Jack Higgins (RAF officer)

John Frederick Andrews Higgins
John Frederick Andrews Higgins
Born	1 September 1875
Died	1 June 1948 (aged 72); Leamington, England
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service / branch	British Army; Royal Air Force
Years of service	1895–1930; 1939–1940
Rank	Air Marshal
Commands	Air Forces in India (1939–40); Air Member for Supply and Research (1926–30); Iraq Command (1924–26); Inland Area (1922–24); Northern Area (1919–20); RAF Rhine (1919); Midland Area (1918–19); No. 3 Area (1918); III Brigade RFC (1916–18); VI Brigade RFC (1916); II Brigade RFC (1915–16); RFC Training Wing (1914–15); No. 5 Squadron RFC (1913–14)
Battles / wars	Second Boer War; First World War; Second World War
Awards	Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath; Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire; Distinguished Service Order; Air Force Cross; Mentioned in Despatches (6); Officer of the Legion of Honour (France)
Other work	Director of Air Service Training Ltd

Air Marshal Sir John Frederick Andrews Higgins, KCB, KBE, DSO, AFC (1 September 1875 – 1 June 1948), known as Jack Higgins, was a senior officer in the Royal Flying Corps, serving as a brigade commander from 1915 to 1918. After the First World War he served in a range of senior posts in the Royal Air Force until his retirement in 1930. He returned to active service for the first year of the Second World War.

RAF career

Higgins became a cadet at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich and was commissioned into the Royal Field Artillery as a second lieutenant on 15 June 1895, and promoted to lieutenant on 15 June 1898. He served in the Second Boer War in South Africa, where he took part in the operations in Natal in 1899, including actions at Rietfontein and Lombard's Kop. Severely wounded in early January 1900, during the Defence of Ladysmith, he was later back in action and was promoted to captain on 15 March 1901.^[1] After the end of the war in June 1902, Higgins left Cape Town in the SS Bavarian in August, returning to Southampton the following month.^[2] For his service during the war, he was mentioned in despatches and awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) dated 29 November 1900.^[3]

After his return, he was posted at Ammunition Park, Aldershot Garrison. He served as Officer Commanding No. 5 Squadron from July 1913 and then at the start of November 1914, Higgins was selected to head up the RFC's training wing which was based at Netheravon.^[4] He went on to command II Brigade RFC, VI Brigade RFC and then III Brigade RFC during the course of the First World War.^[5] In the closing stages of the war he was General Officer Commanding No. 3 Area and then General Officer Commanding Midland Area.^[5]

After the War he was appointed General Officer Commanding RAF forces of the Rhine and then Air Officer Commanding Northern Area before becoming Director of Personnel at the Air Ministry in 1920.^[5] He went on to be Air Officer Commanding Inland Area in 1922, Air Officer Commanding Iraq Command in 1924 and Air Member for Supply and Research in 1926.^[5] He retired to India in 1930 but was recalled as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Air Forces in India in October 1939 at the start of the Second World War before retiring again in August 1940.^[5]

References

^ Hart′s Army list, 1903
^ "The Army in South Africa - Troops returning home". The Times. No. 36856. London. 26 August 1902. p. 4.
^ "No. 27359". The London Gazette. 27 September 1901. p. 6308.
^ Macmillan, Norman. Sir Sefton Brancker p. 81
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Marshal Sir John Higgins

Military offices
New title Squadron formed	Officer Commanding No. 5 Squadron 1913–1914	Succeeded by Archibald MacLean
New title Wing formed from elements of the Military Wing	Officer Commanding No. 4 (Training) Wing 9 November 1914 – 1915	Succeeded by Unknown
Preceded by Tom Webb-Bowen	Officer Commanding No. 3 Wing 2 June – 25 August 1915	Succeeded by Sefton Brancker
New title Brigade formed	Brigadier-General Commanding 2nd Brigade RFC 23 October 1915 – 15 January 1916	Vacant 2nd Brigade re-designated as the 6th Brigade Title next held by John Salmond In February 1916
New title Brigade formed by re-designating the 2nd Brigade	Brigadier-General Commanding 6th Brigade RFC 15–30 January 1916	Succeeded by Unknown
New title Brigade formed	Brigadier-General Commanding 3rd Brigade RFC RAF from 1 April 1918 30 January 1916 – 29 April 1918	Succeeded by Charles Longcroft
Preceded by Cecil Lambert	RAF Director of Personnel 1920	Succeeded by Unknown
Preceded by John Salmond	Air Officer Commanding Iraq Command 1924–1926	Succeeded by Edward Ellington
Preceded by Sir Geoffrey Salmond	Air Member for Supply and Research 27 December 1926 – 1 September 1930	Succeeded by Hugh Dowding
Preceded by Sir Philip Joubert de la Ferté	Commander-in-Chief, Air Forces in India 1939–1940	Succeeded by Sir Patrick Playfair

[1] Hart′s Army list, 1903

[2] "The Army in South Africa - Troops returning home". The Times. No. 36856. London. 26 August 1902. p. 4.

[3] "No. 27359". The London Gazette. 27 September 1901. p. 6308.

[4] Macmillan, Norman. Sir Sefton Brancker p. 81

[air-5] Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Marshal Sir John Higgins

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[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

v t e Royal Air Force generals
RAF generals between 1 April 1918 and 31 July 1919
Lieutenant-Generals	David Henderson John de Mestre Hutchison
Major-Generals	Edward Ashmore Sefton Brancker George Cayley Edward Ellington Philip Game Frederick Gordon Frederick Heath-Caldwell John Higgins Mark Kerr Charles Lambe Charles Longcroft Godfrey Paine Geoffrey Salmond John Salmond Frederick Sykes Hugh Trenchard Tom Webb-Bowen
Brigadier-Generals	William Alexander John Becke Amyas Borton Harold Douglas Briggs Robert Brooke-Popham Charles Burnett Walter Caddell Lionel Charlton Christopher Courtney Alfred Critchley Hugh Dowding Francis Leycester Festing Eugene Gerrard Percy Robert Clifford Groves Robert Marsland Groves John Hearson Thomas Higgins Cuthbert Hoare Felton Holt Guy Livingston Edgar Ludlow-Hewitt Norman MacEwen Edward Maitland Edward Masterman Cyril Newall Duncan Pitcher Francis Rowland Scarlett John Miles Steel Oliver Swann Harry Viener Vyell Vyvyan James George Weir Kenneth Wigram

v t e Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force
Air Marshal Commanding, Royal Indian Air Force (1947–1948)	Sir Thomas Elmhirst**
Chief of the Air Staff and Commander-in-Chief, Royal Indian Air Force (1948–1950)	Sir Thomas Elmhirst**
Chief of the Air Staff and Commander-in-Chief, Indian Air Force (1950–1955)	Sir Thomas Elmhirst Sir Ronald Ivelaw-Chapman Gerald Gibbs** Subroto Mukerjee
Chief of the Air Staff (1955–present)	Subroto Mukerjee Aspy Engineer Arjan Singh Pratap Chandra Lal Om Prakash Mehra Hrushikesh Moolgavkar Idris Hasan Latif Dilbagh Singh Lakshman Madhav Katre Denis La Fontaine Surinder Mehra Nirmal Chandra Suri Swaroop Kaul Satish Kumar Sareen Anil Tipnis Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy Shashindra Pal Tyagi Fali Homi Major Pradeep Vasant Naik Norman Anil Kumar Browne Arup Raha Birender Singh Dhanoa Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria Vivek Ram Chaudhari (incumbent)
(**Seconded from the Royal Air Force)