Robert Benedict Bourdillon CBE MC AFC DM (8 September 1889 – 3 March 1971) was a British World War I pilot and medical researcher.

[1] On 8 September 1914, he was attached to the Headquarters of III Corps, where he served as an interpreter since he was fluent in French.

Here, on 12 February 1915, he applied to transfer to the Royal Flying Corps Special Reserve of Officers and was commissioned as a temporary Second Lieutenant.

On 29 October 1915, Bourdillon received an Aero Certificate, flying a Maurice Farman Shorthorn biplane.

On 27 July 1917, Bourdillon led five aircraft from 27 Squadron to attack the German Zeppelin sheds located at Berchem-Sainte-Agathe.

By the end of World War I, Bourdillon was a Captain and was awarded the Air Force Cross in the 1 January 1918 King's Birthday Honours List for his work on bombsight development.

After World War I, Bourdillon returned to New College, Oxford, where he was awarded an MA degree in 1919.

[5] Robert Bourdillon married Harriett Ada (née Barnes) on 18 July 1922 at St Mary's Church, Eastbourne in Sussex.