Search for the Lost Fighter Plane
The Story of Ray Holmes and the Buckingham Palace Dornier
By Peter Daniel
On 15 September 1940, Sergeant Holmes was flying a Hawker Hurricane fighter when he spotted a damaged Dornier Do17 bomber of KG 76 apparently making a bombing attempt on central London. The plane had previously been attacked by a number of another pilots including his Commanding Officer, Squadron Leader John Sample. One version of the story has it that Holmes, out of ammunition, decided to ram the bomber hoping his plane could withstand the impact and cut through it. He cut the tail off the bomber with his wing, causing the bomber to crash near Victoria station. Another version hints that it may have been an accidental collision as Holmes windscreen had been obscured by oil sprayed on his plane from an experimental flame thrower on another Dornier. In any case his Hurricane was badly damaged, crashing near the grounds of Buckingham Palace. Holmes bailed out injured but survived.
65 years later, Westminster Archives assisted researchers trying to locate the wreckage of Holmes' Hurricane. It was discovered on May Day 2005 and Holmes's engine and joy stick were successfully recovered. The discovery was featured on Channel 4 and the National Geographic Channel documentary, "The Search for the Lost Fighter Plane". Ray Holmes witnessed the dig but sadly died only a month later on 27 June 2005, aged 90, following a two-year battle with cancer.