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.
Sir Alick Stevens | |
|---|---|
 Air Vice Marshal Stevens with senior officers in the War Room at Headquarters Strategic Air Force, Eastern Air Command in Calcutta | |
| 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 | Coastal Command (1951–53) RAF East Africa (1950) British Forces Aden (1948–50) No. 22 Group (1946–48) No. 4 Group (1945–46) No. 47 Group (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 |
RAF career
editEducated 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 No. 47 Group, 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
edit- ^ 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