Robert Cecil Dawkins

Group Captain
Robert Cecil Dawkins
CBE
Born 1903
Holloway, London, England
Died 1985
Newton Blossomville, England
Allegiance United Kingdom United Kingdom
Service/branch  Royal Air Force
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

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