Background
Henkes was born into a working class family in Görlitz where after leaving school relatively young he studied for a career as a chemical laboratory assistant.
Soldier deputy Lieutenant General
Henkes was born into a working class family in Görlitz where after leaving school relatively young he studied for a career as a chemical laboratory assistant.
A period of further education followed when he studied at the Freiberg Mining Academy from 1949 till 1950, after which he returned to Wismut, where he worked till 1952.
He was a Lieutenant general in the East German army (NVA) and a deputy Transport minister in the government from 1975 till 1990. Between 1978 and 1982 he was in charge of Interflug, the German Democratic Republic"s national airline. Early years
At the end of the war he was captured by the Soviets and was, according to one source, a Soviet prisoner of war between 1946 and 1949.
By 1949 he had already reached the rank of Brigadier with Screen Actors Guild Wismut, the important (Uranium) mining company.
Military training
Klaus Henkes volunteered for military service on 23 May 1952, and was commended to attend "Lehrgang X" training till 1953. This was a training programme instigated at the end of 1951 by the Soviet authorities which involved special training at Syzran, by the Volga River for approximately 220 East German future military pilots for that country"s future military air force.
(The country"s army was only officially designed an army in 1956, prior to which quasi-military activity took place under the auspices of the Peoples" Police based in Barracks (Katholieke Volks Partij (Catholic People's Party) / Kasernierte Volkspolizei).)
After completing his training he was appointed a pilot at the Katholieke Volks Partij (Catholic People's Party) (quasi-military) Flying School at the Bautzen flying centre, which later became the Officers" Training Base for Military Pilots. Between 1954 and 1955 he was sent on assignment as Senior Navigator of the forerunner organisation for East Germany"s Airforce Command.
In this connection he was then sent for a lengthy period of training, which lasted till 1959, at the Gagarin Air Force Academy near Moscow.
Military career
From 1959 till 1961 Henkes served as a senior pilot with Airforce Command. During this time he was also, in 1967, awarded a doctorate in Military sciences from the Dresden Military Academy. On 1 March 1975 he was promoted to the rank of Major General.
In 1978 Henkes succeeded Kurt Diedrich in the top job at Interflug, the German Democratic Republic"s "flag-carrier" airline.
The appointment to this position of a military general highlighted the close links between Interflug and the defense forces in East Germany. He remained at Interflug till 1982.
On 2 October 1982 he was promoted again, now to the rank of Lieutenant general. Retirement
In 1989 he was awarded the National Prize of East Germany, and he was retired on 30 April 1990.
He was also granted an invalidity pension.
He trained as a miner of Lignite (brown coal) at Espenhain (near Leipzig) and, in 1948, became a member of East Germany"s ruling Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED / "Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands").