{{Short description|British RAF strategist}} {{about|the airman and military strategist|the author of juvenile fiction and regimental histories|John Percy Groves}} {{Use British English|date=February 2023}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}} {{Infobox military person |name = Percy Groves |image = Percy_Robert_Clifford_Groves.jpg |caption = |nickname = |birth_name = Percy Robert Clifford Groves |birth_date = {{Birth date|1878|5|26|df=yes}} |birth_place = [[Raebareli|Rai Bareli]], India |death_date = {{Death date and age|1959|8|12|1878|5|26|df=yes}} |death_place = [[Mombasa]], Kenya |burial_place = |allegiance = {{UK}} |branch = {{army|United Kingdom}} (1899–1918)<br/>{{air force|United Kingdom}} (1918–1946) |service_years = 1899–1922<br/>1939–1946 |rank = [[Brigadier-General]] |service_number = |unit = |commands = |battles = [[Second Boer War]]<br/>[[First World War]] |awards = [[Companion of the Order of the Bath]]<br/>[[Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George]]<br/>[[Distinguished Service Order]]<br/>[[Order of the White Eagle (Serbia)|Order of the White Eagle, 3rd Class with Swords]] (Serbia)<br/>[[Commander of the Legion of Honour]] (France) |relations = |other_work = }} [[Brigadier-General]] '''Percy Robert Clifford Groves''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|CB|CMG|DSO}} (26 May 1878 – 12 August 1959) was a senior British air strategist who served in the [[British Army]] and the [[Royal Air Force]] (RAF).<ref name="auto1">Obituary, ''Brigadier-General P. R. C. Groves – Campaigner For Air Power'', ''[[The Times]]'', 17 August 1959</ref><ref name="autogenerated1958">''Kelly’s Handbook to the Titled, Landed and Official Classes 1958'', Published by Kelly’s Directories Limited 1958</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.militarian.com/threads/brig-gen-percy-robert-clifford-groves.6866/|title=Brig.-Gen. Percy Robert Clifford GROVES|work=militarian.com|accessdate=29 January 2015}}</ref> He campaigned for substantial reform of Britain's approach to air strategy following the [[First World War]], in particular for an immediate expansion of the RAF to parity with the largest European force within striking distance. He was an advocate of the aerial "knock out blow": the possibility of ending a war in its early stages by launching a massive attack on the enemy's [[center of gravity (military)|centres of gravity]].<ref name="google.co.uk">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DW2jAQAAQBAJ&q=percy+robert+clifford+groves+philosopher%27s+war&pg=RA1-PA228|title=Philosophers of War|isbn=9780313070334|accessdate=7 July 2015|last1=Coetzee|first1=Daniel|last2=Eysturlid|first2=Lee W.|date=21 October 2013|publisher=Abc-Clio }}</ref>
==Early life== Percy Robert Clifford Groves was born on 26 May 1878 at [[Raebareli|Rai Bareli]], India.<ref name="ancestry.co.uk">{{cite web|url=http://www.ancestry.co.uk|title=Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History Records at Ancestry.co.uk|work=ancestry.co.uk|accessdate=6 July 2015}}</ref> He was the eldest son of Joseph Groves who served as Commissioner of Railways for the United Provinces in India.<ref name="auto2">Obituary, ''Brigadier-General P. R. C. Groves'', [[The Times]], 17 August 1959</ref><ref name="ukwhoswho.com">{{Cite web|url-access=subscription|url=https://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/10.1093/ww/9780199540891.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-238021|title=Groves, Brig.-Gen. Percy Robert Clifford, (died 12 Aug. 1959), Order of the White Eagle of Serbia 3rd Class, with swords, 1916; Commander of the Legion of Honour, 1920|website=WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO|year=2007|doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U238021|isbn=978-0-19-954089-1}}</ref> He was educated at [[Bedford Modern School]].<ref>''The Harpur Trust 1552–1973'', by Joyce Godber, 1973</ref>
==Career== Groves joined the [[King's Shropshire Light Infantry]] where he was commissioned a [[second lieutenant]] on 18 October 1899. He served with the 2nd battalion of his regiment in the [[Second Boer War]],<ref name="auto2"/><ref name="ukwhoswho.com"/> and was promoted to [[Lieutenant (British Army and Royal Marines)|lieutenant]] on 9 March 1901.<ref>Hart′s Army list 1903</ref> The war in South Africa ended in May 1902, and he returned home later that year, on the {{SS|Kildonan Castle||6}} in December 1902.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=The Army in South Africa - Troops returning Home |date=5 December 1902 |page=8 |issue=36943| }}</ref> He was employed with the West African Regiment (1903–04) and was Territorial Adjutant (1909–12).<ref name="ukwhoswho.com"/> In 1914 he joined the [[Royal Flying Corps]], serving with Air Services France (1914–15).<ref name="ukwhoswho.com"/> On 29 April 1915, he received his Royal Aero Club Aviator's Certificate passing on a [[Farman MF.7|Maurice Farman Biplane]] at Farman Aerodrome, [[Étampes]].<ref name="ancestry.co.uk"/> He did much active flying in the [[Dardanelles]] (1915–16).<ref name="auto1"/><ref name="ukwhoswho.com"/>
Between 1916 and 1918, he was Chief of Staff, [[Royal Flying Corps]], in the Middle East "which then embraced four theatres of war".<ref name="auto1"/><ref name="ukwhoswho.com"/> In 1918 he was made Director of Flying Operations at the [[Air Ministry]].<ref name="auto1"/><ref name="ukwhoswho.com"/> He was then Britain's Air Ministry Representative at the [[Paris Peace Conference, 1919|Paris Peace Conference]] (1919)<ref name="autogenerated1958"/> and British air adviser to the Supreme Council and the [[Conference of Ambassadors]] (1921–22).<ref name="autogenerated1958"/>
Groves retired from active service in 1922 with the rank of brigadier general.<ref name="ukwhoswho.com"/> Based on his experiences on active service, Groves realised that Britain needed to radically rethink its approach to air strategy.<ref name="auto1"/> Shortly after his retirement from the forces, he proceeded to campaign "for the creation of an effective striking force and for a proper regard for the patent realities of civil aviation".<ref name="auto1"/> His opinions attracted the interest of [[Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe|Viscount Northcliffe]] and in 1922 a series of articles on "Our Future in the Air" were published in ''[[The Times]]''.<ref name="auto1"/> He remained a forceful campaigner for an immediate expansion of the RAF to parity with the largest European force within striking distance.<ref name="auto1"/>
In 1939 Groves returned to active service being made Deputy Director of Intelligence at the [[Air Ministry]] with the rank of [[air commodore]], a position he held until April 1940.<ref name="auto1"/> He was then seconded to the Foreign Office before being demobilised in 1946.<ref name="auto1"/>
==Military strategist== Groves was a colleague of [[Frederick Sykes]] and [[Hugh Trenchard, 1st Viscount Trenchard|Viscount Trenchard]], who both influenced his early military thinking.<ref name="google.co.uk"/> He was also engaged in lengthy correspondence with [[B. H. Liddell Hart|Sir Basil Liddell Hart]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F39506|title=Groves, Percy Robert Clifford (1878–1959) Brigadier General|work=nationalarchives.gov.uk|accessdate=7 July 2015}}</ref> In terms of his military thinking, Groves was a proponent of the aerial "knock out blow": the possibility of ending a war in its early stages by launching a massive attack on the enemy's centres of gravity.<ref name="google.co.uk"/>
==Awards and honours== In the Second Boer War he was awarded the Queen's medal (4 clasps) and the King's medal (2 clasps).<ref name="ukwhoswho.com"/>
During the First World War he was awarded the [[Distinguished Service Order]] in 1916.<ref name="ukwhoswho.com"/> In the same year he was made [[Order of the White Eagle (Serbia)|Order of the White Eagle of Serbia, 3rd Class with Swords]].<ref name="ukwhoswho.com"/> He was made a [[Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George]] in 1918, a [[Companion of the Order of the Bath]] in 1919 and a Commander of the [[Legion of Honour]] in 1920.<ref name="ukwhoswho.com"/>
Groves was an Associate Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society; Hon. Secretary General Air League of British Empire, and Editor of Air, 1927–29. He was group captain and honorary air commodore, RAFVR, September 1939.<ref name="ukwhoswho.com"/>
==Personal life== Groves was a member of the [[United Service Club]].<ref name="ukwhoswho.com"/> In 1920 he married Suzanne, daughter of T.E. Steen of Oslo; they had one son.<ref name="ukwhoswho.com"/> He died in [[Mombasa]] on 12 August 1959.<ref name="auto2"/><ref name="ukwhoswho.com"/>
The [[National Portrait Gallery, London|National Portrait Gallery]] has numerous photographic portraits of Groves.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp62404/percy-robert-clifford-groves|title=National Portrait Gallery – Person – Percy Robert Clifford Groves|work=npg.org.uk|accessdate=29 January 2015}}</ref>
==Selected works== * ''Flying over Egypt, Sinai and Palestine'', ''[[National Geographic (magazine)|National Geographic]]'', 1926<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LJN4Gd7wE9gC&q=Flying+over+Egypt,+Sinai+and+Palestine.&pg=PA179|title=Veils and Daggers|isbn=9781566397520|accessdate=7 July 2015|last1=Steet|first1=Linda|year=2000|publisher=Temple University Press }}</ref> *''Behind the Smoke Screen'', 1934<ref>{{cite book|title=Behind the smoke screen|oclc = 1326185}}</ref> *''Our Future In The Air'', 1935<ref>{{cite book|title=Formats and Editions of Our future in the air, [WorldCat.org]|oclc = 2218791}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp62404/percy-robert-clifford-groves Percy Robert Clifford Groves at the National Portrait Gallery] *[http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/GrovesP.htm Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation - Air Commodore P R C Groves]
{{RAF generals}}
{{authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Groves, Percy}} [[Category:1878 births]] [[Category:1959 deaths]] [[Category:People educated at Bedford Modern School]] [[Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order]] [[Category:Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George]] [[Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath]] [[Category:Royal Flying Corps officers]] [[Category:Royal Air Force generals of World War I]] [[Category:Royal Air Force personnel of World War II]] [[Category:King's Shropshire Light Infantry officers]] [[Category:British colonial army officers]] [[Category:Military personnel of British India]] [[Category:British Army personnel of World War I]] [[Category:British Army personnel of the Second Boer War]]