Noel and Margaret Holle arrived at AAB with the two Sandinghams from Australia .Noel was the Chief Engineer for the S25 "Southern Cross" and "Excalibur VIII" . Margaret was active at Antilles Air Boats and crewed on the S25's as a flight attendant.
Not to long ago...(October 19, 2018) Margaret was visiting the Foynes Flying Boat Museum in Ireland. See below
This photo was taken at the home of Gene Neville on Long Island. A trip with Southern Cross leaving STX on May 31, 1977 with first stop Port Washington, N.Y.
Top row; Steve Perry, ---, ---, ---, ---, ---, Gene Neville (top, right) at his home on Long Island (his other home was in St. Croix)
Middle row; Shirley Neville, ---, Capt. Blair, Maureen, J.C Kelly Rodgers, Margaret Holle, ----, Noreen Gilles.
Front row - Ron Gilles, Jim Flanagan and Noel Holle.
Included in photo are Stan and Anne Washburn ( Stan was with Pan Am)
Dennis Carey and his wife (Dennis is brother of Hugh Carey, Governor of N.Y).
Will continue to try to match names.
Podcast - ABC Local / Sunday Takeaway - May 30, 2014
Meet former Ansett flying boat fight attendant, Margaret Holle, who experienced the glamour and the downright acrobatics of the early days of island hopping.
Pago Pago
Noel Holle
Noel Holle
Noel Holle
Donal Goggin
Moored at Glengarriff. Donal drove to Cork City, got a bus to Glengariff and flew on "Southern Cross" for an hour before making the return trip and on to Limerick.
photo credit Donal Goggin
Honolulu, Hawaii
Glengarriff, Ireland / 1977 - Charles & Maureen O'Hara Blair, Matthew, Margaret and Noel Holle
An article posted April 1, 2026
The Foynes Flying Boat Museum Director Margaret O Shaughnessy is with Margaret Holle & Matthew Holle in Foynes, Ireland on
October 19, 2018.
A model of Charlie Blair's P-51 hangs above.
Australia's connection with Antilles Air Boats has always been close. It may have started with airplanes, but its real connection was the people. Recently Gregg and Dania Billman (Florida) embarked on new adventure with a cruise around the Pacific on the Coral Princess. A recent stop was Australia. When they pulled into Sydney, Gregg wanted to visit Rose Bay, the location of the iconic flying boats of days gone by.
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The Aussie Connection
In 1974, Noel Holle joined AAB as an aircraft engineer specializing in the Shorts Sandringham, accompanied by his wife Margaret, (who also possessed expertise with the iconic flying boats) and their young sons Matthew ,Steven and Daniel. Once the Shorts flying boats departed from the Caribbean the Holle family returned to Australia by 1980.
March 2026, upon reaching Sydney, Gregg reached out to Matthew and Margaret Holle. Although a meeting was not possible during this port-of-call, plans were made to meet Steven Holle in Fremantle / Perth when the Coral Princess arrived several days later. On March 11th, Gregg and Steve had the opportunity to spend a little time and catch up on the many years since they were in St. Croix at Antilles Air Boats. Daniel Holle currently resides in New York working with his wife Lisa in corporate hospitality. in the Hamptons and Florida.
Read more about the Holle and Billman families, as well as the enduring relationships originating from the era of seaplanes, on this page and the links provided.
Steven resides in the greater Perth area. He is a Public and Corporate Affairs Specialist with a keen interest and experience in tourism, transport, information and leisure industries throughout Australia.
He's presently focused on reform in the maritime transport sector within Western Australia with a keen focus on coastal development and community access to boating facilities. In his spare time, he volunteers with the local marine rescue service.
Matthew resides in the greater Sydney area and has over 20 years of experience as a manager of modern and heritage environment including maintenance of building services at the Museum of Sydney, the Mint, Hyde Park Barracks, St, Mary's Cathedral, and the Anzac Memorial. Matt also curated 2 major exhibitions at the Museum of Sydney: Flying Boats - Australia's Golden Age of Aviation and the Wild Ones - Sydney Stadium 1908 - 1970.
Matthew
Steven
Gregg and Dania Billman with Steven Holle in Fremantle / Perth
Rose Bay today
Perth
Sydney
As the years passed, so have many of the aviators that worked at Antilles Air Boats. Many of the offspring of those aviator's have continued in their father's footsteps and in some way to keep the history alive. Gregg's father,
Matthew Holle -
Property Manager
Charles "Chuck" Billman, an U.S. Air Force fighter pilot, joined AAB in the mid 1970's. While in high school in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, Gregg worked part-time on the Shorts Sandringham "Southern Cross". After his schooling, Gregg went on to become a fighter pilot and had a long career with the U.S. Air Force.
Margaret Holle
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