Air Marshal Sir Ivor Gordon Broom, KCB, CBE, DSO, DFC & Two Bars, AFC (2 June 1920 – 24 January 2003) was a senior Royal Air Force commander, and a decorated bomber pilot of the Second World War.
Ivor joined the Royal Air Force as a trainee pilot in early 1940 at the age of 19.
Eleven months later, he was a sergeant pilot on 114 Squadron undertaking low-level daylight bombing raids in Blenheim aircraft.
In 1956 he was awarded the Air Force cross for a record breaking flight in a Canberra from Ottawa to London.
Ivor was then placed in charge of the National Air Traffic services and became the first serving officer to become a member of the board of the civil aviation authority.
Ivor Gordon Broom was born in Cardiff, Wales and educated at the Boy's County School, Pontypridd.
The squadron were flying Bristol Blenheim light bombers which were flown in low-level daylight operations against Channel and North Sea shipping as well as targets along the French, Dutch and German coasts.
Broom took part in the successful raid against the Goldenburg-Werk lignite power stations, Knapsack, Germany in August 1941.
[3] In late 1941, while still a sergeant, Broom was detailed to lead a flight of six Blenheims to reinforce Singapore, en route the bombers landed on Malta which was under siege at the time by the Axis.
571 Squadron flying the De Havilland Mosquito XVI as part of the Light Night Striking Force (LNSF) where he teamed up with his navigator Flight lieutenant Tommy Broom.
For leading raids on Berlin, Ivor was awarded a Distinguished Service Order and Tommy a DFC.
In 1948 he returned home and dropped rank again, to flight lieutenant, to attend staff college.
He flew a specially modified Canberra from Ottawa to London via the North Pole, Broom was awarded the Air Force Cross.
In 1959 he moved into the Air Secretary's department followed by, in 1962 becoming station commander at RAF Bruggen in Germany.
Subsequently, he became in 1964 a staff officer at the Air Ministry and in 1966 was appointed Director of Organisation (Establishments).