John Frederick Andrews Higgins

For other people of the same name, see John Higgins (disambiguation).

John Frederick Andrews Higgins
Born	1 September 1875
Died	1 June 1948 (aged 72) Leamington
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Air Force
Years of service	c. 1895–1930 1939–1940
Rank	Air Marshal
Commands held	No. 5 Squadron RFC RFC Training Wing II Brigade RFC VI Brigade RFC III Brigade RFC No. 3 Area Midland Area RAF forces of the Rhine Northern Area Inland Area Iraq Command Indian Air Force
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
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)
Other work	Director of Air Service Training Ltd (1931?), Hamble, England, with J D Siddeley, F P Scott and S W Hiscocks.

Air Marshal Sir John Frederick Andrews Higgins KCB, KBE, DSO, AFC, RAF (1 September 1875 – 1 June 1948) was a senior officer in the Royal Flying Corps, serving as a brigade commander from 1915 to 1918. After World War I 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 World War II.

RAF career

Higgins became a cadet at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich and was commissioned into the Royal Field Artillery in 1895, serving in the Second Boer War. In November 1900 he was awarded the DSO for his service during this war.

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. He went on to command II Brigade RFC, VI Brigade RFC and then III Brigade RFC during the course of World War I. In the closing stages of the War he was General Officer Commanding No. 3 Area and then General Officer Commanding Midland Area.

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. 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. 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 World War II before retiring again in August 1940.

References

Military offices
New title Squadron formed	Officer Commanding No. 5 Squadron 1913–1914	Succeeded by A C H 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 T I Webb-Bowen	Officer Commanding No. 3 Wing 2 June – 25 August 1915	Succeeded by W S 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 J M 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 C A H Longcroft
Preceded by C F Lambert	RAF Director of Personnel 1920	Succeeded by Unknown
Preceded by J M Salmond	Air Officer Commanding Iraq Command 1924–1926	Succeeded by E L Ellington
Preceded by Sir Geoffrey Salmond	Air Member for Supply and Research 27 December 1926 – 1 September 1930	Succeeded by H C T Dowding
Preceded by Sir Philip Joubert de la Ferté	Commander-in-Chief, Air Forces in India 1939–1940	Succeeded by Sir Patrick Playfair