Leslie Hubert Holden | |
|---|---|
 Les Holden at Sydney's Mascot Aerodrome, after locating the missing Southern Cross in north-western Australia, 1929 | |
| Nickname(s) | "Lucky Les"; "the homing pigeon" |
| Born | 6 March 1895 East Adelaide, South Australia |
| Died | 18 September 1932 (aged 37) Byron Bay, New South Wales |
| Allegiance | Australia |
| Service/ | Australian Imperial Force Australian Flying Corps |
| Years of service | 1915–19 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Unit | Australian Light Horse (1915–16) No. 2 Squadron AFC (1917–18) No. 6 Squadron AFC (1918–19) |
| Battles/wars | World War I |
| Awards | Military Cross Air Force Cross |
| Other work | Office manager; commercial pilot |
Leslie Hubert Holden, MC, AFC (6 March 1895 – 18 September 1932) was an Australian fighter ace of World War I and later a commercial aviator. A South Australian, he joined the Light Horse in May 1915, serving in Egypt and France. In December 1916, he volunteered for the Australian Flying Corps and qualified as a pilot. As a member of No. 2 Squadron on the Western Front, he gained the sobriquets "Lucky Les" and "the homing pigeon" after a series of incidents that saw him limping back to base in bullet-riddled aircraft. He was awarded the Military Cross, and went on to achieve five aerial victories flying Airco DH.5s and Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5s.
Promoted to captain, Holden finished the war as an instructor with No. 6 (Training) Squadron in England, where his work earned him the Air Force Cross. After leaving the Australian Flying Corps in 1919, he became a manager at the family firm of Holden's Motor Body Builders and joined the part-time Citizen Air Force, before setting up as a commercial pilot and establishing his own air service. In 1929, he located Charles Kingsford Smith and Charles Ulm in the north-west Australian desert after the pair was reported missing on a flight to England in the Southern Cross. Holden began transport operations in New Guinea in 1931. He was killed the following year in a passenger plane crash in Australia.