Air Marshal Sir Victor Emmanuel Groom, KCVO, KBE, CB, DFC & Bar (4 August 1898 – 6 December 1990) was a senior officer in the British Royal Air Force and a flying ace of the First World War credited with eight aerial victories.
[1][2] On his first combat flight, his formation leader fired a Very flare that landed in the rear cockpit of Groom's Bristol.
While the observer burned his hands smothering the fire that threatened to set off munitions, Groom safely landed.
Groom's final tally was three enemy planes set afire, four otherwise destroyed, and one driven down out of control; his observer/gunner for all these victories was Ernest Hardcastle.
[2] On 25 March 1922, Groom returned home to begin a decade of staff assignments,[2] enlivened only by being promoted from flying officer to flight lieutenant on 1 July 1924.
On 1 September 1940, he was promoted to temporary group captain[10] and became Station Commander at RAF Marham.
[2] As part of his duties there, he accompanied Air Chief Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory to North Africa to study operations there and bring home lessons learned.
While taking part in a bombing expedition from Mosul on 5 May 1921, an aeroplane was shot down by rifle fire in hostile country three miles west of Batas.
He then successfully took off down hill and returned safely to Mosul with two passengers in the back seat and a third lying on one of the planes.
This officer, in addition to showing great promptitude and gallantry, also displayed marked skill in first landing safely under most difficult conditions and then taking off with a very excessive load.