Robert Holme

Flight Lieutenant Robert Charles Lyon Holme MC (10 November 1896 – 4 October 1922) was a British World War I flying ace credited with five aerial victories.[1]

For other people named Robert Holme, see Robert Holme (disambiguation).

Robert Charles Lyon Holme
Born(1896-11-10)10 November 1896
South London, England
Died4 October 1922(1922-10-04) (aged 25)
Kirkuk, Iraq
Buried
Ma'asker Al Raschid RAF Cemetery, Baghdad, Iraq
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchBritish Army
Royal Air Force
Years of service1914–1922
RankFlight lieutenant
UnitPrince Albert's (Somerset Light Infantry)
No. 29 Squadron RAF
No. 1 Squadron RAF
Battles/warsWorld War I
 • Western Front
AwardsMilitary Cross

Biography

Holme was the only son of Robert Francis Lyon Holme, and the grandson of Charles Trask, of Norton-sub-Hamdon, Somerset.[2]

After passing out from the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, as a "Gentlemen Cadet", he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in Prince Albert's (Somerset Light Infantry) regiment on 11 November 1914.[3] Holme was seconded to the Royal Flying Corps, and was awarded Royal Aero Club Aviators' Certificate No. 1665 on 28 August 1915 after qualifying in a Maurice Farman biplane at the British Flying School in Le Crotoy, France.[4] He was appointed a flying officer (observer) on 21 October, and then a flying officer on 13 January 1916.[5]

He was promoted to lieutenant on 1 June 1916,[6] and on 1 July was appointed a flight commander with the acting rank of captain.[7]

On 24 January 1917 Holme was awarded the Military Cross,[8] and in July was listed as being wounded in action.[9]

In 1918 Holme was serving in No. 29 Squadron flying a S.E.5a single-seat fighter. He gained his first aerial victory on 2 July, destroying a Fokker D.VII over Merris. On 14 July he destroyed an observation balloon, and accounted for two more aircraft on 28 and 31 July over Merville and Estaires. His fifth and final victory was on 1 August, driving down out of control a DFW C reconnaissance aircraft over Steenwerk with Lieutenant Henry Coyle Rath.[1]

On 1 August 1919 Holme resigned his commission in the Somerset Light Infantry,[10] having been granted a permanent commission in the Royal Air Force with the rank of captain.[11]

On 4 October 1922 now Flight Lieutenant Holme, while serving in No. 1 Squadron, was killed when the Vickers Vernon of No. 45 Squadron in which he was travelling as a passenger crashed at Kirkuk, Iraq. He is buried in Ma'asker Al Raschid RAF Cemetery, Baghdad.[2][12]

References
  1. "Robert Charles Lyon Holme". The Aerodrome. 2015. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  2. "Killed". Flight. XIV (722): 629. 26 October 1922. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  3. "No. 28969". The London Gazette. 10 November 1914. p. 9141.
  4. "Aviators' Certificates". Flight. VII (349): 649. 3 September 1915. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  5. "No. 29563". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 April 1916. p. 4329.
  6. "No. 29702". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 August 1916. p. 7896.
  7. "No. 29688". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 July 1916. p. 7554.
  8. "No. 29916". The London Gazette (Supplement). 23 January 1917. p. 927.
  9. "The Roll of Honour: Wounded". Flight. IX (448): 756. 26 July 1917. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  10. "No. 31902". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 May 1920. p. 5571.
  11. "No. 31486". The London Gazette. 1 August 1919. p. 9867.
  12. Barrass, M. B. (2015). "Casualties 1922". Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
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