Carmel Attard, in his interesting article on the Ark Royal (September 19) referred to the World War One Ark Royal when it stopped at Malta en route to the Dardanelles, and one of its seaplanes made the first flight from Malta.

The pilot who made this flight at Malta was Captain (Flight Cdr) Cecil Francis Kilner of the Royal Marines Light Infantry in one of the eight planes on board the Ark Royal on February 13, 1915.

When this historical event took place in Grand Harbour, Captain Kilner had served in the RMLI for nearly 13 years (commissioned September 1, 1902), and in the Royal Naval Air Service since 1914.

When he was drafted to the Ark Royal carrier on February 2, 1915, he was the senior flying officer on that ship. The aircraft flown was a Short Admiralty 135 Type Folder biplane No. 136, a machine with folding wings, and one of the earliest types of aircraft manufactured by the Short Brothers.

The Ark Royal had formerly been a merchant ship, but converted to a seaplane carrier while still under construction. She was launched and commissioned on December 9, 1914. Then, on February 2, 1915, the British cabinet decided to send the Ark Royal to the Mediterranean to take part in the Dardanelles campaign.

After Captain Kilner's departure from Malta, he took part in the Dardanelles campaign between February 17 and March 18, and in the Gallipoli landings of April 25.

He was awarded the DSO for operations in Europe in 1914, mentioned in dispatches for service in the Eastern Mediterranean in 1916, and received a bar to his DSO in 1917. He also held the 1914 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal.

After the war with the rank of temporary Lieut-Colonel in the RMLI he transferred to the Royal Air Force on August 1, 1919, as a Wing Cdr and while still serving, died on October 20, 1925, in the rank of Group Captain.

He was buried on October 23, 1925, in Kensal Green Cemetery, London.