Alan Boxer

Air Vice Marshal Sir Alan Hunter Cachemaille Boxer, KCVO, CB, DSO, DFC (1 December 1916 – 26 April 1998) was a senior Royal Air Force officer.

Sir Alan Boxer
Born(1916-12-01)1 December 1916
Hastings, New Zealand
Died26 April 1998(1998-04-26) (aged 81)
Hampshire, England
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchRoyal Air Force
Years of service1939–1970
RankAir Vice Marshal
Commands heldRAF Wittering (1957–59)
No. 7 Squadron (1956–57)
No. 161 Squadron (1943)
Battles/warsSecond World War
Korean War
AwardsKnight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order
Companion of the Order of the Bath
Distinguished Service Order
Distinguished Flying Cross
Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari (Poland)
Bronze Star Medal (United States)
Air Medal (United States)

Early life

Boxer was born in Hastings, New Zealand, on 1 December 1916,[1] and was educated at Nelson College from 1927 to 1935.[2]

RAF career

Boxer joined the Royal Air Force in January 1939 and saw service during the Second World War as a pilot with No. 161 Squadron at RAF Tempsford,[3] as a flight commander with No. 138 Squadron and then as Commanding Officer of No. 161 Squadron from 1943.[4] He continued his war service on the staff in the Directorate of Intelligence at the Air Ministry from September 1943 and then on the staff at Headquarters RAF Bomber Command from February 1945.[4]

Boxer remained in the Royal Air Force after the war. Boxer flew B-29s over Korea while on secondment to the USAF.[5] He became Officer Commanding No. 7 Squadron in 1956, Station Commander at RAF Wittering in 1958 and Group Captain responsible for Plans at Headquarters Bomber Command in 1959.[4] He went on to be Senior Air Staff Officer at Headquarters No. 1 Group in 1963, Senior Air Staff Officer at Headquarters RAF Bomber Command in 1965 and Defence Services Secretary in 1967 before retiring in 1970.[4]

References
  1. Boxer, Alan Hunter Cachemaille, Cenotaph Database, Auckland War Memorial Museum. Retrieved 10 March 2013.
  2. Nelson College Old Boys' Register, 1856–2006, 6th edition
  3. "History of RAF Tempsford". Archived from the original on 5 July 2012. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
  4. Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Vice-Marshal Sir Alan Boxer
  5. Newton, Dennis Kiwis over Korea article Fly Past magazine February 2006 pp. 61–2
Military offices
Preceded by
Sir Ian Hogg		 Defence Services Secretary
1967–1970		 Succeeded by
Sir Chandos Blair
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