Cecil Frederick King
Captain Cecil Frederick King, MC, DFC (19 February 1899 – 24 January 1919) was a British World War I fighter ace credited with 22 aerial victories. He was born in Sevenoaks, Kent, the son of Frederick Hamilton King and Norah Carter King, and was the third of four children. He attended Charterhouse School, where he joined the Officers Training Corps in 1912. When the war began in 1914, he was living in Chelmsford and joined the Essex Regiment Officers Training Corps as a private. An arm injury in 1915 slowed his training.
King joined the Royal Flying Corps in February 1917 and, in autumn, was posted to No. 43 Squadron to fly Sopwith Camels. On 12 November 1917, with Lieutenant William MacLanachan, he drove down an Albatros D.III out of control. He did not score again until February 1918, then added three more victories in March and became an ace on 26 February 1918 by destroying an Albatros D.V. By March he had become the B Flight Commander. He was awarded the Military Cross on 22 March 1918 and added several more victories in March. In July 1918 he received the French Croix de Guerre for actions during the Second Battle of the Marne.
On 3 August 1918 he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. By 8 August his tally reached 19 victories, with eight of them in a single Camel, D1864. He later switched to Sopwith Snipe no. E8031 for his final three victories. In total, his record includes eight solo destructions, two shared destructions, seven enemy aircraft driven down, and five more with others.
King died in a midair collision on 24 January 1919 near Sedgeford, Norfolk, while serving as a combat instructor with 33 Squadron. His death notice said his parents lived at Springfield Dukes, Chelmsford. He is buried in St Mary the Virgin churchyard, Docking, Norfolk.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 02:27 (CET).