Roffer was born Jacob Eckstein on 28 September 1912 in Lambeth to Samuel and Annie Eckstein. He changed his name after 1939 when he enlisted. Roffer married Annie Aronin in 1938 and the 1939 Register shows them living at 12 Colville Gardens, Kensington where he worked as a fur cutter. Their son Howard was born in 1944 a few months before Roffer’s death.

Roffer was trained on gliders and took part in Operation Market Garden (Arnhem).

On the 18 September 1944, Roffer took part in Operation Market Garden and landed by glider near Randwijk. With help from the Dutch Resistance the group made their way to Division HQ at the Hartenstein Hotel in Arnhem. The Germans began a mortar bombardment on the 19 September 1944 and the next day Roffer was tasked to repair a radio jeep but was killed by the next bombardment by a splinter that severed his jugular vein. Roffer was given a field burial 100 yards west of the building and was later re-interred in Oosterbeek War Cemetery on 10 September 1945.