Robert Cecil Dawkins

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Group Captain

Robert Cecil Dawkins

CBE
Born1903
Holloway, London, England
Died1985
Newton Blossomville, England
AllegianceUnited Kingdom United Kingdom
Service/branch Royal Air Force
Years of service1932-1955
RankGroup Captain
Service number27251
Commands heldRAF Tengah
R.A.F. Hendon
Battles/warsWorld 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’.[7] In 1944 he was promoted to temporary group captain.[10]

In 1947, Dawkins was made substantive group captain[11] and became superintendent of flying at the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment at Boscombe Down.[7] 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][12] a position he held until his retirement on 15 March 1955.[13] Dawkins died in Newton Blossomville in 1985.[5]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d "The London Gazette" (PDF). thegazette.co.uk. 18 September 1951. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g The Eagle, The Magazine of Bedford Modern School, Christmas 1951, Vol. XXVIII No.4
  3. ^ a b c "Station OCs - Far East".
  4. ^ a b https://www.flightglobal.com/FlightPDFArchive/1951/1951%20-%201893.PDF
  5. ^ a b c "Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History Records at Ancestry.co.uk".
  6. ^ https://www.flightglobal.com/FlightPDFArchive/1934/1934%20-%201360.PDF
  7. ^ a b c d "Aeroplane and Commercial Aviation News". July 1949.
  8. ^ "The Air Force List, April 1940". Mocavo.
  9. ^ https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/35010/page/6983/data.pdf[bare URL]
  10. ^ https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/36340/supplement/403/data.pdf[bare URL]
  11. ^ https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/38095/supplement/4796/data.pdf[bare URL]
  12. ^ https://www.flightglobal.com/FlightPDFArchive/1954/1954%20-%201335.PDF
  13. ^ https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/40429/supplement/1532/data.pdf[bare URL]
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