| Honorific Prefix: | Sir |
| Geoffrey Dhenin | |
| Birth Date: | 1918 4, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Bridgend, Glamorgan, Wales |
| Allegiance: | United Kingdom |
| Branch: | Royal Air Force |
| Serviceyears: | 1943–1978 |
| Rank: | Air Marshal |
| Servicenumber: | 138384 |
| Commands: | RAF Medical Services |
| Battles: | Second World War Cold War |
| Awards: | Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire Air Force Cross & Bar George Medal Commander of the Order of St John Mentioned in Despatches |
Air Marshal Sir Geoffrey Howard Dhenin, (2 April 1918 – 6 May 2011) was a British physician and senior Royal Air Force officer. From 1974 to 1978, he served as Director General of the RAF Medical Services.[1]
Dhenin was born on 4 April 1918, three days after the formation of the Royal Air Force, in Bridgend, Glamorgan, Wales.[2] [3] He was educated at Hereford Cathedral School, then an all-boys grammar school in Hereford, Herefordshire. Having won a scholarship, he studied Natural Sciences at St John's College, Cambridge. He then continued his studies at Guy's Hospital Medical School, and qualified as a medical doctor.
In the 1950s, Dhenin undertook research for a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree at the University of Cambridge. His doctoral thesis was titled "Radiation hazards in aviation", and was completed in 1956.[4]
On 11 February 1943, Dhenin was commissioned into the Medical Branch of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve as a flying officer (emergency). He was then appointed the medical officer of No. 166 Squadron RAF, an Avro Lancaster bomber squadron that was based at RAF Kirmington.[5] During his time at Kirmington, he was awarded the George Medal for a rescuing an airman from a burning wreck in October 1943. On 8 June 1944, two days after D-Day, he transferred to a mobile field hospital. Based in Normandy, France, he was tasked with evacuating casualties by air from the campaign across North-West Europe.
On 1 September 1945, after the end of the Second World War, Dhenin transferred to the Medical Branch of the Royal Air Force as a flight lieutenant.
As part of the half-yearly promotions, he was promoted to air commodore (one star rank) on 1 January 1967.
On 14 January 1944, Dhenin was awarded the George Medal (GM), the second highest civil decoration of the UK, for rescuing an airman from a crashed and burning bomber. In the 1954 New Year Honours, he was awarded an Air Force Cross (AFC) for flying a plane into the mushroom cloud of the first British nuclear bomb test in Australia in 1953. In the 1959 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was awarded a bar to his Air Force Cross (i.e. he was awarded the AFC for a second time). In November 1974, he was appointed a Commander of the Order of St John (CStJ). In the 1975 New Year Honours, he was knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE).
Dhenin married Evelyn in 1946. She died in 1996. He married Syvia in 2002.[1]