Captain William Victor Trevor Rooper (10 May 1897 – 9 October 1917) was a British World War I

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 eight aerial victories, before becoming Franz Xaver Danhuber's seventh victim.

Biography

Rooper was the third and youngest son of Percy Lens Rooper and Alice Nancy (née Royden), the daughter of Sir Thomas Royden, 1st Baronet, MP. He was born in

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

, though the family later moved over the border into Wales, living at Gresford in

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnewy ...

. He was educated at

Bilton Grange Bilton Grange is a preparatory school located in Dunchurch, near Rugby, Warwickshire. The present headmaster is Gareth Jones. The mansion which forms the main school was built in 1846 attached to an existing farmhouse and was a private family ...

and

Charterhouse Charterhouse may refer to: * Charterhouse (monastery), of the Carthusian religious order Charterhouse may also refer to: Places * The Charterhouse, Coventry, a former monastery * Charterhouse School, an English public school in Surrey London ...

schools, and on the outbreak of war in August 1914 enlisted into the

Yeomanry Yeomanry is a designation used by a number of units or sub-units of the British Army, British Army Reserve (United Kingdom), Army Reserve, descended from volunteer British Cavalry, cavalry regiments. Today, Yeomanry units serve in a variety of ...

, although still only 17. He served as a motorcycle

despatch rider A despatch rider (or dispatch) is a military messenger, mounted on horse or motorcycle (and occasionally in Egypt during World War I, on camels). In the UK 'despatch rider' is also a term used for a motorcycle courier. Despatch riders were use ...

for five months, until on 23 December 1914 he was commissioned as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in the

Denbighshire Hussars The Denbighshire Hussars was a Wales, Welsh Yeomanry regiment of the British Army formed in 1794. It saw service in the First World War before being converted into a unit of the Royal Artillery. The lineage has been continued by 398 (Flint & Den ...

(

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry i ...

). He was seconded to the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

in September 1916, and after completing his pilot training was posted to No. 1 Squadron RFC in April 1917, to fly the

Nieuport 17 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 N ...

single-seat fighter. He was promoted to lieutenant on 1 July, and gained his first victory on 28 July, driving down 'out of control' an

Albatros D.V The Albatros D.V is a fighter aircraft built by the Albatros Flugzeugwerke and used by the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' (Imperial German Air Service) during World War I. The D.V was the final development of the Albatros D.I family and the last Albatro ...

over Becelaere. Two further victories followed in early August, and he was appointed a flight commander with the acting rank of captain on the 24th. After upgrading to the

Nieuport 27 The Nieuport 27 (or Nieuport XXVII C.1 in contemporary sources) was a World War I French sesquiplane fighter aircraft designed by Gustave Delage. The 27 was the last of the line of Nieuport "V-strut" single seat fighters that began with the Ni ...

, he gained three more victories in September, and his final two in early October. His final tally was three enemy aircraft destroyed, four driven down out of control (two shared), and one captured (shared). On 9 October 1917 Rooper was shot down by Franz Xaver Danhuber of ''

Jasta 26 Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 26 was a "hunting group" (i.e., fighter squadron) of the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the air arm of the Imperial German Army during World War I. As one of the original German fighter squadrons, the unit would score 177 verifie ...

'' over

Polygon Wood In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed ''polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two to ...

and crashed near the British front lines, receiving fatal injuries. He is buried at the Communal Cemetery Extension in Bailleul, Nord, France. Both Rooper and his older brother Ralph Bonfoy Rooper – killed in France on 29 May 1918 while serving in the

French Red Cross The French Red Cross (french: Croix-Rouge française), or the CRF, is the national Red Cross Society in France founded in 1864 and originally known as the ''Société française de secours aux blessés militaires'' (SSBM). Recognized as a public u ...

– are commemorated on the war memorial in All Saints Church, Gresford. The oldest of the three brothers, Captain John Royden Rooper, served in the Denbighshire Hussars until ill-health forced him to relinquish his commission on 9 June 1916. The actress

Jemima Rooper Jemima Rooper (born 24 October 1981) is a British actress. Having started as a child actress in television series, she has appeared in numerous film and theatre roles. Background Born in Hammersmith, London, Rooper is the daughter of TV journ ...

is his great-granddaughter.

List of aerial victories

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rooper, William Victor Trevor 1897 births 1917 deaths People from Chester People educated at Bilton Grange People educated at Charterhouse School Denbighshire Hussars officers Royal Flying Corps officers British World War I flying aces Recipients of the Croix de guerre (Belgium) British military personnel killed in World War I Aviators killed by being shot down Military personnel from Chester