Captain Cecil Frederick King, (19 February 1899 – 24 January 1919), was a

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

fighter ace credited with 22 aerial victories.

Early life

Cecil Frederick King was born to Frederick Hamilton King and Norah Carter King at Seven Oaks, Kent, England, the third of their four children. He attended Verites, Charterhouse School, and became a member of the Officers Training Corps there in 1912. At the beginning of World War I, he was living in

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of London a ...

. He joined the Essex Regiment Officers Training Corps as a private. He broke an arm in April 1915, which slowed his training.

Aerial service

King joined the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

in February, 1917. In the fall of 1917, he was assigned to

No. 43 Squadron RFC Number 43 Squadron, nicknamed ''the Fighting Cocks'', was a Royal Air Force aircraft squadron originally formed in April 1916 as part of the Royal Flying Corps. It saw distinguished service during two world wars, producing numerous Flying ace, "ac ...

to fly

Sopwith Camel The Sopwith Camel is a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter aircraft that was introduced on the Western Front in 1917. It was developed by the Sopwith Aviation Company as a successor to the Sopwith Pup and became one of the b ...

s. In conjunction with fellow ace Lieutenant William MacLanachan, he drove down an Albatros D.III out of control on 12 November 1917. King did not score again until February 1918; in the latter half of the month, he ran off a string of three more enemy craft driven down out of control, then became an ace by destroying an

Albatros D.V The Albatros D.V is a fighter aircraft built by the Albatros Flugzeugwerke and used by the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' (Imperial German Air Service) during World War I. The D.V was the final development of the Albatros D.I family and the last Albatro ...

on the 26th. By March 1918, he had advanced to B Flight Commander. On 22 March 1918, he was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

. He also scored three more times in March. He won the French

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

in July 1918 for strafing and bombing enemy troops during the Second Battle of the Marne. On 3 August 1918, King added a Distinguished Flying Cross to his medals. By 8 August, his tally had grown to 19 victories, including eight straight in Camel no. D1864. He then switched to Sopwith Snipe no. E8031 for his final three victories. A summary of King's triumphs shows he singlehandedly destroyed eight enemy aircraft (including one burned), shared two other destructions with other pilots, drove down seven enemy by himself, and cooperated with other pilots in driving down five others.

Death

King died in a midair collision on 24 January 1919 over Sedgeford, Norfolk, while serving as a combat instructor with 33 Squadron. His death notice stated his parents lived at Springfield Dukes,

.Note: The CWGC says he was born at Springfield Dukes and his parents lived at Lingwood, East Liss, Hampshire He is buried at the churchyard of St Mary the Virgin at Docking, Norfolk.

Honours and awards

(MC) T./2nd Lt. Cecil Frederick King, Gen. List and R.F.C. For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. On five occasions during a period of three months he has sent down four enemy machines completely out of control, and has destroyed one other. Later, under very adverse weather conditions he carried out a low reconnaissance, during which he engaged troops in a station, causing several casualties, fired into a body of the enemy entering a village from a height of 50 feet, attacked four gun limbers, causing the teams to stampede, and finally dived on to a parade of troops, who scattered in all directions. He has displayed exceptional daring and skill, which, combined with a splendid dash and initiative, have set a fine example to his squadron. * Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) 2nd Lt. (temp. Capt.) Cecil Frederick King, M.C. He is a fine leader who at all times shows great gallantry and skill in manoeuvring; his energy and keenness have brought his flight to a high standard of efficiency. He frequently descends to low altitudes to obtain good results from bombing, and shooting, and on several occasions he has brought down enemy aeroplanes.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:King, Cecil 1899 births 1919 deaths British Army personnel of World War I Military personnel from Kent Burials in Norfolk Essex Regiment soldiers Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Recipients of the Military Cross Royal Flying Corps officers Royal Air Force officers Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in England Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) People from Sevenoaks People educated at Charterhouse School