No Medal for "the pilot who saved Buckingham Palace"?

[KarlGauss]

You may have seen one of the many obituaries recently about Ray Holmes - "the pilot who saved Buckingham Palace". Here's AP's.

I've read a number of his obits, as well as several pieces which were published on the occasion of the excavation of his crashed Hurricane last year. Here's an example of the latter.

I am struck by the fact that in none of the many articles is mention made of Holmes receiving a medal. I must assume, then, that he did not receive a medal for his heroism. How can that be? There was a man who unhesitatingly was willing to give his life for the Palace. Is that not valorous? Is that not worthy of a medal?

In addition to my rhetorical questions above, my factual question is to ask if there may have been a specific reason that his bravery went unrecognized (at least in terms of a medal). Is it possible that a medal wasn't awarded since, to do so, would imply that it took unusual heroism to save Buckingham Palace (and possibly the King), whereas there was an expectation that any soldier, sailor, or airman had a duty to give his life for the "Royals"? If Holmes had performed the same feat to prevent the bombing of, say, a school would he have received the DFC, or possibly the VC?

[WotNot]

Originally Posted by KarlGauss

In addition to my rhetorical questions above, my factual question is to ask if there may have been a specific reason that his bravery went unrecognized (at least in terms of a medal). Is it possible that a medal wasn't awarded since, to do so, would imply that it took unusual heroism to save Buckingham Palace (and possibly the King), whereas there was an expectation that any soldier, sailor, or airman had a duty to give his life for the "Royals"? If Holmes had performed the same feat to prevent the bombing of, say, a school would he have received the DFC, or possibly the VC?

No, I’m not aware of that attitude existing at any time. I think a more likely reason is that the story, as reported, was perhaps not quite the way that his fellow pilots, and the RAF officials, saw things. See this alternate account of the incident from here:

On 15 September the squadron took part in a big interception over London when they scrambled at 11:15 to the Madistone area. Sample spotted a formation of Dornier Do17s at 15,000 feet and led his squadron in. He attacked a Do17 at 12:10, which was trailing white smoke after having been attacked by about five fighters. He climbed up above the Dornier and then made a diving attack. As the distance between himself and the bomber narrowed, he noticed a red light in the rear-gunners cockpit, but as he got even closer, he saw that he was looking through the whole length of the inside of the Dornier to the pilot and observers cockpit. The red light that he saw was in fact the red glow of fire. He gave another short burst, and as he turned and went past the aircraft, the inside was nothing but a red-hot furnace inside. He then saw it go into a spin after the tail section broke away, followed by the wing sections beyond the engines. The narrow fuselage with short stubbs of wing roots fell though the cloud to oblivion, he never saw it crash. After Sample’s attack, one of his pilots, Sergeant Ray Holmes, rammed it. The Do17 fell on Victoria railway station. This was Do17 (2361) of 1./KG 76 flown by Oberleutnant Robert Zehbe.
Oberleutnant Robert Zehbe was badly beaten by a mob when he landed in Kennington. He died following day as a result. Metropolitan Police have nothing to say on the subject.