Fewer of the Few...

[Wing Nut]

On a personal note, this seems like a man I would very much have liked to have met.  It's a pity we must get old...  :(

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Pilot Who Saved Buckingham Palace Dies
Tue Jun 28, 4:35 PM ET

LONDON - Ray Holmes, a World War II fighter pilot who rammed a German plane to prevent a direct hit on Buckingham Palace, has died. He was 90.

He died Monday at Hoylake Cottage Hospital in Wirral after a two-year battle with cancer, his wife, Anne, said Tuesday.

Sgt. Holmes spotted a German Dornier bomber lining up to attack the palace on Sept. 15, 1940, and, finding he had run out of ammunition, the pilot from 504 Squadron slammed into the bomber, slicing off its tail.

Holmes, from Wirral in northwest England, parachuted to safety, while his Hurricane plane crashed at 400 mph behind Victoria Station, well away from the palace.

The German bomber plunged into the station's courtyard. The German pilot also survived the incident, which was captured on film.

"There was no time to weigh up the situation," Holmes recalled afterward. "His airplane looked so flimsy, I didn't think of it as solid and substantial. I just went on and hit it for six. I thought my aircraft would cut right through it, not allowing for the fact that his plane was as strong as mine!"

Last year, archaeologists unearthed parts of Holmes' fighter plane for a TV documentary. The plane's engine was later exhibited at the Imperial War Museum in London.

A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said     Queen Elizabeth II was "very sad to hear of the death of Ray Holmes, given his role in the valiant defense of London during World War II."

Holmes continued to fly throughout the war and taught Russian pilots to fly Hurricanes.

He later moved into photo-reconnaissance, taking pictures from 30,000 feet of locations that included Berlin and Adolf Hitler's hideout at Berchtesgaden.

When the war ended, he was a King's Messenger, delivering mail for Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

After the war he returned to the Wirral, where he worked as a journalist.

Funeral details were not available.

[smashie]

A Little more information about him

http://www.wirral.gov.uk/events/PRshow.asp?PRId=1137&type=Press

[Saitek]

What a hero - may his name be remembered through the textbooks of history. I guess he is one of only a few pilots who flew at the beginning of the war and were still flying at the end.  :(

[ozzy72]

Roger (Hawker) was kind enough to video and send me a copy of the program when they dug up the remains of his Hurri and he was there (mostly in the pub where he went after parachuting into central London), he was a real character, he spent most of the show trying to chat up the blonde air-head report girl who'd been hired on the talent of her boobs rather than journalistic skill, but hey it gets the ratings? Ray certainly thought so
He seemed like a real gent and a fun-lovin' guy. I'm sorry to hear that he has shuffled off his mortal coil, but his legend and his courage will live on as an example to future generations.

[Hai Perso Coyone?]

Hat's off to his heroic behaviour!!

[Craig.]

a true hero. I am sure he will always be remembered. certainly a brave man.

[BMan1113VR]

Sounds like a very brave man. This is the first that I have heard about this story. Would have been interesting to get into his mind/thought process when he was in that plane.

[Hagar]

Would have been interesting to get into his mind/thought process when he was in that plane.

I doubt he could have told you. This is the typical media presenter question. "What was going through your mind at that moment?" In fact it was more than likely an instinctive reaction taken in the heat of combat. "A rush of blood to the head" as the much-missed broadcaster Brian Johnston would have put it. He would never have asked that question. Nobody (especially not of Sgt. Holmes' generation) can possibly imagine how it felt & the person involved probably couldn't explain it. If he'd thought about it he probably wouldn't have done it.

I found this review of the documentary Ozzy mentioned which sums it all up for me.

Sgt Ray Holmes, flying a Hurricane, saw a Dornier bomber heading, he believed, for Buckingham Palace. As his ammunition was exhausted, he simply sliced its tail plane off with his wing. Both planes crashed. Fighter Plane Dig ... Live! (you long to add Hurrah!) dug up both the Hurricane and Ray Holmes, who is now 90.

Now the joyful thing about that generation is that you cannot rely on them to play the TV game. They predate it. The presenters were visibly stressed by going out live. The pilots were not. They had been frightened by experts.
"What goes through a young pilot's mind as he takes off to confront the Germans?" asked Jon Suchet intensely. Presenters often ask what was going through your mind. You would like to slap their ears.
"Nothing particularly," said Ray Holmes. Even he felt this needed an element of elaboration. "Except he just has to go and have a bash at him. That's all."

Bits and pieces and, finally, large lumps of Ray's Hurricane were gouged out of Buckingham Palace Road, stopping the mighty roar of London's traffic, as In Town Tonight used to say. Ray had now been passed to Edwina Silver, a bubbly blonde, all curls and exclamation marks.
"This is an amazing moment! The moment we've all been waiting for!"
"What's that?" asked Ray with mild interest.
"To reunite you with your engine! We've been dreaming about this moment!"
Ray was ignoring his mud-encrusted engine and inspecting Edwina, a very pretty girl, with some interest.
"Now we've got you to dream about, haven't we?" he said suavely. He was, and still is, a bit of a one for the ladies.
"You did some amazing things in it, didn't you?" persisted Edwina.
"Get away," said Ray affably.
"Do you recognise any of the parts?"
"No, not really."

The day Ray crashed, Churchill asked how many fighters we had in reserve and was told none. Arguably we needed Ray's Hurricane more than his gesture. Then again, no one knew better than Churchill the power of a gesture.

The Dornier pilot died in hospital. Eye witnesses who are still alive saw him come down on the Oval. Doris Jieves said, "They were pulling at his parachute because they were after the silk to make things with. They were shouting 'Lynch him! Lynch him!'"
"The blitz was on," said Suchet.
"It hadn't really started then," said Doris. "Then he shouted 'No, Kamarad! Mother!' Someone was trying to take his wrist watch."
Suchet moved on swiftly. What a gold mine the old are.

From the BoB Monument site.
The picture is a still taken from motion picture film of the German, minus tail and wing tips, a second or so before it impacted Victoria Station.

Ray Holmes' ramming of a Dornier bomber over London has over the years become one of the most celebrated events of the Battle of Britain. Largely this is because of the heroic act itself, but the fact that the German enemy bomber crashed in such a public place and there was no loss of (English) life helped. And then the fact that the incident was filmed also helped.

In "Arty" Holmes' words: "There was no time to weight up the situation. His aeroplane looked so flimsy, I didn't think of it as solid and substantial. I just went on and hit it for six. I thought my aircraft would cut right through it, not allowing for the fact that his 'plane was as strong as mine!"

http://www.bbm.org.uk/as-holmes.htm

[Wing Nut]

"Do you recognise any of the parts?"  
"No, not really."

Was he talking about the plane or the girl?  ;)

[ozzy72]

Thanks for finding the link and quotes Doug, good to see my memory is still sharp after all these months (and 3 beers this evening )
Oh and Kevin he was a fighter pilot, believe me he knew the parts of a girl

[smashie]

Oh and Kevin he was a fighter pilot, believe me he knew the parts of a girl

Most people doing something worth while at that time knew the parts of a girl. Many young men died soon after they found out  :(

Sorry Kevin for being a noob here and saying this, but drinking with my Polish friends tonight, they were all talking about him.

Regards,

Mark

[Wing Nut]

Sorry?  Are you kidding?  :o  Why would you apologize for THAT?

[beaky]

I remember this story about his plane being unearthed; must've been very moving for him to see that thing again, despite the distraction of that pretty blonde. Or maybe not...

I like to think that somewhere, somehow, old Ray is having a drink or two with the angel who gave him that incredible break, and the crew of that German plane...  

[Hagar]

Sorry if I appear cynical. I have a great deal of respect for those young & not-so-young RAF fighter pilots. To my mind they were all heroes. However, I think you will find that most of them saw it as a job, nothing unusual or heroic but something they had to do to the best of their ability. This might be difficult to understand in these days of instant sporting "heroes" but life was completely different then.

If the truth be known, Ray Holmes probably had his leg pulled about ruining a perfectly good aircraft. Fortunately he survived to fight another day. One wonders if he would be remembered as a hero if the Dornier or his own aircraft had crashed on a school or a hospital, killing everyone inside. This must have been one of the problems they were faced with when in combat over the centre of London or any populated area. Would it be better to shoot an enemy aircraft down & risk it crashing on your own people complete with bomb load or wait until it was on its way home, bearing in mind that its bombs might not hit anything significant over the target?

[Flt.Lt.Andrew]

Society these days searches for reactions and feelings and a lot of touchy feely nonsense rto enhance these actions, however they must be taken on face value- the man did what he had to do and anyone (from that time and some members of our own society that is) would do.
Those who joined up did so, as Hagar said because they thought it was a job and somebody had to do it- the "pass the buck" movement had'nt started yet.

Congratulations to this good man and I hope he rests in peace.

A.