Group Captain Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force, where it originated, as well as the air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. It is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank i ...

Bruno Philip Henry de Roeper, (1892–1965) was a British

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...

credited with five aerial victories, who went on to serve during World War II.

Biography

World War I service

De Roeper joined the

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps t ...

on 16 April 1915 as a Temporary Flight Sub-Lieutenant, based at . On 1 July he was granted the Royal Aero Club Aviators Certificate No. 1379 after flying a

Grahame-White Grahame-White was an early British aircraft manufacturer, flying school and later manufacturer of cyclecars. The company was established as ''Grahame-White Aviation Company'' by Claude Grahame-White at Hendon in 1911. The firm built mostly airc ...

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

at the Grahame-White Flying School at

Hendon Aerodrome Hendon Aerodrome was an aerodrome in London, England, that was an important centre for aviation from 1908 to 1968. It was situated in Colindale, north west of Charing Cross. It nearly became a central hub of civil aviation ("the Charing Cros ...

, and was confirmed in his rank on 26 October. De Roeper was first assigned to an RNAS Coastal Air Station based at

Redcar Redcar is a seaside town on the Yorkshire Coast in the Redcar and Cleveland unitary authority in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is located east of Middlesbrough. The Teesside built-up area's Redcar subdivision had a population of ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

flying coastal defence and anti-Zeppelin patrols.Shores ''et.al.'' (1997), p. 139. He was involved in two separate crashes in 1916, both at Redcar; firstly a forced landing in a

Caudron G.3 The Caudron G.3 was a single-engined French sesquiplane built by Caudron, widely used in World War I as a reconnaissance aircraft and trainer. Development The Caudron G.3 was designed by René and Gaston Caudron as a development of their earlie ...

on 20 February, and then in a B.E.2c just after midnight on 3 May, while returning from a patrol, when he struck a searchlight on landing. From there, he was posted to No. 6 Squadron RNAS, where he flew a

Nieuport Scout The Nieuport 17 C.1 (or Nieuport XVII C.1 in contemporary sources) was a French sesquiplane fighter designed and manufactured by the Nieuport company during World War I. An improvement over the Nieuport 11, it was a little larger than earlier Ni ...

. On 3 December 1916 he was appointed Acting Flight Commander. On 20 May 1917, he scored his first victory, driving down an Albatros two-seater out of control north-west of Bohain. Five days later, on 25 May, he swooped down on a German two-seater, only to be wounded in the jaw by the observer. The wound kept de Roeper out of action until July. As he recuperated, on 4 April he was promoted

Flight Lieutenant Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in air forces that use the Royal Air Force (RAF) system of ranks, especially in Commonwealth countries. It has a NATO rank code of OF-2. Flight lieutenant is abbreviated as Flt Lt in the Indi ...

and the squadron converted to

Sopwith Camel The Sopwith Camel is a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter aircraft that was introduced on the Western Front in 1917. It was developed by the Sopwith Aviation Company as a successor to the Sopwith Pup and became one of the be ...

s. Between 22 July and 20 August 1917, he drove down four more enemy aircraft out of control. He was then assigned to instructor duty, which he carried out for the rest of the war. In the New Years Honours list he was promoted to Squadron Commander, effective from 1 January 1918. De Roeper was awarded the Air Force Cross while based in Egypt in May 1919.

Inter-war career

On 1 August 1919 de Roeper received a full Royal Air Force commission in the rank of Major (later converted to Squadron Leader), and the following day at

Romford Romford is a large town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Historically, Romfo ...

married Jean Julia Key, of

Upminster Upminster is a suburban town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Havering. Located east-northeast of Charing Cross, it is one of the district centres identified for development in the London Plan. Historically a rural villag ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

. He then served at the

Central Flying School The Central Flying School (CFS) is the Royal Air Force's primary institution for the training of military flying instructors. Established in 1912 at the Upavon Aerodrome, it is the longest existing flying training school. The school was based at ...

RAF Upavon Royal Air Force Upavon or RAF Upavon is a former RAF station in Wiltshire, England. It was a grass airfield, military flight training school, and administrative headquarters of the Royal Air Force. The station opened in 1912 and closed in 1993 ...

, before being transferred to the School of Photography at

RAF Farnborough Farnborough Airport (previously called: TAG Farnborough Airport, RAE Farnborough, ICAO Code EGLF) is an operational business/executive general aviation airport in Farnborough, Rushmoor, Hampshire, England. The airport covers about 8% of ...

on 15 August 1921, and finally to

No. 1 Flying Training School The No. 1 Flying Training School (1 FTS) is the oldest military pilot training school in the world, currently used to deliver rotary training to aircrew of the British armed forces. History First formation (1919 – 1928) On 23 December 1919 ...

RAF Netheravon The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

on 20 March 1922. On 14 November 1924 de Roeper was proposed by William James Stewart Lockyer to be a

Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society (Whatever shines should be observed) , predecessor = , successor = , formation = , founder = , extinction = , merger = , merged = , type = NG ...

. On 16 December 1924 he was appointed to the Aeronautical Committee of Guarantee in Germany. This was the successor to the Military Commission of Control, tasked with the post-war oversight of Germany's industrial production. On 11 March 1925 he was posted to No. 1 RAF Depot at

RAF Uxbridge RAF Uxbridge was a Royal Air Force (RAF) station in Uxbridge, within the London Borough of Hillingdon, occupying a site that originally belonged to the Hillingdon House estate. The British Government purchased the estate in 1915, three year ...

, and on 16 April, de Roeper left regular Royal Air Force service, being placed on the retired list. De Roeper maintained his interests in aviation, requalifying as a pilot in 1931, being granted Aviators Certificate No. 10158 at

Brooklands Brooklands was a Auto racing, motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's fir ...

Flying School in November, and working in the aircraft industry. By April 1939 he was a

business manager The Oxford English Dictionary defines a business manager as "a person who manages the business affairs of an individual, institution, organization, or company". Compare manager. Business managers drive the work of others (if any) in order to op ...

for

Rootes Rootes may refer to: People *Baron Rootes, a peerage in the United Kingdom *Jamey Rootes (1966-2022), American sports executive *Maurice Rootes (1917–1997), British film editor *William Rootes, 1st Baron Rootes (1894–1964), founder of the ...

when the Air Minister

Sir Kingsley Wood Sir Howard Kingsley Wood (19 August 1881 – 21 September 1943) was a British Conservative politician. The son of a Wesleyan Methodist minister, he qualified as a solicitor, and successfully specialised in industrial insurance. He became a membe ...

visited Rootes' shadow factory at Speke Aerodrome that was then building the

Bristol Blenheim The Bristol Blenheim is a British light bomber aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company (Bristol) which was used extensively in the first two years of the Second World War, with examples still being used as trainers until ...

World War II

De Roeper rejoined the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

in the rank of Squadron Leader during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, being transferred from the General Duties to the Technical Branch on 24 April 1940. He was promoted to Wing Commander on 1 January 1944, and later to Temporary Group Captain, this being made

war substantive Military ranks are a system of hierarchical relationships, within armed forces, police, intelligence agencies or other institutions organized along military lines. The military rank system defines dominance, authority, and responsibility in a m ...

on 24 March 1945. On 3 March 1946 de Roeper returned to the retired list at his own request, retaining the rank of Group Captain.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * {{DEFAULTSORT:De Roeper, Bruno 1892 births 1965 deaths People from Forest Gate People from Nottingham Royal Naval Air Service aviators British World War I flying aces Royal Air Force personnel of World War I Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Recipients of the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom)