final credits - ray holmes
In the early days of World War II's air battle over Britain, Ray Holmes risked his life to save Buckingham Palace from certain destruction. Having run out of amunition, he rammed his plane into a German bomber in midflight. While the event was recreated for the 1969 Guy Hamilton directed film "The Battle of Britain," Holmes' heroic charge on the Nazi bomber was actually caught on film. The event marked a turning point in the war. Holmes died June 27, 2005 at the age of 90 from cancer.
Holmes in the cockpit of a Hurricane P2725
Raymond T. Holmes (known as "Arty" because of his initials) was working as a court reporter when he joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in 1936. He was its 55th volunteer. In June, 1940, Holmes was assigned to the 504 Squadron and soon saw some of the war's heaviest battles.
On the morning of Sunday, September 15, 1940, a group of German Dornier bombers had taken off from France. One of the planes experienced engine problems and straggled behind the main group. It was set on fire by Hurricanes from a Czech Squadron and two of the crew bailed out. The remaining crew continued on the bomber's mission.
Holmes spotted the limping plane as it was lining up to attack Buckingham Palace. As he drew the German plane in his sights, he pressed his gun button and suddenly realised that he had run out of ammunition. Holmes then made a split second decision.
Holmes aimed his plane at the Dornier, intending to just clip the left hand edge of the twin-rudder tailplane with his left wing. He hit the German plane's most vulnerable point and sliced the whole tailplane off. Holmes, who experienced just a slight 'bump' from the 400 mile-per-hour collision, thought he had gotten off scott-free. But immediately his plane went into a spiral dive, and he bailed out at the incredibly low altitude of 350 feet.
Holmes ended up hanging over a garbage can, with his parachute lines snagged on the drainpipe of a house. There were two girls in the next garden, and after detaching himself he vaulted over the fence and kissed them both.
A large piece of the German bomber fell in front of Victoria Station (its stone façade bore the scars for more than 40 years). Holmes' Hurricane hit the ground at over 400 miles-per-hour. The plane's one ton Merlin engine punched a hole in the street into which the entire plane disappeared. The Dornier pilot had managed to bail out but subsequently died in hospital from his injuries. Neither plane incurred casualties on the ground. Soon thereafter, German bombing raids over England continued only at night.
In 2004, archaeologists unearthed Holmes' plane for a television documentary. Few parts of the plane survived the impact. His mangled engine was put on display at the Imperial War Museum in London. Also recovered was the plane's joystick, with its firing button still set to "FIRE."
Holmes continued to fly throughout the war, teaching Russian pilots to fly Hurricanes near Murmansk, and carrying out high-altitude photographic reconnaissance in specially modified Spitfires capable of flying at 30,000 feet. Holmes also served as the King's Messenger, carrying papers for Winston Churchill when he was preparing for the Potsdam Conference.
After the war, Holmes returned to journalism in Liverpool, where he established his own agency which specialised in court reporting. In 1989, he wrote his autobiography, "Sky Spy."