{{Short description|Royal Air Force Air Marshal (1898–1987)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}} {{Infobox military person |name= Sir Alick Stevens |image= Park, Mellersh, Stevens, Hall in Calcutta WWII IWM CI 1141.jpg |image_size= 300px |caption= Air Vice Marshal Stevens with senior officers in the War Room at Headquarters Strategic Air Force, Eastern Air Command in Calcutta |nickname= |birth_date= {{birth date|1898|07|31|df=yes}} |death_date= {{death date and age|1987|07|02|1898|07|31|df=yes}} |birth_place= |death_place= |allegiance= United Kingdom |branch= Royal Navy (1916–18)<br/>Royal Air Force (1918–53) |service_years =1916–53 |rank= Air Marshal |unit= |commands= Coastal Command (1951–53)<br/>RAF East Africa (1950)<br/>British Forces Aden (1948–50)<br/>No. 22 Group (1946–48)<br/>No. 4 Group (1945–46)<br/>No. 47 Group (1945)<br/>RAF Gibraltar (1944–45)<br/>No. 205 Squadron (1936–37) |battles= First World War<br/>Second World War |awards= Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire<br/>Companion of the Order of the Bath<br/>Mentioned in Despatches |relations= |other_work= }} Air Marshal '''Sir Alick Charles Stevens''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|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.<ref name=air>[http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Stevens_A.htm Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Marshal Sir Alick Stevens]</ref> 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.<ref name=air/> He was appointed Officer Commanding No. 205 Squadron in 1935.<ref name=air/> 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.<ref name=air/> He was made Air Officer Commanding RAF Gibraltar in 1944.<ref name=air/>
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.<ref name=air/> 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.<ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1953/1953%20-%201033.html Air Marshal Sir Alick Stevens] Flight International, 14 August 1953</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-mil}} {{s-bef|before=Harold Lydford}} {{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Air Officer Commanding British Forces Aden}}|years=1948–1950}} {{s-aft|after=Francis Fressanges}} |- {{s-bef|before=Sir Charles Steele}} {{s-ttl|title=Commander-in-Chief Coastal Command| years=1951–1953}} {{s-aft|after=Sir John Boothman}} {{end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stevens, Alick}} Category:1898 births Category:1987 deaths Category:British World War I prisoners of war Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Category:People educated at Victoria College, Jersey Category:Royal Air Force air marshals Category:Royal Naval Air Service aviators Category:Royal Naval Air Service personnel of World War I Category:Royal Navy officers Category:World War I prisoners of war held by Germany