John Becke
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John Becke | |
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![]() Brigadier General Becke | |
Born | Liverpool, England | 17 September 1879
Died | 7 February 1949 | (aged 69)
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Service/ | British Army (1899–1918) Royal Air Force (1918–20) |
Years of service | 1899–1920 |
Rank | Brigadier general |
Commands held | II Brigade RFC (1917–18) IV Brigade RFC (1916–17) 1st (Corps) Wing RFC (1915–16) No. 2 Squadron RFC (1915) No. 6 Squadron RFC (1914–15) |
Battles/wars | Second Boer War World War I |
Awards | Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George Distinguished Service Order Air Force Cross Mentioned in Despatches (2) Officer of the Legion of Honour (France) Croix de guerre (France) |
Brigadier general John Harold Whitworth Becke, CMG, DSO, AFC (17 September 1879 – 7 February 1949) was an infantry officer in the Second Boer War and squadron, wing and brigade commander in the Royal Flying Corps during World War I. He transferred to the Royal Air Force (RAF) on its creation on 1 April 1918 as a temporary brigadier general. He retired from the RAF in 1920.
He was born in Liverpool on 17 September 1879. As a captain in the Sherwood Foresters, he was seconded to the Royal Flying Corps and awarded his Royal Aero Club aviators certificate on 18 June 1912 flying a Bristol Biplane at Brooklands. Becke was the first commanding officer of No. 6 Squadron, one of a handful of flying squadrons to be established before the First World War.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2b/Capt_Becke_arrival_at_Upper_Dysart_26_February_1913.jpg/220px-Capt_Becke_arrival_at_Upper_Dysart_26_February_1913.jpg)
References[edit]
External links[edit]
- Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Brigadier-General J H W Becke
- No. II(AC) Squadron – Major J H W Becke
- Royal Flying Corps officers
- Royal Air Force generals of World War I
- Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George
- Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
- Recipients of the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom)
- Officers of the Legion of Honour
- Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France)
- Sherwood Foresters officers
- 1879 births
- 1949 deaths
- Military personnel from Liverpool
- British Army personnel of the Second Boer War
- British Army personnel stubs