Lieutenant General Sir David Henderson was born in 1862 and, following officer training at the Royal Military College Sandhurst, was commissioned into the British Army on 25 August 1882. In 1901 he was appointed Director of Military Intelligence and his works Field Intelligence: Its Principles and Practice (1904) and The Art of Reconnaissance (1907) did much to establish his reputation as the Army's authority on tactical intelligence. Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. ... Look up sir in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... New College, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is the British Army officer initial training centre. ... The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. ... August 25 is the 237th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (238th in leap years), with 128 days remaining. ... 1882 (MDCCCLXXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar. ...

In 1911, at the age of 49, Henderson learned to fly, making him the world’s oldest pilot at that time. In 1913 he was appointed Director of Military Aeronautics and, with the outbreak of World War One, he took up command of the Royal Flying Corps in the field. By 1915 Henderson returned to London to take up the post of Director-General of Military Aeronautics. This meant that when, in 1917, General Jan Smuts was writing his review of the British Air Services, Henderson was well placed to assist. Whilst seconded to General Smuts, Henderson wrote much of what came to be called the Smuts Report. It has been argued that he had a better claim to the informal title "father of the Royal Air Force" than Sir Hugh Trenchard. Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of World War I. Origin and Early History Formed by Royal Warrant on May 13, 1912, the RFC superseded the Air Battalion of the Royal Engineers. ... London (pronounced ) is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom. ... Jan Smuts Jan Christian Smuts, OM, CH (May 24, 1870 – September 11, 1950) was a prominent South African and Commonwealth statesman and military leader. ... The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the air force branch of the British Armed Forces. ... Hugh Montague Trenchard, 1st Viscount Trenchard (February 3, 1873 - February 10, 1956) was the British Chief of the Air Staff during World War I, and was instrumental in establishing the Royal Air Force (RAF). ...

After the end of the Great War, Henderson became Director-General of the League of Red Cross Societies in Geneva, where he died in 1921. The Red Cross and the Red Crescent emblems, the symbols from which the Movement derives its name The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is an international humanitarian movement whose stated mission is to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for the human being and all other... Geneva (pronunciation //; French: Genève //, German: //, Italian: Ginevra) is the second most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich), and is the most populous city of Romandy (the French-speaking part of Switzerland). ...

References

• Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation - Lt Gen Henderson
• Centre for First World War Studies, Birmingham University - Sir David Henderson