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

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

fighter

ace An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or a club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the ...

credited with 22 aerial victories.

Early life

Cecil Frederick King was born to Frederick Hamilton King and Norah Carter King in Seven Oaks, Kent, England, the third of their four children. He was a member of Verites hou, at

Charterhouse School Charterhouse is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Godalming, Surrey, England. Founded by Thomas Sutton in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian monastery in Charter ...

, and became a member of the

Officers Training Corps The University Officers' Training Corps (UOTC), also known as the Officers' Training Corps (OTC), are British Army reserve units, under the command of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, which recruit exclusively from universities and focus on ...

there in 1912. At the beginning of

in the summer of 1914, 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 Colchester and Southend-on-Sea. It is located north-east of London ...

. He joined the

Essex Regiment The Essex Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1958. The regiment served in many conflicts such as the Second Boer War and both World War I and World War II, serving with distinction in all three. ...

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 The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

in February, 1917. In the fall of 1917, he was assigned to No. 43 Squadron RFC 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 The Albatros D.III was a biplane fighter aircraft used by the Imperial German Army Air Service () during World War I. A modified licensed version was built by Oeffag for the Austro-Hungarian Air Service (''Luftfahrtruppen''). The D.III was flown ...

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 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 until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

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

Croix de Guerre The (, ''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 awarded during World ...

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 The Sopwith 7F.1 Snipe is a British single-seat biplane fighter of the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was designed and built by the Sopwith Aviation Company during the First World War, and came into squadron service a few weeks before the end of the ...

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 Docking is a village and ancient civil parish in the King's Lynn and West Norfolk borough of Norfolk, England. It is near the North Norfolk Coast Site of Special Scientific Interest. Topography Parish The parish covers an area of (one of the ...

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

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:King, Cecil 1899 births 1919 deaths Military personnel from Chelmsford 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 Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1919