Kingcome entered the Royal Air Force College Cranwell, Cranwell in 1936.

At the outbreak of the Second World War, Kingcome was based at Hornchurch Airfield serving with No.
65 Squadron RAF.
He took part in the battle of France and the battle of Dunkirk; scoring no victories.
He was then posted to No.
92 Squadron, RAF Tangmere in May 1940, where he assumed temporary command over No.
92 Squadron after the loss of their Squadron leader Roger Bushell over the skies of Calais on 23 May 1940.

During his time at No.
92 Squadron, Kingcome became acquainted with Geoffrey Wellum.
Wellum, who flew as wingman to Flight Lieutenant Brian Kingcome, 92 Squadron's acting CO (the Squadron lost 2 new COs within days of their arrival and Brian Kingcome led the Squadron temporarily in the absence of a squadron commander) later recorded his experiences in the book First Light.

Kingcome was acting CO of No.
92 Squadron between official COs; during a month-long period in September and October, No.
92 Squadron lost three COs.
In early 1941, after Squadron Leader John A. Kent was transferred, Kingcome received full command.
During this time he and his pilots achieved the highest success rate of any squadron in the entire Battle of Britain.

After serving with No.
92 Squadron, Kingcome was briefly posted as flight commander at No 61 Operational Training Unit in late 1941.
In February 1942, he returned to operations as CO of No.
72 Squadron RAF.
Almost immediately he was ordered to provide escort cover for the ill-fated Fleet Air Arm Swordfish attack on the German capital ship Gneisenau, the cruiser ship Prinz Eugen and the capital ship Scharnhorst as they sailed through the Channel in an attempt to reach Kiel, Germany during operation Channel Dash.

Kingcome then became Wing Leader at Kenley in June 1942, and late in the year posted to the Fighter Leader's School at RAF Charmy Down.
In May 1943 he was posted to North Africa to command No.
244 Wing RAF and in September he was promoted to Group Captain at the age of 25.
With 244 Wing, Kingcome found himself leading five Spitfire squadrons: No.
92 Squadron RAF, No.
145 Squadron RAF, No.
601 Squadron RAF, No.
417 Squadron RCAF and No.
1 Squadron SAAF during the Italian Campaign.


In October, Kingcome attended the RAF Staff College at Haifa.
On completion, Kingcome was appointed Senior Air Staff Officer in No.
205 Group, which comprised all of the RAF heavy bomber squadrons in the theatre.
In spite of his staff position, Kingcome flew several missions as a waist-gunner in a B-24 Liberator over northern Yugoslavia.
He remained in Italy after the war as CO of No.
324 Wing, again on fighters.
In mid 1946 he returned to the UK and the Staff College for two years.
Kingcome entered the Royal Air Force College Cranwell, Cranwell in 1936.
At the outbreak of the Second World War, Kingcome was based at Hornchurch Airfield serving with No. 65 Squadron RAF. He took part in the battle of France and the battle of Dunkirk; scoring no victories. He was then posted to No. 92 Squadron, RAF Tangmere in May 1940, where he assumed temporary command over No. 92 Squadron after the loss of their Squadron leader Roger Bushell over the skies of Calais on 23 May 1940.
During his time at No. 92 Squadron, Kingcome became acquainted with Geoffrey Wellum. Wellum, who flew as wingman to Flight Lieutenant Brian Kingcome, 92 Squadron's acting CO (the Squadron lost 2 new COs within days of their arrival and Brian Kingcome led the Squadron temporarily in the absence of a squadron commander) later recorded his experiences in the book First Light.
Kingcome was acting CO of No. 92 Squadron between official COs; during a month-long period in September and October, No. 92 Squadron lost three COs. In early 1941, after Squadron Leader John A. Kent was transferred, Kingcome received full command. During this time he and his pilots achieved the highest success rate of any squadron in the entire Battle of Britain. 
After serving with No. 92 Squadron, Kingcome was briefly posted as flight commander at No 61 Operational Training Unit in late 1941. In February 1942, he returned to operations as CO of No. 72 Squadron RAF. Almost immediately he was ordered to provide escort cover for the ill-fated Fleet Air Arm Swordfish attack on the German capital ship Gneisenau, the cruiser ship Prinz Eugen and the capital ship Scharnhorst as they sailed through the Channel in an attempt to reach Kiel, Germany during operation Channel Dash.
Kingcome then became Wing Leader at Kenley in June 1942, and late in the year posted to the Fighter Leader's School at RAF Charmy Down. In May 1943 he was posted to North Africa to command No. 244 Wing RAF and in September he was promoted to Group Captain at the age of 25. With 244 Wing, Kingcome found himself leading five Spitfire squadrons: No. 92 Squadron RAF, No. 145 Squadron RAF, No. 601 Squadron RAF, No. 417 Squadron RCAF and No. 1 Squadron SAAF during the Italian Campaign.

In October, Kingcome attended the RAF Staff College at Haifa. On completion, Kingcome was appointed Senior Air Staff Officer in No. 205 Group, which comprised all of the RAF heavy bomber squadrons in the theatre. In spite of his staff position, Kingcome flew several missions as a waist-gunner in a B-24 Liberator over northern Yugoslavia. He remained in Italy after the war as CO of No. 324 Wing, again on fighters. In mid 1946 he returned to the UK and the Staff College for two years.
Brian Kingcome