World War II Victoria Cross Recipient. He received the award from British King George VI at Buckingham Palace in London, England on October 10, 1944, for his actions as a company sergeant major in D Company, 6th Battalion, The Green Howards, of the British Army during the D-Day Invasion at Gold Beach, Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944. The son of a restaurant owner, in 1929 he was apprenticed to be a navigation officer and made regular voyages to West Africa; but became ill with blackwater fever the following year and was released from duty. In 1939 he enlisted in the British Territorial Army and was sent to France with the British Expeditionary Force the following year and was involved in the evacuation of Dunkirk. Afterwards, he was sent to North Africa with the British 8th Army and saw action from El Alamein to Tunis. He was promoted to the rank of company sergeant major shortly before the invasion of Sicily in 1943, where he was wounded at the battle of Primosole Ridge. He returned to England and on June 6, 1944, he was part of the Allied D-Day landing force at Normandy, France, during which his gallantry won him the Victoria Cross. Following the war, he worked for a time as a sandblaster in a local steel mill, then became a partner in a motor repair business before working as a ship's engineer from 1950 to 1955, then he operated a pub. He died at the age of 59. His Victoria Cross citation reads: "in Normandy on 6 June 1944 Company Sergeant-Major Hollis went with his company commander to investigate two German pill-boxes which had been by-passed as the company moved inland from the beaches. "Hollis instantly rushed straight at the pillbox, firing his Sten gun into the first pill-box, He jumped on top of the pillbox, re-charged his magazine, threw a grenade in through the door and fired his Sten gun into it, killing two Germans and taking the remainder prisoners. Later the same day C.S.M. Hollis pushed right forward to engage the [field] gun with a PIAT [anti-tank weapon] from a house at 50 yards range. He later found that two of his men had stayed behind in the house in full view of the enemy who were continually firing at him. He went forward alone to.distract their attention from the other men. Under cover of his diversion, the two men were able to get back. Wherever the fighting was heaviest, he appeared, displaying the utmost gallantry. It was largely through his heroism and resource that the Company's objectives were gained and casualties were not heavier. He saved the lives of many of his men." His Victoria Cross is on display at the Green Howards Museum in Richmond, North Yorkshire, England.