Roderick Alastair Brook Learoyd Wing Commander Roderick Alastair Brook Learoyd VC ( 5 February 1913 – 24 January 1996 ) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross , the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces . Early life . Born in Folkestone in February 1913 . Educated at Hydreye House Preparatory School , Baldstow , Sussex , and Wellington College , Berkshire , Learoyd then attended the Chelsea College of Aeronautical and Automobile Engineering . Learoyd then lived in Argentina for two years as a farmer . Military Service . Learoyd decided to join the RAF and was accepted in March 1936 . Learoyd took a short service commission and was posted to 49 Squadron , Bomber Command equipped with Hawker Hind s at RAF Worthy Down . In March 1938 , 49 Squadron moved to Scampton and became the first RAF squadron to re - equip with the new Handley Page Hampden bomber . Operational from the outbreak of war , on 3 September six Hampdens from 83 Squadron and three from 49 Squadron ( including Learoyd ) left Scampton on an ' armed reconnaissance ' over the North Sea . During the next ten months Learoyd participated in 23 more bombing sorties , and was a Flight Lieutenant when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC , gazetted on 20 August 1940 . On 12 August 1940 eleven Hampdens — six from 49 Squadron , five from 83 Squadron — were detailed to destroy the old aqueduct carrying the canal over the river Ems , north of Münster . Flight Lieutenant Learoyd was one of the pilots briefed to bomb . Learoyd was detailed as pilot of Hampden P4403 , " EA - M " , and his crew comprised Pilot Officer John Lewis ( Observer ) , Sergeant Walter Ellis ( wireless operator - gunner ) and LAC William Rich ( ventral gunner ) . Of the other Hampdens which made the attack that night , two were destroyed and two more were badly hit . Flight Lieutenant Learoyd took his plane into the target at only 150 feet , in the full glare of the searchlights and flak barrage all round him . After commencing its bombing run Learoyd ' s aircraft was badly damaged , including a ruptured hydraulic system , resulting in inoperable wing flaps and a useless undercarriage . Wing damage , though serious , had fortunately missed the wing petrol tanks . Despite this damage the bombs were duly dropped and Learoyd managed to get his crippled plane back to England where he decided that a night landing would be too dangerous for his crippled aircraft and so circled base until first light , finally safely landing without causing injury to his crew or further damage to his aircraft . The Victoria Cross was awarded at an investiture on 9 September 1940 , by which time Learoyd had been taken off operations and promoted to Squadron Leader , and was acting temporarily as personal assistant to Air Chief Marshal Sir Robert Brooke - Popham . Victoria Cross citation . The announcement and accompanying citation for the decoration was published in supplement to the London Gazette on 20 August 1940 , reading Further information . He later achieved the rank of Wing Commander and served in No . 44 Squadron . After surviving the war Learoyd retired to civilian life , first as a VIP pilot and later as an export sales manager in the motor industry . His VC is on display in the Lord Ashcroft Gallery at the Imperial War Museum , London .