Cecil Alfred Taylor was the son of Harry and Matilda Taylor; husband of Jean Florence Taylor, of Crook, County Durham, he enlisted in the Devonshire Regiment and volunteered for airborne forces.

Lance/Sergeant Taylor successfully completed glider training and was posted to 12th (Airborne) Battalion, Devonshire Regiment, and took part in Operation Overlord (Normandy).

L/Sgt Taylor was killed in action on 12 June 1944, aged 30, and was given a field burial at Amfreville, and was re-interred to Ranville War Cemetery, Calvados, France on 13 June 1945.