February 1999 Volume 80 Number 2 "serving the protectors"
Slain Police Hero Honoured
By Brett Williams

Constable John Holman was gunned down in a city street on a February night 70 years ago. Doctors worked frantically to save him, but within only 90 minutes of the callous attack he lay dead in the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

The 23-year-old policeman had suffered a single gun-shot wound to his lower abdomen, from which doctors recovered a nickel-coated bullet. He had been only 10 minutes from the end of his shift.

Holman left behind three brothers, two sisters and his then fiancée, Pearl Wilson (later Reid, now deceased), whom he was to marry the following week.

At a recent memorial service for the slain officer, Reid’s daughter, Pat, and Holman’s own descendants paid tribute to the man they were cheated of ever knowing.

A congregation of about 50 watched as Holman’s newly restored gravesite at the West Terrace Cemetery was unveiled.

Police Association president, Peter Alexander, told the congregation of the circumstances of Holman’s murder.

He said that, unarmed, and responding to a disturbance, Holman had bravely confronted his attacker, John Stanley McGrath, in Grenfell Street at 10:50pm. McGrath was already suspected of firing shots during an earlier disturbance in Halifax Street.

Determined to avoid arrest, McGrath drew a .32 semi-automatic pistol, fired at Holman and fled. Wounded and bleeding, Holman chased McGrath along Grenfell Street before collapsing outside the Grenfell Hotel.

Back-up officers, John King and Ernest Budgen - later awarded the King’s Police Medal - rushed to the scene to help their dying colleague. Still armed, McGrath forced the officers into a vicious gunfight before they managed to arrest him.

McGrath sustained a bullet wound to his leg. Holman died from haemorrhage and shock.

Holman’s grave and headstone		Covered in floral tributes after the December service
Part of the 50-strong crowd which attended the service		Pat Reid, whose mother was to marry John Holman, lays a wreath

He had joined SAPOL in 1927 and been assigned to plain-clothes duty only two months before his death.

Holman was honoured with a State funeral while, in the Supreme Court, McGrath was convicted of his murder and sentenced to death. That sentence, however, was commuted to life imprisonment. McGrath was released after serving only 13 years.

“This, of course, was a personal tragedy back in 1929,” Alexander said of Holman’s murder. “Holman was from a large loving family and was highly respected.”

The Police Association funded the gravesite restoration, which Alexander said was an appropriate gesture. He said it was important for the Association to reflect on “the history of its members”.

Holman’s grave, before the restoration		The congregation listens to details of Holman’s murder

Holman’s niece, Jean Dehncke, participated in the service by unveiling with Alexander a SAPOL flag which revealed the restored headstone.

“We grew up with the story of his murder,” she said after the service. “That was fairly often discussed in the family.

“It was a devastating affair. From the family’s point of view, we all thought it was pretty horrific.

“I’ve spoken to old folk in our area who still remember him. All I’ve ever heard is: ‘Gee, he was a great bloke’ - and that’s the kind of thing that we knew and grew up with.

“My mum told us often about him, so there’s a real feeling of familiarity for me with this man. You just get the feeling that the way he was in the community, and the way you see him in photographs, it would have been nice to have that kind of an uncle.”

Dehncke said the service had brought Holman more deeply into his family’s hearts. She said it had also formed a bond between some family members who hadn’t been close.

And the Police Association’s funding, she explained, had “filled me with incredible gratitude”. “I’m just astounded that somebody would do so much for somebody else,” she said.

“I certainly couldn’t have afforded to do anything like it, and the Police Association just can’t be thanked enough.”

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