Background
Kilner was born on 8 October 1883 in Kemsing, Kent 12 April 1887 the son of William and Frances Kilner.
Kilner was born on 8 October 1883 in Kemsing, Kent 12 April 1887 the son of William and Frances Kilner.
He was awarded two Distinguished Service Orders during service with the during the First World War, he died as a Group Captain in 1925 after a short illness. In 1902 Kilner joined the after leaving the Royal Military College at Sandhurst. In the 1911 Census he was described as a Lieutenant of the Light Infantry aboard HMS Swiftsure in the Grand Harbour, Malta.
On 22 October 1913 he was awarded the Aviators Certificate #667 from the Royal Aeronautical Club following flights at the Central Flying School at Upavon, Wiltshire and went on to serve with the On Christmas Day 1914 he took part in the Cuxhaven Raid for which he was awarded the Defence Science Organisation. The raid was an air reconnaissance flight in the Heligoland Bight with an opportunity to bomb German facilities.
The aircraft were launched from seaplane-carriers, which were supported by destroyers and light cruisers, at first light, with bad weather the aircraft had to fly low. Kilner with his observer Erskine Childers flying a Short Admiralty Type 135 was one of the few who managed to return to his ship.
In 1919 he transferred to the new with a permanent commission as a Major. In early 1925 he was appointed as Air Aide-de-Camp to the King but he died soon after in London on 20 October 1925 at 16 Beaumont Street, London.
19 February 1915 – Captain Cecil Francis Kilner, RNLI (Flight Commander) is awarded the Distinguished Service Order for distinguished service on the combined operations by Her Majesty Ships and Naval Seaplanes on 25 December 1914. 1 October 1917 - Squadron Education Cecil Franscis Kilner, Defence Science Organisation, Royal Naval Air Service (Captain, temp Major RMLI) a bar to the Distinguished Service Order for services in reconnaissance and bombing flights in the eastern Mediterranean.
The low flying aircraft and the supporting ships were attacked by defending forces with submarines, seaplanes and Zeppelins.
