Sergeant William Norman Holmes (born 1896, date of death unknown) was a World War I

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 eight aerial victories. Between 11 March and 8 July 1918, while serving as an observer/gunner in

No. 62 Squadron RAF No. 62 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was originally established as a Royal Flying Corps squadron in 1916 and operated the Bristol F2B fighter in France during the last year of the First World War. After the war the squadron was disbanded and i ...

, flying the

Bristol F.2b The Bristol F.2 Fighter is a British First World War two-seat biplane Fighter aircraft, fighter and reconnaissance aircraft developed by Frank Barnwell at the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It is often simply called the Bristol Fighter, ''"Brisfit ...

fighter, he accounted for eight enemy aircraft; one

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 qu ...

, three

Fokker Dr.I The Fokker Dr.I (''Dreidecker'', "triplane" in German), often known simply as the Fokker Triplane, was a World War I fighter aircraft built by Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. The Dr.I saw widespread service in the spring of 1918. It became famous as the ...

and four

Albatros D.V The Albatros D.V is a fighter aircraft built by the Albatros Flugzeugwerke and used by the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' (Imperial German Air Service) during World War I. The D.V was the final development of the Albatros D.I family and the last Albatro ...

. For his first three victories his pilot was Second Lieutenant S. W. Symons, for the fourth and fifth, Sergeant Frank Johnson, and for the last three one each with Captain Thomas L. Purdom, Lieutenant

Douglas Savage Douglas Alfred Savage, (1892–1967) was a British flying ace of the First World War, credited with seven aerial victories. First World War Savage was born in Oxford, where his father Alfred Savage, was a stationer, bookseller and publisher. H ...

and Captain

William Ernest Staton Air Vice Marshal William Ernest Staton, (27 August 1898 – 22 July 1983) was a British airman who began his career as a First World War flying ace credited with 26 victories. He was transferred to the Royal Air Force (RAF) on its creation in 1 ...

. He was awarded the

Military Medal The Military Medal (MM) was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other arms of the armed forces, and to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank, for bravery in battle on land. The award ...

on 12 June 1918.

References

1896 births Year of death missing Royal Flying Corps soldiers People from Selby Recipients of the Military Medal British World War I flying aces Military personnel from Yorkshire Royal Air Force personnel of World War I Royal Air Force airmen {{RAF-bio-stub