| Honorific Prefix: | Group Captain |
| Robert Cecil Dawkins | |
| Honorific Suffix: | CBE |
| Birth Date: | 1903 |
| Death Date: | 1985 |
| Birth Place: | Holloway, London, England |
| Death Place: | Newton Blossomville, England |
| Allegiance: |  United Kingdom |
| Serviceyears: | 1932-1955 |
| Rank: | Group Captain |
| Servicenumber: | 27251 |
| Commands: | RAF Tengah R.A.F. Hendon |
| Battles: | 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]
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’.[7] In 1944 he was promoted to temporary group captain.[10]
In 1947, Dawkins was made substantive group captain,[11] and became superintendent of flying at the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment at Boscombe Down.[7] 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] [12] a position he held until his retirement on 15 March 1955.[13] Dawkins died in Newton Blossomville in 1985.[5]