Gerard Broadmead Roope VC (1905 - 1940)

Born 13 Mar 1905 in Trull, Somerset, England, United Kingdom

Husband of Faith Dulcibella (Clarke) Finlay — married 1928 (to 8 Apr 1940) in Long Ashton, Somerset, England, United Kingdom

Died 8 Apr 1940 at age 35 in North Sea

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Biography

Gerard Roope VC was awarded the Victoria Cross.

Gerard Roope VC is Notable.

Lt Cdr Gerard Roope VC served in the Royal Navy in World War II
Service started:
Unit(s): HMS Glowworm
Service ended:

Gerard Broadmead Roope was born on 13 March 1905 at Hillbrook, Trull, near Taunton in Somerset, England, the son of Gerard Roope, and his wife Florence (née Broadmead). ^[1] He joined the Royal Navy as a Cadet in 1918 aged 13, and steadily rose through the ranks, being promoted Lieutenant on 30 September 1927, and Lieutenant Commander on 30 September 1935. He was appointed to the new destroyer, HMS Glowworm, as her first commanding officer on 22 July 1938. ^[2]

HMS Glowworm

Family

He married Faith Dulcibella Clarke in Q3 1928 ^[3] The couple had two children: Michael Gerard Broadmead (born 1929), and Felicity Faith (born 1933).

Award of Victoria Cross

On 8 April 1940 HMS Glowworm was operating independently off the coast of Norway, near Trondheim, having detached to search for a man lost overboard. She encountered two German destroyers Z11 Bernd von Arnim and Z18 Hans Lüdemann in heavy fog. Pursuing these Glowworm came upon the German cruiser Admiral Hipper, a much larger and more powerful ship. Roope attacked, attempting to torpedo the larger adversary. Finally Glowworm rammed the Hipper, then drifted away and sank. Kapitan Heye of the Hipper stopped his ship and rescued as many survivors as possible. Lt-Cdr Roope was not among them. He died at sea on 8 April 1940 having failed to hold on to rope thrown to him. ^[2]

Gerard Roope was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross on 6 July 1945, mainly on the testimony of his adversary, Kapitan Heye. His widow, Faith, received the medal from King George VI on 12 February 1946. ^[2] He has no grave, but is commemorated on the Naval Memorial at Portsmouth. ^[4]

Note

This profile, and those of several close family members was created by Martin Honor to commemorate members of the (British) Royal Navy awarded the Victoria Cross.

Sources

1. ↑ England & Wales General Register Office, GRO Online Index - Birth (https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content : accessed 9 Jan 2022), database entry for ROOPE, GERARD BROADMEAD (Mother's maiden surname: BROADMEAD ). GRO Reference: 1905 J Quarter in TAUNTON Volume 05C Page 255.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Winton, John. The Victoria Cross at Sea. (London, Michael Joseph Ltd 1978)
3. ↑ "Marriage Index" (https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=oiL%2Fy4f51MYE9rJsXvFMRQ&scan=1: accessed 9 Jan 2022) FreeBMD, database online for Gerard Roope and Faith Clarke, 1928 Sep Quarter District: Long Ashton Vol: 5c Page 1359.
4. ↑ "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVKR-VR33 : 9 June 2021), Gerard Broadmead Roope, ; Burial, Portsmouth, Portsmouth Unitary Authority, Hampshire, England, Portsmouth Naval Memorial; citing record ID 56704896, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.

See also:

• http://www.victoriacross.co.uk/descrip_r.html
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerard_Broadmead_Roope