270&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjM3MDE5ODM5MSwiaWF0IjoxNjAwNjUzOTMxLCJleHAiOjE2MDA3NDAzMzF9.GGROPxU0pGgcIxOv2cUjLCtQalRy9746RfogyVqiR44

[xii] https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56250251/leona-marie_elizabeth-seyfert

[xiii] https://www.abmceducation.org/understandingsacrifice/soldier/rose-puchalla

[xiv] https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56250251/leona-marie_elizabeth-seyfert

[xv] https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=334268

[xvi]https://chicagotribune.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=22956270&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjM3MDE5ODM5MSwiaWF0IjoxNjAwNjUzOTMxLCJleHAiOjE2MDA3NDAzMzF9.GGROPxU0pGgcIxOv2cUjLCtQalRy9746RfogyVqiR44

[xvii] https://www.abmceducation.org/understandingsacrifice/soldier/rose-puchalla

[xviii] New York Times, June 7, 1945 “18 WACS Missing on African Flight”

[xix] https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56250251/leona-marie_elizabeth-seyfert

[xx]https://chicagotribune.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=22956270&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjM3MDE5ODM5MSwiaWF0IjoxNjAwNjUzOTMxLCJleHAiOjE2MDA3NDAzMzF9.GGROPxU0pGgcIxOv2cUjLCtQalRy9746RfogyVqiR44

[xxi] https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=334268

[xxii] https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/29068480/charles-burr-holden

[xxiii] https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=76375

[xxiv] https://www.facebook.com/notes/mia-recoveries-locating-lost-wwii-servicemen/the-tragic-loss-of-c-47-44-76406-the-wacs-worst-disaster/10150778536912463/

WAC Pin.jpg

Velma E. Holden.jpg - https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=76375

1945 WAC Memorial Service for WACS Missing in Action.jfif

Velma E Holden