[2] He left King James Grammar School, Knaresborough[3] in 1933, and continued his education at Leeds Technical College.

Lacey joined the RAFVR (Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve) in January 1937 as a trainee pilot at Perth, Scotland.

[7] On 30 August 1940, during combat over the Thames Estuary, Lacey shot down a He 111 and damaged a Bf 110 before his Hurricane was badly hit by enemy fire.

His engine stopped and he decided to glide back to the airfield at Gravesend in his stricken aircraft, rather than bail out into the Estuary.

During a heavy raid on 13 September, he engaged a formation of Kampfgeschwader 55 He 111s over London where he shot down one of the bombers that had just bombed Buckingham Palace.

The citation in the London Gazette read:[9] 740042 Sergeant James Harry LACEY, D.F.M., Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, No.

He has led his section on many occasions and his splendid qualities as a fighter pilot have enabled him to destroy at least 19 enemy aircraft.Lacey's final award for outstanding service during 1940 was a Mention in Despatches announced on 1 January 1941.

602 Squadron, based at Kenley flying the Spitfire Mk V and by 24 March had claimed a Fw 190 as damaged.

Promoted to war substantive flight lieutenant on 27 August,[13] in November he was posted as Chief Instructor at the No.

20 Squadron, Kaylan in India before joining 1572 Gunnery Flight in July of the same year to convert from Blenheims to Hurricanes and then to Republic P-47 Thunderbolts.

While based in India, Lacey claimed his last aircraft on 19 February 1945, shooting down a Japanese Army Air Force Nakajima Ki 43 "Oscar" with only nine 20mm cannon rounds.

[16] After retirement, Lacey ran an air freight business and instructed at a flight school near Bridlington.

In September 2001, a plaque was unveiled at Priory Church, Bridlington, Yorkshire in memory of the fighter pilot and ace.

There is also a plaque at the location of the house Lacey grew up in, on the old site of Nidd Vale Motors, Sandbeck Lane, Wetherby.

In 2016, Beverley/Linley Hill Airfield named their new flight training centre after Lacey,[18] and on 23 July 2017, a blue plaque was unveiled on the site of the house where he was born.