| Cecil Frederick Rawnsley | |
| Birth Date: | 16 March 1904 |
| Birth Place: | West Kensington, London, England |
| Death Place: | Chichester, Sussex, England |
| Nickname: | Jimmy |
| Allegiance: |  United Kingdom |
| Rank: | Flight Lieutenant |
| Servicenumber: | 102089 |
| Unit: | No. 604 Squadron RAF No. 85 Squadron RAF |
| Battles: | Second World War |
| Awards: | Distinguished Service Order Distinguished Flying Cross Distinguished Flying Medal & Bar Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) |
| Laterwork: | Author of Night Fighter |
Flight Lieutenant Cecil Frederick "Jimmy" Rawnsley (16 March 1904 – 12 February 1965) was a Royal Air Force night fighter observer radar operator and gunner during the Second World War. He flew many of his sorties with John "Cat's Eyes" Cunningham who was credited with 20 kills, of which 19 were claimed at night, and 17 of which were achieved with Rawnsley.[1]
Rawnsley initially served as an air-gunner but retrained to become a navigator/radar operator and was sent to No. 604 Squadron RAF flying Beaufighters. Using the new aircraft interception (AI) radar equipment (an early form of airborne radar). Using this tracking device at night, Rawnsley was able to guide Cunningham onto targets. Their first confirmed "kill" came on the night of 19–20 November 1940, when they downed a German Junkers Ju 88 bomber over Oxfordshire.[2]
On 4 April 1941 he was awarded a Distinguished Flying Medal (DFM), to which he added a Bar on 23 May of the same year. Later that year, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC), on 19 September 1941.
In January 1943, Rawnsley transferred to No. 85 Squadron RAF along with Cunningham. They now flew a Mosquito and within the year had downed four more enemy aircraft. On the 26 October 1943, after flying over 200 sorties with Cunningham and having been his radar operator during the downing of 17 enemy planes he was awarded a Distinguished Service Order (DSO).[3]
In 1957 Rawnsley published (with Robert Wright) a memoir detailing his wartime career in the book Night Fighter. Covering his partnership with Cunningham, it gives a clear insight into the methods the pair used to find and down enemy aircraft.