Iveson joined the
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in September 1938 as an Airman u/t pilot and learned to fly prior to the outbreak of war. Iveson was trained at No. 5 Flying Training School,
Sealand and then converted to Spitfires at No. 57 Operational Training Unit, Hawarden before serving as a Sergeant Pilot on
Spitfire fighters with
No. 616 Squadron RAF during the
Battle of Britain joining the Squadron at Kenley on 2 September 1940. He survived ditching his Spitfire I (L1036) into the sea on 16 September 1940 after he ran out of fuel chasing a
Junkers Ju 88 off
Cromer. He was picked up by a Motor Boat and landed at
Lowestoft. He was posted to
No. 92 Squadron RAF on 11 October 1940. After a spell on training duties in
Rhodesia he was commissioned in May 1942. After a course at No. 5 Lancaster Finishing School,
RAF Syerston he went to join
No. 617 Squadron RAF the Dam Busters in July 1944 as a
Flight Lieutenant. Promoted to Squadron Leader in October 1944, he took part in some 27 operations, including the sinking of the
German battleship Tirpitz and was awarded a
Distinguished Flying Cross in March 1945 for keeping his bomber airborne in January 1945 and landing it in Shetland after half the crew had bailed out over Bergen. Iveson was posted 'tour-expired' from 617 Squadron on 16 February 1945. ==Post RAF career==