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

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) and ...

pilot and diplomat. He served in the

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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

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. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassical architecture, ...

, where he became a member of the

Oxford University Air Squadron The Oxford University Air Squadron, abbreviated Oxford UAS, or OUAS, formed in 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 fifteen Univers ...

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

Westland Lysander The Westland Lysander is a British 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-operation role, the aircraft's ...

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

RAF Tangmere RAF Tangmere was a Royal Air Force station located in Tangmere, England, famous for its role in the Battle of Britain, and one of several stations near Chichester, West Sussex. The famous Second World War aces Wing Commander Douglas Bader, a ...

, with

Special Operations Executive The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British World War II organisation. It was officially formed on 22 July 1940 under Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton, from the amalgamation of three existing secret organisations. Its pu ...

(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 Maquis may refer to: Resistance groups * Maquis (World War II), predominantly rural guerrilla bands of the French Resistance * Spanish Maquis, guerrillas who fought against Francoist Spain in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War * The network ...

, 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. 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 decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...

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

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''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 awa ...

and

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

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

KCMG KCMG may refer to * KC Motorgroup, based in Hong Kong, China * Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, British honour * KCMG-LP, radio station in New Mexico, USA * KCMG, callsign 1997-2001 of Los Angeles radio station KKLQ (FM) ...

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 {{UK-diplomat-stub