{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}} {{Use British English|date=January 2016}} {{Infobox military person |name= John Hearson |image= |caption= |nickname= |birth_date= {{birth date|1883|08|05|df=yes}} |birth_place= |death_date= {{death date and age|1964|01|09|1883|08|05|df=yes}} |death_place= |burial_place= |allegiance= United Kingdom |branch= [[British Army]] (1901–18)<br/>[[Royal Air Force]] (1918–40) |service_years= 1901–27<br/>1937–40 |rank= [[Air Commodore]] |unit= |commands= [[No. 30 Group RAF|No. 30 (Balloon Barrage) Group]] (1937–39)<br/>[[No. 1 Group RAF|No. 1 Air Defence Group]] (1927)<br/>Special Reserve and Auxiliary Air Force (1925–27)<br/>15th Wing RFC (1916–17)<br/>[[No. 5 Squadron RAF|No. 5 Squadron RFC]] (1915–16) |battles= [[First World War]]<br/>[[Second World War]] |awards= [[Companion of the Order of the Bath]]<br/>[[Commander of the Order of the British Empire]]<br/>[[Distinguished Service Order]]<br/>[[Mentioned in Despatches]]<br/>[[Order of Saint Anna|Order of Saint Anna, 3rd Class with Swords]] (Russia) |relations= |other_work= }} [[Air Commodore]] '''John Glanville Hearson''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|sep=,|CB|CBE|DSO}} (5 August 1883 – 9 January 1964) was a squadron and wing commander and senior staff officer in the [[Royal Flying Corps]] during the [[First World War]], and a senior commander in the fledgling [[Royal Air Force]] (RAF) during the 1920s.
==Military career== Pearson was commissioned a [[second lieutenant]] in the [[Royal Engineers]] on 31 July 1902.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=27467 |date=22 August 1902 |page=5465 }}</ref> He transferred to the Royal Air Force on its formation.
He reached the rank of [[brigadier general]] in 1917, and became the RAF's first Director of Training on the service's formation in April 1918. Remaining in the RAF after the war, he was promoted to [[air commodore]] on 30 June 1923.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=32841 |date=3 July 1923 |page=4621 }}</ref> In the first half of the 1920s he held senior positions on [[RAF Iraq Command]], the British organisation responsible for maintaining control of Iraq.
Towards the end of 1925 Hearson was appointed [[Air Officer Commanding]] the Special Reserve and Auxiliary Air Force which later became the Air Defence Group and then [[No. 1 Group RAF|No. 1 (Air Defence) Group]]. Hearson retired from the RAF in 1927 but returned to service in the build up before the [[Second World War]] to establish and command the UK's barrage balloon organisation.
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Hearson.htm Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Commodore J G Hearson]
{{s-start}} {{s-mil}} {{s-bef|before=[[Guy Livingston (British Army officer)|Guy Livingston]]}} {{s-ttl|title=Chief Staff Officer, HQ Training Division RFC|years=1917–1918}} {{s-non|reason=Royal Flying Corps subsumed into RAF}} |- {{s-new|reason=RAF established}} {{s-ttl|title=[[RAF Director of Training|Director of Training]]|years=1918–1919}} {{s-aft|after=[[Philip Game]]<br/><small>As Director of Training and Organisation</small>}} |- {{s-vac|reason=No. 30 Group disbanded from 1919 to 1937}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Air Officer Commanding]] No. 30 (Balloon Barrage) Group|years=1937–1939}} {{s-aft|after=W J Y Guilfoyle}} {{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hearson, John Glanville}} [[Category:1883 births]] [[Category:1964 deaths]] [[Category:British Army personnel of World War I]] [[Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire]] [[Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order]] [[Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath]] [[Category:Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 3rd class]] [[Category:Royal Air Force generals of World War I]] [[Category:Royal Air Force air commodores]] [[Category:Royal Air Force personnel of World War II]] [[Category:Royal Flying Corps officers]] [[Category:Royal Engineers officers]]