Alick Stevens
Sir Alick Stevens | |
---|---|
Born | 31 July 1898 |
Died | 2 July 1987 | (aged 88)
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Service/ | Royal Navy (1916–18) Royal Air Force (1918–53) |
Years of service | 1916–53 |
Rank | Air Marshal |
Commands held | Coastal Command (1951–53) RAF East Africa (1950) British Forces Aden (1948–50) No. 22 Group (1946–48) No. 4 Group (1945–46) (1945) RAF Gibraltar (1944–45) No. 205 Squadron (1936–37) |
Battles/wars | First World War Second World War |
Awards | Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire Companion of the Order of the Bath Mentioned in Despatches |
Air Marshal Sir Alick Charles Stevens, KBE, CB (31 July 1898 – 2 July 1987) was a Royal Air Force officer who became Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief at RAF Coastal Command from 1951 until his retirement in 1953.
RAF career[]
Educated at Victoria College, Jersey, Stevens joined the Royal Naval Air Service in 1916.[1] He served in the First World War and after having to land in the Thames Estuary following engine failure in November 1916, he was picked up by a German U-Boat, becoming a prisoner of war at Osnabrück in North Germany for the remainder of the war.[1] He was appointed Officer Commanding No. 205 Squadron in 1935.[1] He served in the Second World War as deputy director and then director of Operations (Naval Co-operation) until 1943 when he became Senior Air Staff Officer at Headquarters No. 18 (Reconnaissance) Group.[1] He was made Air Officer Commanding RAF Gibraltar in 1944.[1]
After the War he served as Air Officer Commanding , Air Officer Commanding No. 4 Group and then Air Officer Commanding No. 22 Group before being appointed Commander of British Forces Aden in 1948.[1] He went on to be Air Officer Commanding RAF East Africa before becoming Senior Air Staff Officer at Headquarters RAF Coastal Command in 1950 and then Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief at RAF Coastal Command in 1951 and retiring in 1953.[2]
References[]
- ^ a b c d e f Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Marshal Sir Alick Stevens
- ^ Air Marshal Sir Alick Stevens Flight International, 14 August 1953
- 1898 births
- 1987 deaths
- British World War I prisoners of war
- Companions of the Order of the Bath
- Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire
- People educated at Victoria College, Jersey
- Royal Air Force air marshals
- Royal Naval Air Service aviators
- Royal Naval Air Service personnel of World War I
- Royal Navy officers
- World War I prisoners of war held by Germany