Ray Holmes, English lieutenant and pilot (born 1914)

Raymond Towers Holmes was a British Royal Air Force fighter pilot during the Second World War who is best known for an event that occurred during the Battle of Britain. He became famous when he reportedly saved Buckingham Palace from being hit by German bombing by ramming his Hawker Hurricane into a Dornier Do 17 bomber over London. He was feted by the press as a war hero for saving the Palace. However, different versions of this event have been proposed. Holmes became a King's Messenger after the war, and died at the age of 90 in 2005.