A former journalist and war hero has been honoured for his bravery in saving Buckingham Palace from German attack in 1940.

The old RAF squadron of Sgt Ray Holmes, who died in June, was presented with a model of his Hurricane fighter, specially made from its melted-down Rolls-Royce Merlin engine.

He was being commemorated at Cottesmore-based 504 Squadron for heroically bringing down a Dornier bomber as it lined up to attack the Palace.

Sgt Holmes had run out of ammunition but used his own plane to slice through his opponent’s plane’s tail, saving the Palace from a direct hit, before parachuting to safety. The German pilot also survived.

His own aircraft crashed in Buckingham Palace Road, while the Dornier landed in part of Victoria railway station. The incident was re-enacted for the film The Battle of Britain.

Ray died in June, aged 90.

His career as a journalist began at the Birkenhead Advertiser, where he worked until the start of the war, and he later joined his father’s news agency. He was well-known as a journalist around the Wirral area, and also covered Liverpool Law Courts for the national press.