Stevens, Roye

Roye Harold Watson Stevens was born in Dunedin on 21 January 1913 and moved to New Plymouth when his Army Sergeant father, Arthur Ernest Worsdell Stevens, was transferred to the town. His mother was Charlotte Helen Watson.

In New Plymouth he attended Central School and made the local newspaper after a close encounter with a motor lorry as a 12-year-old.  He spent the first two years of secondary school at New Plymouth Boy’s High School before shifting to Hawera Technical High School, when his father was again transferred for work.

On leaving school, Roye went farming in South Taranaki before returning to New Plymouth where he pursued his favourite sports of golf, tennis and cricket and developed his interest in flying. In 1936 he won a Daily News New Plymouth Aero Club Scholarship, with which he obtained his flying licence.

At the outbreak of World War Two, Roye enlisted with the RNZAF and was called up in April 1940. He spent the following three years training or serving as a flying instructor in stations around New Zealand, including New Plymouth.

On 9 July 1940 he married Whanganui woman Jean Valmai Richardson at St Mary’s Church, New Plymouth with the Taranaki Daily News publishing a detailed account of the wedding party’s attire. Roye’s groomsmen on the day were MC Conway and Leading-Aircraftsman C Henderson. After his honeymoon Roye immediately returned to Blenheim to continue his flying training.

By 1944 Roye was promoted to Flight Lieutenant and posted to the Pacific as Flight Commander of B Flight No 3 Squadron and was stationed at Piva, Bougainville, New Guinea.

After flying a total of 56 operations in the Pacific, he was reported missing during a mission to bomb enemy troops and a storage area at Keravat, near Rabaul on 9 September 1944. No trace of his aircraft was ever found, and his death, along with his four crewmates, was presumed to have occurred on this date. He was 33 at the time of his death and was survived by his widow, Jean.