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Sgt. Raymond Henry Alvey
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 144 Sqdn.
from:Nottingham
(d.22nd Nov 1942)
Raymond Alvey was my mother's younger brother. He was in the RAF Volunteer Reserve and was called up in September 1939. He served in Coastal Command with 120, 489 and 144 squadrons as a wireless operator/air gunner. He was on an operation over the Norwegian coast in a Handley Page Hampden, when he was shot down and reported 'missing believed killed in action'. Raymond's father (my grandfather) George Alvey spent a lot of time trying to find out the details but to no avail. Later research suggests that his body was probably recovered by the Germans and buried at sea, although this is not confirmed. Raymond's fellow crew members were Sqn Ldr John Richard Darbyshire Hird, Sgt Davidson William Hepplewhite and Sgt Robert John Coles.
Raymond 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.
