British Labour organizer and politician who led the international disarmament effort.
Henderson worked as an iron foundryman and became active in the trade-union movement. He helped establish the Labour Representation Committee in 1900, chaired the conference that formed the Labour Party in 1906, and served as party secretary from 1911 to 1934, building its organization and broadening its base. He was president of the Board of Education in 1915–16, home secretary in 1924, and foreign secretary from 1929 to 1931. Elected president of the League of Nations Disarmament Conference in 1932, he pursued international negotiations even as the conference ultimately failed; his work for peace and disarmament earned him the 1934 Nobel Peace Prize.
Career timeline
- 1900Helped establish the Labour Representation Committee
- 1906Chaired the conference that formed the Labour Party
- 1911–1934Served as Labour Party secretary
- 1915–1916Served as president of the Board of Education
- 1924Served as home secretary
- 1929–1931Served as foreign secretary
- 1932Was elected president of the League of Nations Disarmament Conference
- 1934Received the Nobel Peace Prize
Politician who gave up the Labour chairmanship in 1914 over war credits and later became Britain’s first Labour prime minister
He resigned as Labour chairman in 1914 over Britain’s entry into the war and war spending; in 1931 he led a national government and lost Labour’s support.
Born into poverty in Lossiemouth, Scotland, he became an organiser of the Independent Labour Party and Labour and was chairman of the party from 1911. When Labour backed the government’s war credits in August 1914 he resigned the chairmanship and was fiercely attacked for his opposition to the war. In 1924 he became Britain’s first Labour prime minister and recognised the Soviet Union, returning as prime minister in 1929. Forming a National Government with the Conservatives in the crisis of 1931, he was expelled from Labour. He died at sea in 1937.
Career timeline
- 1893Joined the Independent Labour Party and worked as a journalist in London.
- 1906Elected MP for Leicester.
- 1911Became chairman of the parliamentary Labour group.
- 1924Became Britain’s first Labour prime minister.
- 1929Led a second minority Labour government and included opposition leaders in a national government amid rising unemployment.
- 1935Resigned from the national government.
The RAF commander who turned Fighter Command from defence toward offence
As Dowding's successor, he rebuilt Fighter Command while seeking to confront the Luftwaffe on the offensive.
William Sholto Douglas was a senior Royal Air Force commander whose career spanned two world wars. During the Battle of Britain he supported the use of massed fighter formations, and as Hugh Dowding's successor at Fighter Command he rebuilt its strength after the battle while seeking to regain the initiative from the German Luftwaffe. This shift widened Fighter Command's mission from air defence toward offensive sweeps over France, although the Circus operations achieved only limited results. After the war he commanded British forces in the occupation zone in Germany and later chaired British European Airways.
Career timeline
- 1914Second lieutenant, Royal Field Artillery
- 1915–1919Pilot and squadron commander, Royal Flying Corps
- 1936–1938Director of Staff Duties, Air Ministry
- 1938–1940Assistant Chief and Deputy Chief of the Air Staff
- 1940–1942Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Fighter Command
- 1943–1944Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, RAF Middle East Command
- 1944–1945Commander-in-Chief, Coastal Command
- 1946–1947Commander-in-Chief, British Air Forces of Occupation
- 1949–1964Chairman, British European Airways
