WWII: RAF man won U.S. bravery award

Ernest and Zena Holme at Skegness before the war. He was decorated for bravery by a US colonel

Ernest and Zena Holme keeping in touch with relatives from their home in America after the war

WHENEVER a Derbyshire family hear references to the special relationship between the British and U.S. military, they look back with pride on their own family’s contribution to the liaison.

For, in the Second World War, American-born Ernest Harold Holme, a photographer in Long Eaton, did his bit for both countries by serving for three years with the RAF and then transferring to the American Air Force.

He joined the U.S. Eighth Air Force as an aerial cameraman and was based at their aerial reconnaissance station in the West Country.

In the days running up to D-Day – June 6, 1944 – he took part in a number of perilous, low-flying missions over France, gathering information about enemy movements vital to the Allied Forces in their preparation for the Normandy landings.

The work was top secret and highly important and made a huge contribution towards bringing the war to an end, so much so that, later in 1944, Ernest was awarded the War Department’s distinguished unit citation ribbon for “extraordinary heroism, gallantry and determination”.

He had, it stated, been a camera repair technician for the Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, whose assignment in the fight against Nazi aggression was to obtain valuable aerial pictures of enemy military, maritime and industrial installations.

“During the weeks preceding and three weeks following the Normandy invasion, group pilots flew exceedingly dangerous low altitude missions to photograph German communication lines and troop movements,” the citation said.

It was awarded by his wing commander, Col Elliott Roosevelt, a relative of the American president.

Ernest was 33 when he received the honour and lived with his wife, Zena, in Myrtle Avenue, Long Eaton. He was the son of Mr and Mrs Harry Holme, of Toton.

Born in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1911, Ernest came to this country with his parents at the age of four. He attended Derby Road Boys’ School, Long Eaton, and it was while he was there that he became keen on photography.

On leaving school, he joined his brother, Horace Holme, who had a photography business in Long Eaton Market Place.

They worked together until 1935 when he became manager for a well-known firm of photographers, first in Nottingham, then Cardiff and Exeter.

In 1940, not long after the outbreak of war, he joined the RAF Volunteer Reserve and, after serving for three years, was granted a transfer to the American Air Force which quickly singled him out for promotion and gave him the rank of sergeant.

Ernest’s brother-in-law, Harold Woodward, of Littleover, still has 60-year-old newspapers recording his gallantry.

He said: “The family were very proud of him. He was a very talented photographer and, obviously, very brave indeed. Not many men served with two different Air Forces and came home with an honour such as he received.”

When Ernest was posted to the West Country with the American Air Force, Zena moved to live in Exeter but, after her home there was bombed, she returned to live in Long Eaton.

A couple of years after the war, the couple made their home in Rhode Island, New York State. Both have since died.

Harold added: “Unfortunately, I never went over to see them, but Zena did come back a few times. They were very happy over there.”

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This article is from the Derby Evening Telegraph and is reproduced online here.