Robert Palmer (RAF officer)

Robert Anthony Maurice Palmer, VC, DFC & Bar (7 July 1920 – 23 December 1944) was a bomber pilot in the Royal Air Force and a posthumous English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to members of British and Commonwealth forces.

By the end of 1944, Palmer had completed 110 bombing missions, many with the Pathfinder Force necessitating deep penetration of enemy territory and low-level 'marking' operations against heavily defended targets.

The order to abandon the Oboe run did not reach Palmer, who continued with his designated role despite his aircraft having already been damaged by Wehrmacht flak cannon.

Some minutes before reaching the target two of his engines caught fire, but rejecting alternative evasive action and being determined to provide an accurate and easily visible aiming point for the other bombers, he managed to keep the badly damaged aircraft on a straight course, made a perfect approach and released his bombs.

[3] The inscription on his gravestone reads: 'A LONELY IMPULSE OF DELIGHT DROVE TO THIS TUMULT IN THE CLOUDS',[3] a quote from 'An Irish Airman Foresees His Death' (1918) by W. B. Yeats.