Squadron Leader Bill Stevens
Helicopter pilot decorated during the Malayan Emergency when he flew 104 casualty evacuations
SSTEVENS, who has died aged 104, completed two tours of duty as a helicopter pilot during Operation Firedog, the British involvement in the Malayan Emergency, for which he was twice decorated.
Stevens had begun flying helicopters in November 1953, and in the following August he headed for the Far East where he joined 194 Squadron at Kuala Lumpur to fly the Sycamore. Over the next two and a half years he flew over 900 hours in support of ground forces engaged in the guerrilla war against the communist terrorists.
The introduction of helicopters into Malaya came at a crucial point in the campaign and marked a turning point in the fortunes of the security forces. They allowed rapid reinforcement into remote and inaccessible locations, enabled the forces to mount surprise attacks.
In addition, a speedy response to evacuate casualties saved lives, and boosted the morale of ground forces. During his time operating over the jungle, Stevens flew no fewer than 104 casualty evacuation flights. At the end of his tour in May 1957, his squadron commander assessed him as “an exceptional helicopter pilot”. A month later, it was announced that he had been awarded the DFC, “in recognition of gallant and valuable service in Malaya.”
Two years later, at short notice following the loss of a number of experienced helicopter pilots in a crash, he volunteered to return to Malaya, where he re-joined 194 Squadron, which was soon renumbered 110 Squadron. He became the squadron’s training officer as the Westland Whirlwind began to replace the aged Sycamores.
Operating from Butterworth near Penang, the squadron continued to support the ground forces as the campaign against the terrorists began to draw down. Stevens’s primary job was to train new pilots in the special environment of jungle operations, but he continued to fly troop lifts and casualty evacuation flights.
On one occasion, he displayed great skill and determination in recovering the body of a Malay policeman from an extremely difficult jungle clearing. He was awarded the AFC, the citation concluding: “He has rendered conspicuous service and shown courage of the highest order. He has displayed loyal and outstanding devotion to duty.”
William (Bill) Frederick James Stevens was born in Hendon on November 1 1918. His parents both worked in the local factory building aircraft during the First World War. He was educated at Kingsbury Senior School, leaving at the age of 14 to work for J Sainsbury.
He joined the RAF Volunteer Reserve in February 1940, serving initially as a physical training instructor. He began training as a pilot in late 1941 before being transferred to Southern Rhodesia to complete his training with the Rhodesian Air Training Group, where he gained his flying badge and was commissioned.
Assessed with above-average ability, to his disappointment Stevens remained in Rhodesia to be a flying instructor on twin-engine Oxford training aircraft. He returned to England in May 1945 and spent the next 12 months as an equipment officer before he was released in June 1946.
With the onset of the Korean War, Stevens completed 15 days’ reserve pilot training in March 1950 and was recalled to full-time service in April 1951. After a brief refresher course, he began instructing trainee pilots at a flying school at RAF Dalcross near Inverness. After two years, he began flying helicopters.
After returning from his first spell in Malaya, Stevens qualified as a helicopter instructor and spent the next 12 months on loan to the Royal Navy, training Fleet Air Arm pilots at Lee-on-solent with 705 Squadron.
When he returned from his second period in Malaya he went to the Empire Test Pilot’s School at Farnborough, where he remained for three years as an instructor.
In August 1965 Stevens returned to the Far East, this time to the Air Headquarters Borneo based at Labuan. The Indonesian Confrontation campaign was at its height and Stevens served in the air operations centre co-ordinating air support for the ground forces operating in the Borneo jungle and close to the Indonesian border. For his services, he was mentioned in despatches.
When Stevens took up an appointment at the HQ Flying Training Command in August 1966, he was responsible for helicopter training policy. Due to organisational changes he also assumed responsibility for the Command’s participation in air displays – an appointment that would eventually justify full-time employment.
Stevens carried out this dual responsibility for two years, during which time he was under unrelenting pressure which, according to his commanding officer, “would have sapped the energy of a less determined person”.
On a further re-organisation, he became responsible for all aspects of the training at the Central Flying School (CFS), the RAF’S premier flying training establishment. There was an urgent need to review the policy issues, resulting in a fundamental re-organisation of CFS, which accepted its first course based on the new pattern in January 1970.
When Stevens was appointed MBE his Commander-in-chief commented: “Squadron Leader Stevens has made an immense personal contribution to flying training over four strenuous and testing years.”
For his final two years of service, Stevens served in the MOD before retiring in October 1973. He joined Marshall’s of Cambridge, assisting with writing pilots’ manuals for the aircraft undergoing modification by the company.
Stevens enjoyed caravanning, walking, golf and his garden. He kept bees and rang the bells at his local church in Gravely. Teaching others gave him particular pleasure.
To mark his 100th birthday, his family arranged a flight in a Tiger Moth. He took the controls with ease and said “the flight wasn’t long enough.” On his 104th birthday, he enjoyed a glass of sherry with his family and was delighted to meet his first great-grandchild.
In 1945 Bill Stevens married Betty, a WAAF teleprinter operator. She died in 2013 and he is survived by their son.