Prevented German Bomber From Attacking Buckingham Palace

An RAF pilot who used his Hawker Hurricane fighter to ram a German bomber at the dawn of WWII, thus preventing it from launching an attack on the home of the British monarchy, was honored recently for his valor -- 65 years after the event occurred.

Sergeant Ray Holmes was locked in a fierce chase with the Dornier airplane on a day in September 1940, during the Battle of Britain, as the German plane sped towards Buckingham Palace. Out of ammunition, and in a desperate attempt to bring the bomber down, Holmes used his Hurricane to ram the German aircraft, severing the bomber's tail.

The German plane spun out of control but missed the Palace, instead going down into Victoria Station, according to an Associated Press story. Amazingly, the bomber pilot survived. Holmes had to then bail out of his crippled fighter, as well, before it too went down. No one was killed in the incident.

In a ceremony Wednesday, Holmes' 504th Squadron, based at Cottesmore Air base in Rutland, England, received a sculpture of a Hawker Hurricane crafted from melted down pieces of the Rolls-Royce engine from Holmes' fighter. Although Holmes died last year at the age of 90, his widow Anne was on hand to accept his posthumous award.

"Sgt. Holmes deserves the highest praise for his courage and determination," Air Vice-Marshal Barry Newton of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, said Tuesday. "It is fitting that the date of 15 September, when he slammed his Hurricane into that Dornier, has come to be known as Battle of Britain Day and has been commemorated every year since."

Chief of the Air Staff Sir Jock Stirrup said Holmes' act of valor, in part, made Adolf Hitler realize "he could not overcome the RAF's defense of these islands, and instead turned his attention eastwards towards Russia."

FMI: www.bbmf.co.uk