On 15 September 1940, during the Battle of Britain, Dornier bombers and hurricanes collided over Buckingham Palace, marking one of the largest air battles of World War II. Fortunately, the fallen fighter was captured by camera, and newspapers across Britain subsequently reported extensively on the brave pilot's rescue of Buckingham Palace from German bombers.
Air Force Deputy Marshal Keith Parker at Uxbridge headquarters had two important guests: Winston Churchill and his wife. As Parker led his guests into a conference room about 50 feet underground, he received very grim news: an all-out attack by the Luftwaffe was coming!
It's an epic battle.
One squadron after another was put on standby, and everything was ready. By noon, 23 squadrons of fighter jets had taken off. But the scale of the enemy's attack was so great that it was so great that the pilots knew that there was no way to repel them.
Do 17 bomber fleet
27-year-old Captain Robert Zebey piloted one of the Do 17 bombers and successfully completed several raids. Although Zee's 27-year-old Captain Robert Zebe piloted one of the Do 17 bombers, he successfully completed several raids. Although Zebe's crew crew were veterans, this time, their situation was not smooth. The first is an engine failure and they begin to be left behind in formation, which is a very dangerous situation because fighter pilots like to attack bombers that have fallen behind. And returning home alone was even riskier, because a malfunctioning bomber flew alone over Britain like a fat duck with a broken leg, so they decided to move on.
Do 17 bomber
When flying over south London, they were 500 yards behind the bomber formation. Soon, the first fighter appeared, and Flying Lieutenant Jeffries led his 310 Squadron (a squadron of Czechs) into battle, and hit the engine of the Do 17 and caused a fire. Pilots from squadrons 609 and 504 then seized the opportunity to hunt and fire heavily at the hapless Do 17, but it still limped forward. As Battersea crossed the River Thames, six fighter jets were seen repeatedly attacking it, and eventually Robert Zebe abandoned the Do 17. The young German gunner Gustav Huber was mortally wounded and remained on the plane, while the badly wounded Captain Zebee landed in Kennington, where he was beaten by civilians and later died of serious injuries.
Zebe's Do 17, tail and outer wings were almost knocked out
The wreckage of Do 17, located outside Victoria Station
One of the pilots who attacked the Do 17 was Sergeant Ray Holmes, 26, who piloted a 504 Squadron hurricane over London and made him a hero in the spotlight.
Sergeant Ray Holmes
Robert Zebe was a sergeant pilot from West Kirby, Cheshire, and it was his first battle. After he shot down an enemy plane, he had to parachute. He said:
I was at the bottom of the fleet, my first round of attacks was almost all hit, and then I pulled up with the intention of turning around and attacking again. My windshield was covered with black oil, and as soon as I fired it, I must have hit his tank. "I broke free again, turned around and made a frontal attack on another Do 17, aiming at the opposing cockpit and firing. At first I thought it was a fragment of an airplane flying out, but then I saw clearly that it was a German. I was so close that I could have scraped my parachute.
Ray Holmes' hurricane falls
"When I made my last attack, my right wing hit something. The plane went into an uncontrollable rotation, completely out of control. "I threw the hood back and struggled to get out. It must have been over 400 miles per hour, and the wind was so strong that it was like a plane hitting me. People on the ground later told me that my parachute was only opened at a height of only three hundred feet. "I went around a house in Chelsea and fell into the garden with my head on my back. Then two girls came up to me and I was so happy to see them that I kissed them. ”
Ray Holmes skydive
Eventually Ray Holmes landed on Hugh Street, and when he regained his composure a little, he was taken by locals to a bar on Pimlico Road for some potent brandy.
When the Do 17 bomber disintegrated in the air, two of its 50kg bombs landed directly at Buckingham Palace, and one landed on the palace's lawn. During the bombing of the previous days, several bombs landed at Buckingham Palace, causing some damage, and now a bomber has been shot down under buckingham Palace's noses. The reporters dug into the story very keenly and made some "embellishments" of it: the heroic fighter pilot deliberately bumped into it before the Germans dropped a bomb on the royal family, and single-handedly saved the king's palace!
Repairs on the streets of London
Ray Holmes died of cancer on June 27, 2005. On the day of his death, The flag under Willer's flag was saluted at half-mast, and a message from Buckingham Palace expressed the Queen's grief when she learned of his death.
After the true scene of this event was revealed, although Ray Holmes's impact on Do 17 was not intentional, his heroic deeds and incredible vitality still won everyone's respect and made the battle one of the landmark events of the Battle of Britain.