Flight Lieutenant Robert Charles Lyon Holme (10 November 1896 – 4 October 1922) was a British

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...

credited with five aerial victories.

Biography

Holme was the only son of Robert Francis Lyon Holme, and the grandson of Charles Trask, of Norton-sub-Hamdon,

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

. After

passing out Passing may refer to: Social identity * Passing (sociology), presenting oneself as a member of another sociological group ** Passing (gender), presenting oneself as being cisgender ** Passing (racial identity), presenting oneself as a member of ...

from the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infant ...

, as a "Gentlemen Cadet", he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in

Prince Albert's (Somerset Light Infantry) The Somerset Light Infantry (Prince Albert's) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army, which served under various titles from 1685 to 1959. In 1959, the regiment was amalgamated with the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry to form the Some ...

regiment on 11 November 1914. Holme was seconded to the Royal Flying Corps, and was awarded Royal Aero Club Aviators' Certificate No. 1665 on 28 August 1915 after qualifying in a Maurice Farman biplane at the British Flying School in

Le Crotoy Le Crotoy () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. The inhabitants are known as ''Crotellois''. History Isabella of France, queen consort of England, and her son (later Edward III of England) embarked fro ...

, France. He was appointed a flying officer (observer) on 21 October, and then a flying officer on 13 January 1916. He was promoted to lieutenant on 1 June 1916, and on 1 July was appointed a flight commander with the acting rank of captain. On 24 January 1917 Holme was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC ...

, and in July was listed as being wounded in action. In 1918 Holme was serving in No. 29 Squadron flying a S.E.5a single-seat fighter. He gained his first aerial victory on 2 July, destroying a

Fokker D.VII The Fokker D.VII was a German World War I fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz of the Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. Germany produced around 3,300 D.VII aircraft in the second half of 1918. In service with the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the D.VII qui ...

over

Merris Merris () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is about west-northwest of Armentières, and about north of Béthune. Heraldry See also *Communes of the Nord department The following is a list of the 648 communes of ...

. On 14 July he destroyed an observation balloon, and accounted for two more aircraft on 28 and 31 July over Merville and

Estaires Estaires (; vls, Stegers) is a commune in the Nord department of the Hauts-de-France region in northern France. The town gives its name to a type of chicken bred in the area: the Estaires chicken. Geography Estaires is located in French Fla ...

. His fifth and final victory was on 1 August, driving down out of control a DFW C reconnaissance aircraft over

Steenwerk Steenwerck (; Dutch: ''Steenwerk'') is a commune, in French Flanders, in the Nord department in northern France. It is located about north of Lille and in 2013 had a population of 3519. People from Steenwerck are known as ''Steenwerckois''. It ...

with Lieutenant Henry Coyle Rath. On 1 August 1919 Holme resigned his commission in the Somerset Light Infantry, having been granted a permanent commission in the Royal Air Force with the rank of captain. On 4 October 1922 now Flight Lieutenant Holme, while serving in No. 1 Squadron, was killed when the Vickers Vernon of No. 45 Squadron in which he was travelling as a passenger crashed at Kirkuk,

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

. He is buried in Ma'asker Al Raschid RAF Cemetery, Baghdad.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holme, Robert 1896 births 1922 deaths Somerset Light Infantry officers Royal Flying Corps officers British World War I flying aces Royal Air Force personnel of World War I Recipients of the Military Cross Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in Iraq Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1922