Raymond was born on 16 February 1923 in Hackney, London to Emanuel David and Nancy née Levy and he had two sisters. In 1939, the family were living at 97 Farm Road, Hendon, where their father Emanuel was a fancy goods shop owner.

Raymond was the mid upper gunner of Stirling BK614 which took off from RAF Mepal on a night operation to mine in the Gironde estuary. The aircraft was lost without trace. The crew are commemorated on Runnymede Memorial:
Pilot, John Russell Mayo, RNZAF NZ417085
Nav, Albert Edward Turner, 1316391
A/B, Irvine Sydney Rothstein, RCAF R.123638
W/Op, Thomas Henry Gittens, RAFVR 1067871
F/E, Ronald Booth, 1096896
MUG, Raymond Henry Amstell, 1455709
R/G, Stephen Tom Kitching, 1215487