Raymond Towers Holmes (20 August 1914 – 27 June 2005) was a British
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
fighter pilot
An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...
during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
who is best known for taking part in the
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...
. He became famous for an apparent notable act of bravery in which he reportedly saved
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...
from being hit by
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
bombing, when he used his
Hawker Hurricane
The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by ...
to destroy a
Dornier Do 17
The Dornier Do 17 is a twin-engined light bomber produced by Dornier Flugzeugwerke for the German Luftwaffe during World War II. Designed in the early 1930s as a ''Schnellbomber'' ("fast bomber") intended to be fast enough to outrun opposing a ...
bomber over London by
ramming
In warfare, ramming is a technique used in air, sea, and land combat. The term originated from battering ram, a siege weapon used to bring down fortifications by hitting it with the force of the ram's momentum, and ultimately from male sheep. Thus, ...
. He was feted by the press as a
war hero
A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ''actor''), ''hero' ...
for his saving of the Palace. However, this has come to become regarded as a much disputed legend.
['Those Other Eagles', Shores, (2004)] Holmes became a
King's Messenger
The Corps of King's Messengers (or Corps of Queen's Messengers during the reign of a female monarch) are couriers employed by the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). They hand-carry secret and important documents to Br ...
after the war, and died at the age of 90 in 2005.
Early life
Raymond Towers Holmes was born on 20 August 1914 in
Wallasey
Wallasey () is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, in Merseyside, England; until 1974, it was part of the historic county of Cheshire. It is situated at the mouth of the River Mersey, at the north-eastern corner of the Wirral Pe ...
,
Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...
to Mabel Annie Holmes (''
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
'' Latham) and journalist Christopher Holmes.
He attended
Wallasey
Wallasey () is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, in Merseyside, England; until 1974, it was part of the historic county of Cheshire. It is situated at the mouth of the River Mersey, at the north-eastern corner of the Wirral Pe ...
and
Calday Grange Grammar School
Calday Grange Grammar School (abbreviated to CGGS; also known as Calday Grange, Calday Grammar or simply Calday due to the difference in spelling to the nearby village of Caldy) is a non-denominational, academically selective grammar school, fo ...
and worked as a crime journalist at the ''Birkenhead Advertiser''
before joining the
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
The Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) was established in 1936 to support the preparedness of the U.K. Royal Air Force in the event of another war. The Air Ministry intended it to form a supplement to the Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF ...
in 1936 as their 55th volunteer.
Second World War
Battle of Britain
In June 1940 he joined
No. 504 Squadron RAF
No. 504 (County of Nottingham) Squadron was one of the Special Reserve Squadrons of the Auxiliary Air Force, and today is a reserve force of the RAF Regiment. It was integrated into the AAF proper in 1936. Based at RAF Cottesmore, Rutland, 504 Sq ...
. He became known among his flight comrades as "Arty" which was taken from the initials of his name R.T.
![DO17FLAMETHROWER](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/DO17FLAMETHROWER.jpg)
According to the now common account, on 15 September 1940, known as
Battle of Britain Day
Battle of Britain Day, 15 September 1940, is the day on which a large-scale aerial battle in the Battle of Britain took place.Mason 1969, p. 386.Price 1990, p. 128.
In June 1940, the ''Wehrmacht'' had conquered most of Western Europe and Scan ...
,
Sergeant
Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...
Holmes was flying a
Hawker Hurricane
The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by ...
fighter when he spotted a formation of three
Dornier Do 17
The Dornier Do 17 is a twin-engined light bomber produced by Dornier Flugzeugwerke for the German Luftwaffe during World War II. Designed in the early 1930s as a ''Schnellbomber'' ("fast bomber") intended to be fast enough to outrun opposing a ...
bombers of
Kampfgeschwader 76
''Kampfgeschwader 76'' (KG 76) (Battle Wing) was a Luftwaffe bomber Group during World War II. It was one of the few bomber groups that operated throughout the war.
In 1933 Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party came to power in Germany. To meet the ex ...
heading for central London, to make a bombing attempt. As he made an attack on one of the bombers, the bomber fired a flamethrower at him, and Holmes' windscreen was covered in oil.
[Battle of Britain: July–October 1940 - An Oral History of Britain's 'Finest Hour', Matthew Parker, p. 292.]
The flamethrower, obviously intended for use on the ground, did not work as intended at 16,000 feet, producing a jet of flame only some 100 yards long. The oil did not catch fire, and instead covered Holmes' windshield. As the airflow cleared the oil away from his windscreen, Holmes saw that he was dangerously close to the Dornier, and ramming the stick forward, passed beneath the bomber.
I made my attack on this bomber and he spurted out a lot of oil, just a great stream over my aeroplane. blotting out my windscreen. I couldn't see a damn thing. Then, as the windscreen cleared, I suddenly found myself going straight into his tail. So I stuck my stick forward and went under him, practically grazing my head on his belly.
He attacked the second Dornier, causing a crew member to bail out.
I got to the stern of the aeroplane and was shooting at him when suddenly something white came out of the aircraft. I thought that a part of his wing had come away but in actual fact it turned out to be a man with a parachute coming out. I was travelling at 250 miles per hour, it all happened so quickly, but before I knew what had happened this bloody parachute was draped over my starboard wing. There was this poor devil on his parachute hanging straight out behind me, and my aeroplane was being dragged. All I could do was to swing the aeroplane left and then right to try to get rid of this man. Fortunately, his parachute slid off my wing and down he went, and I thought, Thank heavens for that!
Holmes then spotted the third Dornier apparently making directly for Buckingham Palace. Holmes quickly climbed ahead of it, to avoid any machine-gun fire, then swung around to make a head-on attack. However, he ran out of ammunition, so Holmes decided to
ram the bomber.
As I fired, my ammunition gave out. I thought, Hell, he's got away now. And there he was coming along and his tail looked very fragile and very inviting. So I thought I'd just take off the tip of his tail. So I went straight at it along him and hit his port fin with my port wing. I thought, That will just take his fin off and he'll never get home without the tail fin. I didn't allow for the fact that the tail fin was actually part of the main fuselage. Although I didn't know it at the time, I found out later that I had knocked off the whole back half of the aircraft including the twin tails.[Battle of Britain: July–October 1940 - An Oral History of Britain's 'Finest Hour', Matthew Parker, p. 293.]
Holmes' plane began to dive to the left, and was no longer responding to the controls. As the Hurricane went into a vertical dive, he bailed out. As he climbed out, the air-stream caught him and smacked him down onto the roof of his Hurricane. Then, as he was thrown backward, his shoulder hit his own tail fin. When he finally managed to pull his ripcord, the jolt shook off his flying boots and he found himself swinging violently about. He watched the Dornier crash near
Victoria tube station
Victoria station, also known as London Victoria, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in Victoria, in the City of Westminster, managed by Network Rail. Named after the nearby Victoria Street (not the Qu ...
.
Holmes landed in a narrow back garden, and ended up dangling inside an empty dustbin.
[Unearthed: story of the WW2 pilot who saved the Palace](_blank)
The Independent, 10 October 2011
The Dornier pilot, Feldwebel Robert Zehbe, bailed out, only to die later reportedly of wounds suffered during the attack.
The observer, Unteroffizier Hans Goschenhofer, and the gunner, Unteroffizier Gustav Hobel, were killed, while radio operator Gefreiter Ludwig Armbruster and flight engineer Unteroffizier Leo Hammermeister survived.
Holmes was feted by the press as a war hero for his saving of Buckingham Palace. As the RAF did not practice ramming as an air combat tactic, this was considered an impromptu manoeuvre, and an act of selfless courage. This event became one of the defining moments of the
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...
and elicited a congratulatory note to the RAF from Queen
Wilhelmina of the Netherlands
Wilhelmina (; Wilhelmina Helena Pauline Maria; 31 August 1880 – 28 November 1962) was Queen of the Netherlands from 1890 until her abdication in 1948. She reigned for nearly 58 years, longer than any other Dutch monarch. Her reign saw World War ...
, who had witnessed the event. The bomber's engine was later exhibited at the
Imperial War Museum
Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...
in London.
Later activities
When recovered, he became part of No 81 Squadron, and was sent to the Northern Front near
Murmansk
Murmansk (Russian: ''Мурманск'' lit. "Norwegian coast"; Finnish: ''Murmansk'', sometimes ''Muurmanski'', previously ''Muurmanni''; Norwegian: ''Norskekysten;'' Northern Sámi: ''Murmánska;'' Kildin Sámi: ''Мурман ланнҍ'') i ...
in
Soviet Russia
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
to help train the
Russian air force
" Air March"
, mascot =
, anniversaries = 12 August
, equipment =
, equipment_label =
, battles =
, decorations =
, bat ...
in flying the Hawker Hurricane. Here he claimed a further kill; a Bf 109 F. He married Elizabeth Killip in April 1941
and was commissioned as a
Pilot Officer
Pilot officer (Plt Off officially in the RAF; in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly P/O in all services, and still often used in the RAF) is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countri ...
on 10 June 1941, promoted to
Flying Officer on 10 June 1942, and
Flight Lieutenant
Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in air forces that use the Royal Air Force (RAF) system of ranks, especially in Commonwealth countries. It has a NATO rank code of OF-2. Flight lieutenant is abbreviated as Flt Lt in the India ...
on 10 June 1943.
Returning from Russia, Holmes served as an instructor with 2 FIS,
Montrose, from 1942 until 1944. He then flew PR Spitfires with 541 Squadron from February 1945.
Post-war
Personal life
After the war, he was a
King's Messenger
The Corps of King's Messengers (or Corps of Queen's Messengers during the reign of a female monarch) are couriers employed by the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). They hand-carry secret and important documents to Br ...
, personally delivering mail for Winston Churchill. After leaving the RAF in late 1945, he returned to
journalism
Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...
, joining his father's news agency covering
Liverpool Crown Court
The Queen Elizabeth II Law Courts, in Derby Square, Liverpool, are operated by His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service. The building is used by the Crown Court, the Magistrates' Court, Liverpool District Probate Registry and the Liverpool Yout ...
for local and national newspapers.
He had two daughters with his wife, Elizabeth, who died in 1964. He later married Anne Holmes in 1966, with whom he had two children: a son and a daughter.
He provided eyewitness testimony of the Battle of Britain in the "Alone" episode of ''
The World at War
''The World at War'' is a 26-episode British documentary television series that chronicles the events of the Second World War. It was produced in 1973, at a cost of £900,000 (), the most expensive factual series ever produced. It was produ ...
''.
In 1989, he published his autobiography entitled ''Sky Spy: From Six Miles High to Hitler's Bunker''.
65 years later, the wreckage of Holmes' Hurricane was discovered and excavated from the streets of London. The discovery was featured on the
National Geographic Channel
National Geographic (formerly National Geographic Channel; abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo or Nat Geo TV) is an American pay television television network, network and flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel owned by the National Geograp ...
documentary, ''"The Search for the Lost Fighter Plane"''. Holmes also was mentioned in an episode of ''
Battlefield Britain
''Battlefield Britain'' is a 2004 BBC television documentary series about famous battles in British history. The 8 part series covers battles from Boudicca's rebellion against the Romans in 60AD to the Battle of Britain in 1940 it also covers the ...
''.
He was awarded the Freedom of the Borough of Wirral in January 2005.
He died on 27 June 2005, aged 90 at
Hoylake
Hoylake is a coast, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is at the north west of the Wirral Peninsula, near West Kirby and where the River Dee, Wales, River Dee meets the Irish Sea. Historic counties of En ...
Cottage Hospital, following a two-year battle with cancer. He was buried in Rake Lane Cemetery, Wallasey.
Postwar myths and clarifications regarding Holmes' attack
Over the years, several sources began perpetuating the myth that Holmes deliberately crashed into the Dornier and that the German plane was attempting to bomb the palace. However, this account has been challenged by modern scholars, most notably by Alfred Price and
Stephen Bungay
Stephen Francis Bungay (born 2 September 1954) is a British management consultant, historian and author, who currently serves as Director of the Ashridge Strategic Management Centre at Hult International Business School.
Biography
Bungay read Mo ...
, for its many errors and inaccuracies. In fact, eyewitness accounts have been uncovered which mention that the Dornier was empty when it was rammed. According to sources, Zehbe developed engine trouble and lagged half a mile behind the main bomber stream. His Dornier attracted a swarm of fighters and had already been damaged, Goschenhofer and Hobel had been killed and then he and the remainder bailed out; Armbruster bailed out over
Sydenham Sydenham may refer to:
Places Australia
* Sydenham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney
** Sydenham railway station, Sydney
* Sydenham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne
** Sydenham railway line, the name of the Sunbury railway line, Melbourne ...
, and Hammermeister bailed out over
Dulwich
Dulwich (; ) is an area in south London, England. The settlement is mostly in the London Borough of Southwark, with parts in the London Borough of Lambeth, and consists of Dulwich Village, East Dulwich, West Dulwich, and the Southwark half of ...
. As Zehbe bailed out, he set the aircraft on autopilot. His Dornier flew on empty until Holmes rammed it. During its spinning dive, the gravitational force on the Dornier caused its bombs to be released, which hit or landed near to the Palace nearby, damaging the building.
[Bungay 2000, p. 325.] In addition, Holmes' combat report of the day makes no mention of an intended collision with the Dornier. In his combat report, he reported that he had made four attacks on the Dornier. He mentioned seeing a lone crewmember bail out as he made his third attack and, during the last pass, he felt a "jar" which caused his aircraft to fall into an uncontrollable spin, and that he first believed the Dornier exploded beneath him, before seeing it crash while he was on his parachute. Over the years, this apparent unintended "jar" seems to have been transformed into an intentional collision.
In the attack made by No.504 Squadron I attacked the right flank machine from quarter to astern. Pieces flew from the wings and a flame appeared in the port wing but went out again. After breaking away I climbed up to a single Do 215 and made two quarter attacks. Pieces flew off, my windscreen was now slashed with black oil. I attacked a third time and a member of the crew bailed out. On my fourth attack from the port beam a jar shook my starboard wing as I passed over the e/a and I went into an uncontrollable spin. I think the e/a must have exploded beneath me. I bailed out and as I landed I saw the Dornier hit the ground by Victoria Station, half a mile away.
In addition, contrary to belief that Zehbe died of wounds suffered during the attack, there are accounts which suggest that after he landed near
The Oval
The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since ...
, he was severely wounded by a civilian mob. He was rescued by the
army
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
but died of his wounds the next day. Zehbe was buried in
Brookwood Military Cemetery
Brookwood Cemetery, also known as the London Necropolis, is a burial ground in Brookwood, Surrey, England. It is the largest cemetery in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in Europe. The cemetery is listed a Grade I site in the Regis ...
.
Robert Zehbe - Commonwealth War Graves Commission Casualty record at Brookwood Military Cemetery, retrieved 18 November 2021.
See also
* The Few
The Few were the airmen of the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the aviators of the Fleet Air Arm, Royal Navy (RN) who fought the Battle of Britain in the Second World War. The term comes from Winston Churchill's phrase "Never was so much owed by so ma ...
References
Further reading
* (autobiography)
External links
Ray Holmes' obituary in the ''Daily Telegraph''
* ttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/leicestershire/4398484.stm "Pilot who 'saved Palace' honoured"br>Painting depicting the ramming of the Dornier
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holmes, Ray
British World War II fighter pilots
Deaths from cancer in England
Pilots who performed an aerial ramming
Royal Air Force airmen
Royal Air Force officers
Royal Air Force pilots of World War II
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II
The Few
1914 births
2005 deaths