Turning 100, hero pilot shot down by the Nazis
A PILOT who was shot down by the Nazis and rescued by Dutch resistance has celebrated his 100th birthday.
RAF hero Ernie Holmes was held at the notorious prisoner of war camp Stalag Luft III, scene of the famous Great Escape.
He has now enjoyed a family video call to celebrate his milestone birthday.
Of the lockdown, he told his loved ones: “Being a prisoner of war was much worse than this.”
During his extraordinary military career, Ernie was a Pathfinder Bomber pilot in the Second World War and put himself forward for some of the most dangerous missions.
In 1944, his plane was shot down over Holland, killing five men.
Miraculously, Ernie and two others survived and were rescued by the Dutch resistance.
A farmer’s daughter found Ernie and took him to her father, who was sheltering other Allies and who was later executed.
Plans were drawn up to smuggle Ernie into Spain and get him reunited with the plane’s navigator.
But he was betrayed and subsequently taken to Stalag Luft III. He was eventually repatriated.
Ernie married his wartime
sweetheart, Irene, who worked as a secretary at Scone Aerodrome, Perth, where Ernie had been based when he did his training. They were married for more than 70 years.
After the war, Ernie moved to Scotland and continued to serve the RAF as a civilian flying instructor at
both Edinburgh and University Air Squadrons.
He retired from the RAF in 1962 and now lives in Kincarrathie House, a retirement home in Perth.
Ernie, who is now blind, has four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. For his 100th
Glasgow birthday, he was sent recorded messages by children David, 68, and Alison, 72, and joined a family Zoom call.
And recently he
Covid vaccination.
David, of Cheltenham, said: “A piper was sent to play for him. As had his first he’s blind, we didn’t send cards. He was sent more than an hour of messages on a memory stick which he can listen to.
“We can’t go and see him and give him a hug, which is painful.
“He’s spoiled rotten and we had a family Zoom call in the evening.”