Roberts was 24 years old, and a lieutenant in the Royal Navy during the Second World War, when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross.

Lieutenant Roberts and a petty officer (Thomas William Gould) removed the first one without too much difficulty, but the second bomb had penetrated the side plating of the gun emplacement, and then the deck casing above the pressure hull.

Roberts and Gould entered the confined space (which was no more than 2 ft high in places), and lying flat, wormed past deck supports, battery ventilators, and drop bollards.

The petty officer then lay on his back with the 100 lb bomb in his arms while the lieutenant dragged him along by the shoulders.

[1] Roberts' VC is on display in the Lord Ashcroft Gallery at the Imperial War Museum, London.