{{Short description|British officer (1875-1948)}} {{Other people||John Higgins (disambiguation)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}} {{Infobox military person |name= John Frederick Andrews Higgins |image= |caption= |birth_date= {{birth date|1875|09|01|df=yes}} |death_date= {{death date and age|1948|06|01|1875|09|01|df=yes}} |birth_place= |death_place= Leamington, England |nickname= |allegiance= United Kingdom |branch= [[British Army]]<br/>[[Royal Air Force]] |service_years= 1895–1930<br/>1939–1940 |rank= [[Air Marshal]] |unit= |commands= [[Air Forces in India]] (1939–40)<br/>[[Air Member for Materiel|Air Member for Supply and Research]] (1926–30)<br/>[[RAF Iraq Command|Iraq Command]] (1924–26)<br/>Inland Area (1922–24)<br/>Northern Area (1919–20)<br/>[[RAF Rhine]] (1919)<br/>Midland Area (1918–19)<br/>No. 3 Area (1918)<br/>III Brigade RFC (1916–18)<br/>VI Brigade RFC (1916)<br/>II Brigade RFC (1915–16)<br/>RFC Training Wing (1914–15)<br/>[[No. 5 Squadron RAF|No. 5 Squadron RFC]] (1913–14) |battles= [[Second Boer War]]<br/>[[First World War]]<br/>[[Second World War]] |awards= [[Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath]]<br/>[[Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire]]<br/>[[Distinguished Service Order]]<br/>[[Air Force Cross (United Kingdom)|Air Force Cross]]<br/>[[Mentioned in Despatches]] (6)<br/>[[Legion of Honour|Officer of the Legion of Honour]] (France) |relations= |other_work= Director of Air Service Training Ltd }} [[Air Marshal]] '''Sir John Frederick Andrews Higgins''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|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 [[Officer (armed forces)|commissioned]] into the [[Royal Field Artillery]] as a [[second lieutenant]] on 15 June 1895, and promoted to [[Lieutenant (British Army and Royal Marines)|lieutenant]] on 15 June 1898. He served in the [[Second Boer War]] in [[South Africa]], where he took part in the operations in [[Colony of Natal|Natal]] in 1899, including actions at Rietfontein and [[Battle of Ladysmith|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 (BARM)|captain]] on 15 March 1901.<ref>Hart′s Army list, 1903</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=The Army in South Africa - Troops returning home |date=26 August 1902 |page=4 |issue=36856}}</ref> For his service during the war, he was [[mentioned in despatches]] and awarded the [[Distinguished Service Order]] (DSO) dated 29 November 1900.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27359|date=27 September 1901|page=6308}}</ref>
After his return, he was posted at Ammunition Park, [[Aldershot Garrison]]. He served as Officer Commanding [[No. 5 Squadron RAF|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.<ref>Macmillan, Norman. ''Sir Sefton Brancker'' p. 81</ref> He went on to command II Brigade RFC, VI Brigade RFC and then III Brigade RFC during the course of the [[First World War]].<ref name=air/> In the closing stages of the war he was [[General Officer Commanding]] No. 3 Area and then General Officer Commanding Midland Area.<ref name="air">[http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/HigginsJ.htm Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Marshal Sir John Higgins]</ref>
After the War he was appointed General Officer Commanding [[RAF Rhine|RAF forces of the Rhine]] and then Air Officer Commanding Northern Area before becoming Director of Personnel at the [[Air Ministry]] in 1920.<ref name=air/> He went on to be Air Officer Commanding Inland Area in 1922, Air Officer Commanding [[RAF Iraq Command|Iraq Command]] in 1924 and Air Member for Supply and Research in 1926.<ref name=air/> 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.<ref name=air/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-mil}} |- {{s-new|reason=Squadron formed}} {{s-ttl|title=Officer Commanding [[No. 5 Squadron RAF|No. 5 Squadron]]|years=1913–1914}} {{s-aft|after=[[Archibald MacLean]]}} |- {{s-new|reason=Wing formed from elements of the Military Wing}} {{s-ttl|title=Officer Commanding [[No. 4 Wing RAF|No. 4 (Training) Wing]]|years=9 November 1914 – 1915}} {{s-vac|unknown}} |- {{s-bef|before=[[Tom Webb-Bowen]]}} {{s-ttl|title=Officer Commanding [[No. 3 Wing RAF|No. 3 Wing]]|years=2 June – 25 August 1915}} {{s-aft|after=[[Sefton Brancker]]}} |- {{s-new|reason=Brigade formed}} {{s-ttl|title=Brigadier-General Commanding [[II Brigade RFC]] |years=23 October 1915 – 15 January 1916}} {{s-vac|reason=2nd Brigade re-designated as the 6th Brigade|next=[[John Salmond]]<br><small>In February 1916</small>}} |- {{s-new|reason=Brigade formed by re-designating the 2nd Brigade}} {{s-ttl|title=Brigadier-General Commanding [[6th Brigade RFC]]|years=15–30 January 1916}} {{s-vac|unknown}} |- {{s-new|reason=Brigade formed}} {{s-ttl|title=Brigadier-General Commanding [[3rd Brigade RFC]]<br><small>RAF from 1 April 1918</small>|years=30 January 1916 – 29 April 1918}} {{s-aft|after=[[Charles Longcroft]]}} |- {{s-bef|before=[[Cecil Lambert]]}} {{s-ttl|title=RAF [[Air Member for Personnel|Director of Personnel]]|years=1920}} {{s-vac|unknown}} |- {{s-bef|before=[[John Salmond]]}} {{s-ttl|title=Air Officer Commanding [[RAF Iraq Command|Iraq Command]]|years=1924–1926}} {{s-aft|after=[[Edward Ellington]]}} |- {{s-bef|before=[[Geoffrey Salmond|Sir Geoffrey Salmond]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Air Member for Supply and Organisation|Air Member for Supply and Research]]|years=27 December 1926 – 1 September 1930}} {{s-aft|after=[[Hugh Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding|Hugh Dowding]]}} |- {{s-bef|before=[[Philip Joubert de la Ferté|Sir Philip Joubert de la Ferté]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Commander-in-Chief]], [[Air Forces in India]] |years=1939–1940}} {{s-aft|after=[[Patrick Playfair|Sir Patrick Playfair]]}} {{s-end}}
{{RAF generals}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Higgins, John Frederick Andrews}} [[Category:1875 births]] [[Category:1948 deaths]] [[Category:British Army personnel of the Second Boer War]] [[Category:Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich]] [[Category:Royal Flying Corps officers]] [[Category:Royal Air Force generals of World War I]] [[Category:Royal Air Force air marshals of World War II]] [[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath]] [[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire]] [[Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order]] [[Category:Recipients of the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom)]] [[Category:Royal Air Force air marshals]]