Captain Raymond H Stevens

Raymond Harold Stevens was the son of Captain Arthur Stevens M.C., and Clara Stevens, of Kingston Hill, Surrey. He was educated at Stowe and Trinity College Cambridge. He joined the Territorials (Artists Rifles) after the Munich Crisis in 1939, at the Honourable Artillery Company, Finsbury Pavement and passed out from Officers Cadet Training Unit at Aldershot before being drafted to 225 Brigade. He fought in the rear guard action from the Albert Canal to Dunkirk in May 1940, defending the northern flank, until the final evacuation. The Brigade was reformed in Ireland and he then went to Egypt with the 4th Royal Horse Artillery and after being wounded was sent to Baragwanath Hospital in South Africa. On his return to England he applied for active service and volunteered for airborne forces. His brother, Edwin Mackenzie Stevens, was killed on 5 September 1944 whilst serving with the Honourable Artillery Company, Royal Artillery. His brother-in-law, Major John M Simonds, was also killed in action at Arnhem.

Captain Stevens was a member of the 1st Forward Observer Unit (Airborne), Royal Artillery, and successfully completed his parachute training at RAF Ringway on course number 111 on 10 to 17 April 1944 and was attached to HQ 156 Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, and took part in Operation Market Garden (Arnhem).

Capt Stevens died in the house of the Valkenburg family, De La Reyweg 13, Oosterbeek, and was buried by the Dutch Red Cross in the grounds of the Hemeldal Sanatorium, near Oranjeweg on 2 October 1944. (Roll of Honour, 5th revised edition, 2011). He was re-interred to Arnhem Oosterbeek War Cemetery on 13 August 1945.

If you are part of Capt Stevens’s family and would like to complete this biography, you can apply to the Curator to do so. To do this you will need to become a member of ParaData and select the 'friend or family member' option on the registration form.

If you would like to find out more about becoming a member please visit our registration page.

Members of ParaData can submit their material by clicking on the 'Add content to this article' button on the right.