David Henderson (British Army officer)
| Sir David Henderson | |
|---|---|
Brigadier-General Sir David Henderson
|
|
| Born |
11 August 1862 Glasgow, Scotland |
| Died | 17 August 1921 (aged 59) Geneva, Switzerland |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service/branch |
British Army (1883–1918) Royal Air Force (1918–19) |
| Years of service | 1883–1919 |
| Rank | Lieutenant General |
| Commands held |
Royal Flying Corps in the Field (1914–15) 1st Infantry Division (1914) |
| Battles/wars | First World War |
| Awards |
Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Distinguished Service Order Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour (France) Grand Officer of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) Order of the White Eagle with Swords (Russia) Grand Officer of the Order of the Crown of Italy Grand Cordon of the Order of the Sacred Treasure (Japan) |
| Other work | Director-General of Red Cross Societies |
Lieutenant General Sir David Henderson, KCB, KCVO, DSO (11 August 1862 – 17 August 1921) was the senior leader of British military aviation during the First World War, having previously established himself as the leading authority on tactical intelligence in the British Army. He served as the commander of the Royal Flying Corps in the field during the first year of the First World War and was instrumental in establishing the Royal Air Force as an independent service. After the war Henderson was the first Director-General of the League of Red Cross Societies.
David Henderson was born in Glasgow on 11 August 1862 into a ship-owning family. His father, also called David Henderson, was a joint owner of the Clydeside ship builders David and William Henderson and Company.
Henderson entered the University of Glasgow in 1877 at the age of just fifteen. While there, he read engineering and in his fourth year (1880–1881) he studied civil engineering and mechanics as well as office and field work in engineering. For reasons now unknown, he left the university to train for a military career at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, instead of graduating from Glasgow.
In 1895, Henderson married Henrietta Caroline Dundas, later known as Dame Henrietta Henderson after being appointed as a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE), the equivalent of a knighthood for a man, in 1919. The couple had three children including Ian Henry David Henderson, who also joined the Royal Flying Corps, but Ian Henderson predeceased his parents, dying in a flying accident in June 1918. Dame Henrietta Henderson lived until 14 April 1959.
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