{{short description|Royal Air Force air marshal}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}} {{Infobox military person |name= Sir Alan Boxer |image= |image_size= |alt= |caption= |nickname= |birth_date= {{birth date|1916|12|01|df=yes}} |birth_place= Hastings, New Zealand |death_date= {{Death date and age|1998|04|26|1916|12|01|df=yes}} |death_place= Hampshire, England |burial_place= |allegiance= United Kingdom |branch= Royal Air Force |service_years= 1939–1970 |rank= Air Vice Marshal |service_number= |unit= |commands= RAF Wittering (1957–59)<br/>No.&nbsp;7 Squadron (1956–57)<br/>No.&nbsp;161 Squadron (1943) |battles= Second World War<br/>Korean War |awards= Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order<br/>Companion of the Order of the Bath<br/>Distinguished Service Order<br/>Distinguished Flying Cross<br/>Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari (Poland)<br/>Bronze Star Medal (United States)<br/>Air Medal (United States) |relations= |other_work= }} Air Vice Marshal '''Sir Alan Hunter Cachemaille Boxer''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100|sep=,|KCVO|CB|DSO|DFC}} (1 December 1916 – 26 April 1998) was a senior Royal Air Force officer.

==Early life== Boxer was born in Hastings, New Zealand, on 1 December 1916,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/C36545 |title=Alan Hunter Cachemaille Boxer |via=Online Cenotaph |publisher=Auckland War Memorial Museum |access-date=8 July 2022}}</ref> and was educated at Nelson College from 1927 to 1935.<ref name="NCOB register">''Nelson College Old Boys' Register, 1856–2006'', 6th edition</ref>

==RAF career== Boxer joined the Royal Air Force in January 1939 and saw service during the Second World War as a pilot with No. 161 Squadron at RAF Tempsford,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.harringtonmuseum.org.uk/HistoryTempsford.htm |title=History of RAF Tempsford |access-date=13 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120705145919/http://www.harringtonmuseum.org.uk/HistoryTempsford.htm |archive-date=5 July 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> as a flight commander with No. 138 Squadron and then as Commanding Officer of No. 161 Squadron from 1943.<ref name=air>[http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Boxer_AHC.htm Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Vice-Marshal Sir Alan Boxer]</ref> He continued his war service on the staff in the Directorate of Intelligence at the Air Ministry from September 1943 and then on the staff at Headquarters RAF Bomber Command from February 1945.<ref name=air/>

Boxer remained in the Royal Air Force after the war. Boxer flew B-29s over Korea while on secondment to the USAF.<ref>Newton, Dennis ''Kiwis over Korea'' article ''Fly Past'' magazine February 2006 pp. 61–2</ref> He became Officer Commanding No. 7 Squadron in 1956, Station Commander at RAF Wittering in 1958 and Group Captain responsible for Plans at Headquarters Bomber Command in 1959.<ref name=air/> He went on to be Senior Air Staff Officer at Headquarters No. 1 Group in 1963, Senior Air Staff Officer at Headquarters RAF Bomber Command in 1965 and Defence Services Secretary in 1967 before retiring in 1970.<ref name=air/>

==References== {{reflist}}

{{S-start}} {{S-mil}} {{s-bef|before=Sir Ian Hogg}} {{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Defence Services Secretary}}|years=1967–1970}} {{s-aft|after=Sir Chandos Blair}} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boxer, Alan}} Category:1916 births Category:1998 deaths Category:New Zealand Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Category:New Zealand Companions of the Order of the Bath Category:New Zealand Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Category:People educated at Nelson College Category:People from Hastings, New Zealand Category:Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Category:Recipients of the Air Medal Category:Royal Air Force air vice-marshals Category:Royal Air Force pilots of World War II Category:Recipients of the Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari Category:Military personnel from Hawke's Bay