Donaldson Clarke Holland was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, the son of William John and Dorthea Holland. He grew up in the Kitsilano neighbourhood of Vancouver and graduated from Kitsilano High School in 1933. He earned a Batchelor of Applied Science degree in mining engineering from the University of British Columbia in 1940 and immediately started working as a professional engineer.
Lieutenant Holland enlisted in the Active Militia in February 1941 and within a week was transferred to the Active Service Force as a reinforcement officer, Royal Canadian Engineers. He started his engineer officer training at A6 Engineer Training Centre at Camp Dundurn, Saskatchewan in May 1941.
In January 1942, Donaldson was taken on strength of the 20 th Field Company in North Vancouver, BC. In March, the company moved to the Nanaimo Military Camp as part of the 13th Brigade Group. The company had three roles: training for battle as part of the brigade group, improving and constructing communications in the operational area, and camp construction. A troop was detached to No. 11 Engineer Services and Works Company for construction work in Victoria and Burnaby. Paul completed a driving and maintenance course in Victoria and later qualified on motorcycles.
In September 1942, the 20th Field Company returned to Winnipeg in preparation for transfer overseas. This move was delayed four times until May 1943 when they moved to Camp Aldershot to prepare for embarkation. They arrived In the United Kingdom on 17 July 1943 and the company trained in bridging, airfield construction and other mobility tasks.
In November 1944, Donaldson was commanding 3 Platoon in the 20th Field Company. On 2 November 1944, the 20 th Field Company moved to Herenthals just east of Antwerp in support of the 1st British Corps. The area was known to be infested with mines and boobytraps - the last German defenders were engineers. Once the danger could be neutralized, the company’s main task of the Canadians, however, was to construct semi-permanent bridges over the Albert Canal.
On the morning of 4 November, Lieutenant Holland and Sapper Heinzig were killed when what was believed to have been a booby-trapped Teller mine exploded. These were the first fatal casualties the company had faced and the loss of these two men was felt deeply by the unit. The unit held a funeral the following day and the two bodies were buried in Schoonselhof Cemetery near Antwerp.
Return to Part 5: Tributes to the Fallen Sappers of the Scheldt