Captain Cecil Arthur Lewis MC

Cecil was born in Birkenhead in 1898. His father was a Congregational minister.

He was educated at Dulwich College, University College School and Oundle School.

Aged 17 he enlisted in the Royal Flying Corps in December 1915 having lied about his age.

After a period of training he was posted to 3 Squadron in France.

He flew many missions during the Battle of the Somme.

For his actions during this period he was awarded the Military Cross.

The citation printed in the London Gazette in November 1916 read as follows:-
“For conspicuous skill and gallantry. He has done fine work in photography, with artillery and on contact patrols. On one occasion he came down very low and attacked a column of horsed limbers, causing casualties and scattering the limbers”.

After a period back in the UK he was posted to 56 Squadron. The unit was a fighter squadron and equipped with the new single seat SE5. It counted amongst its pilots the leading British ace at that time, Albert Ball.

The squadron flew to France on 7th April 1917.

Cecil fought many combats during the spring and early summer of 1917. Those fights were often against the elite German Jasta 11, led by Manfred von Richthofen.

During this intense period he was credited with shooting down 6 enemy aircraft out of control and sharing two others O.O.C.

He narrowly avoided death on 7th July when he received a flesh wound in the back.

He was posted back to the UK where he served with 44 and 61 Squadrons on home defence duties.

He returned to France on 18th October 1918 as a flight commander with 152 Night Fighter Squadron.

After the war he enjoyed a long and varied career. He worked in commercial aviation, was a flying instructor in China, a farmer in South Africa, civil servant, author and a founding executive of the British Broadcasting Company.

At the BBC he was a writer, producer and director.

Working in Hollywood he won an Academy Award for helping to write the screenplay for a film.

During the Second World War he joined the RAF and served as a flying instructor and later on other duties at home and overseas.

He joined the Daily Mail in 1956 as a journalist and retired in 1966.

In 1970 he settled in Corfu where he spent the rest of his life.

He died in 1997 aged 98. A life well lived.