Robert Cecil Dawkins
Group Captain Robert Cecil Dawkins CBE | |
---|---|
Born |
1903 Holloway, London, England |
Died |
1985 Newton Blossomville, England |
Allegiance |
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Service/branch |
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Years of service | 1932-1955 |
Rank | Group Captain |
Service number | 27251 |
Commands held |
RAF Tengah R.A.F. Hendon |
Battles/wars | World War II |
Group Captain Robert Cecil Dawkins CBE (1903-1985) was a senior officer in the Royal Air Force.[1] In September 1951 he was made CBE for services in Malaya, principally for operational achievements while he was in command of the R.A.F. station at Tengah.[1][2][3] In 1951 he was made station commander at R.A.F. Hendon until his retirement in 1955.[2][4]
Life
Robert Cecil Dawkins was born on 6 March 1903 in Holloway, London.[5] He was the son of Frederick Adolphus Dawkins and Adelaide (née Maude)[5] and was educated at Bedford Modern School between 1912 and 1920.[2]
Dawkins saw service with the Fleet Air Arm[6] between 1932 and 1938, becoming Squadron Leader on 1 October 1938.[7][8] Shortly after the outbreak of World War II he was promoted to Wing Commander.[9] For much of the war, he served with Coastal Command and ‘commanded several important stations at home and abroad’.[10] In 1944 he was promoted to temporary Group Captain.[11]
In 1947, Dawkins was made substantive Group Captain[12] and became Superintendent of Flying at the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment at Boscombe Down.[10] In 1949 he was appointed Deputy Director of Accident Prevention at the Air Ministry.[7]
In 1950, Group Captain Dawkins was put in command of the R.A.F. station at Tengah[1][2][3] and in recognition of his operational achievements while holding that command he was made CBE.[1][2][3] The citation for his CBE read that ‘by his sympathy, example and determination he had shown outstanding devotion to duty’.[2]
In 1951 Dawkins returned to England and was made station commander at R.A.F. Hendon,[2][4][13] a position he held until his retirement on 15 March 1955.[14] Dawkins died in Newton Blossomville in 1985.[5]
References
- 1 2 3 4 https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/39336/page/4883/data.pdf
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 The Eagle, The Magazine of Bedford Modern School, Christmas 1951, Vol. XXVIII No.4
- 1 2 3 "Station OCs - Far East".
- 1 2 https://www.flightglobal.com/FlightPDFArchive/1951/1951%20-%201893.PDF
- 1 2 3 "Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History Records at Ancestry.co.uk".
- ↑ https://www.flightglobal.com/FlightPDFArchive/1934/1934%20-%201360.PDF
- 1 2 "Aeroplane and Commercial Aviation News".
- ↑ "The Air Force List, April 1940". Mocavo.
- ↑ https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/35010/page/6983/data.pdf
- 1 2 "Aeroplane and Commercial Aviation News".
- ↑ https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/36340/supplement/403/data.pdf
- ↑ https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/38095/supplement/4796/data.pdf
- ↑ https://www.flightglobal.com/FlightPDFArchive/1954/1954%20-%201335.PDF
- ↑ https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/40429/supplement/1532/data.pdf