Sir Robin William John Hooper (26 July 1914 – 14 June 1989) was an English

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

pilot and diplomat. He served in the

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and later became the British Ambassador to Greece. Hooper was educated at

Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault, queen of England. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassi ...

, where he became a member of the

Oxford University Air Squadron The Oxford University Air Squadron, abbreviated Oxford UAS, or OUAS, formed on 11th October 1925, is the training unit of the Royal Air Force at the University of Oxford and forms part of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. OUAS is one of fif ...

. On the night of 16/17 November 1943, Flight Lieutenant Hooper, took off in

Westland Lysander The Westland Lysander is a British Army cooperation aircraft, army co-operation and liaison aircraft produced by Westland Aircraft that was used immediately before and during the Second World War. After becoming obsolete in the army co-operat ...

'MA-D' (''"D" for "Dog"'') from

RAF Tangmere Royal Air Force Tangmere or more simply RAF Tangmere is a former Royal Air Force (RAF) station located in Tangmere, England, famous for its role in the Battle of Britain. It was one of several stations near Chichester, West Sussex. The Seco ...

, with

Special Operations Executive Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a British organisation formed in 1940 to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in German-occupied Europe and to aid local Resistance during World War II, resistance movements during World War II. ...

(SOE) agents in the rear cockpit, for a field in France. The outward flight was uneventful, but upon landing in a field he soon realised that the ground was extremely soft, requiring a lot of throttle to keep the aircraft moving. In making the turn to return to meet the 'reception committee' of local maquis, the Lysander became stuck. The aircraft was immovable and even with maximum throttle the aircraft became bogged down in the mud. After attempts to manually push the Lysander out failed, it was decided to get some bullocks from the nearest farm. The farmer and his family, eager to help, brought two bullocks with them, while trenches were dug in front of the wheels to form a ramp. However, this attempt failed and two more bullocks were fetched, also to no avail. After two hours fruitlessly trying to free the Lysander from the morass, Robin finally realised that there was no hope of digging the aircraft out and set about setting it on fire. The aircraft burnt well in the misty field and soon the agents and Robin were on their way back to a resistance safe house. Robin was safely hidden from the Germans until he was evacuated by fellow pick-up pilot Lewis (Bob) Hodges a month later on the night of 16/17 December. Hooper was evacuated along with agent Joseph Dubar, codenamed 'Jean'. Spending the return flight on the floor of the Lysander, Hooper later said of his journey:

I was absolutely terrified - that little Jean was going to be sick all over me.

He was knighted in the

1968 Birthday Honours The 1968 Queen's Birthday Honours were appointments to orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms to reward and highlight citizens' good works, on the occasion of the official birthday of Queen Elizabeth II. They were announced in suppleme ...

. He was appointed British ambassador to Tunisia in 1966, and served as British ambassador to the Greek government from 1971 to 1974.

Honours

In recognition of his service with 161 Squadron during WWII, Hooper was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1943 and the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful ...

in 1944.Clutton-Brock p. 374 He also received the

Croix de Guerre The (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awarded during World ...

and

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

in 1946. During his post-war career as a civil servant, Hooper was awarded the CMG in 1954 and the KCMG in 1968.

References

Bibliography

* * Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Greece 1914 births 1989 deaths Alumni of the Queen's College, Oxford Military personnel from Shropshire Knights_Commander_of_the_Order_of_St_Michael_and_St_George {{UK-diplomat-stub