Sgt. Raymond Henry "Bill" Alvey
Royal Air Force 144 Squadron
from:Chilwell, Notts
(d.22nd Nov 1942)
Raymond Alvey was my mother's brother. He served in Coastal Command, firstly with 120 Sqn, then with 489 Sqn and finally (and very briefly) with 144 Sqn. His final flight, on 22 November 1942, left RAF Wick for a nuisance bombing raid over the coast of Norway north of Stavanger. Their Hampden was shot down on Karmoy Island. All four crew were killed.
- The pilot was Sqn Ldr John Hird,
- the navigator/bomb aimer was Sgt Davidson Hepplewhite,
- and the wireless operator/air gunners were Sgt Robert Coles and my uncle.
Raymond Alvey wrote detailed diaries of his three years of service. I also have his father's correspondence with the Air Ministry and Red Cross when he was trying to find out what had happened and where Raymond and the other crew members might have been buried. (It seems likely that they were buried at sea by the Germans). There is a commemorative plaque near the site of the crash and the crew are also commemorated at Runnymede.
I am intending to write a biography of my uncle, based on the above sources, operations record books etc, and would be pleased to receive any information that might be relevant. I would particularly like to hear from descendants of the other crew members, and from those who might have served in 144 squadron at RAF Leuchars in November 1942, or in 489 squadron earlier that year.
