# Field marshal (United Kingdom)

Field marshal (FM) has been the highest rank in the British Army since 1736. A five-star rank with NATO code OF-10, it is equivalent to an Admiral of the Fleet in the Royal Navy or a Marshal of the Royal Air Force in the Royal Air Force (RAF). A Field Marshal's insignia consists of two crossed batons surrounded by yellow leaves below the Tudor Crown. Like Marshals of the Royal Air Force and Admirals of the Fleet, Field Marshals traditionally remain officers for life, though on half-pay when not in an appointment or retired. The rank has been used sporadically throughout its history, and was vacant during parts of the 18th and 19th centuries (when all former holders of the rank were deceased). After the Second World War, it became standard practice to appoint the Chief of the Imperial General Staff (later renamed Chief of the General Staff) to the rank on his last day in the post. Army officers occupying the post of Chief of the Defence Staff, the professional head of all the British Armed Forces, were usually promoted to the rank upon their appointment.
In total, 141 men have held the rank of field marshal. The majority led careers in the British Army or the colonial British Indian Army, rising through the ranks to eventually become a field marshal. Some members of the British Royal Family, most recently Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Charles III, were promoted to the rank after shorter periods of service. Three British monarchs (George V, Edward VIII, and George VI) assumed the rank on their accessions to the throne, while Edward VII and Charles III were already field marshals, and two British consorts, Albert, Prince Consort and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, were appointed by their respective queens. Other ceremonial appointments were made as diplomatic gestures. Twelve foreign monarchs have held the honour, though three (Wilhelm II, German Emperor; Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria-Hungary; and Hirohito, Emperor of Japan) were stripped of it when their countries became enemies of Britain and its allies in the two world wars. Also awarded the rank were one Frenchman (Ferdinand Foch) and one Australian (Sir Thomas Blamey), honoured for their contributions in World War I and World War II respectively, and one South African statesman (Jan Smuts).
A report commissioned by the Ministry of Defence in 1995 made a number of recommendations for financial savings in the armed forces' budget, one of which was the abolition of all five-star ranks. Part of the rationale was that these ranks were disproportionate to the size of the forces commanded by these officers, and that none of the United Kingdom's close allies, such as the United States (which reserves the rank of general of the army for officers who have commanded large armies in major wars), used such ranks. The recommendation was not taken up in full, but the practice of promoting service chiefs to five-star ranks was stopped, and the ranks are now reserved for special circumstances. Sir Peter Inge was, in 1994, the last active officer to be promoted to the rank. Inge relinquished the post of Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) in 1997, and his successor, Sir Charles Guthrie, was the first officer not to be promoted upon appointment as CDS, although he was promoted to the honorary rank of field marshal in June 2012.
The most recent promotions to field marshal came in 2012, eighteen years after the moratorium on routine promotions to the rank, when Queen Elizabeth II promoted Prince Charles, her son and heir apparent, to the five-star ranks in all three services, in recognition of support provided for her in her capacity as Head of the British Armed Forces. At the same time, Guthrie, who relinquished the post of CDS and retired from active service in 2001, was promoted to honorary field marshal. In June 2014, former Chief of the Defence Staff Lord Walker of Aldringham was also promoted to honorary field marshal.
Although the rank of field marshal is not used in the Royal Marines, the insignia is used on the uniform of the Captain General, the ceremonial head of the corps (equivalent to colonel-in-chief).

## Insignia of rank

The rank insignia of a field marshal in the British Army comprises two crossed batons in a wreath of laurel leaves, with a crown above. In some other countries, historically under the sphere of British influence, an adapted version of the insignia is used for field marshals, often with the crown being replaced with an alternative cultural or national emblem. On appointment, British field marshals are awarded a gold-tipped baton which they may carry on formal occasions.

## List of field marshals

The vast majority of officers to hold the rank of field marshal were professional soldiers in the British Army, though eleven served as officers in the British Indian Army. At least fifty-seven field marshals were wounded in battle earlier in their careers, of whom 24 were wounded more than once, and eight had been prisoners of war. Fifteen future field marshals were present at the Battle of Vitoria, where the Duke of Wellington earned the rank, and ten others served under Wellington at the Battle of Waterloo. However, only thirty-eight held independent commands in the field, and just twelve served as Commander-in-Chief of the Forces (the pre-1904 professional head of the army) or Chief of the Imperial General Staff during a major war.
Four field marshals (Sir Evelyn Wood, Sir George White, Earl Roberts, and Lord Gort) had previously received the Victoria Cross (VC), the United Kingdom's highest and most prestigious award for gallantry 'in the face of the enemy'. Wood, a famously injury-prone officer, was awarded the VC for two actions in 1858, in which he first attacked a group of rebels in India, and later rescued an informant from another group of rebels. White, a cavalry officer, led two charges on enemy guns in Afghanistan in 1879, while Gort, of the Grenadier Guards, commanded a series of attacks while severely wounded during the First World War in 1918. Roberts received his VC for actions during the Indian Mutiny.
Wellington, 44 at the time of his promotion, was the youngest non-royal officer to earn the rank of field marshal. The 1st Marquess of Drogheda was the oldest, promoted at the age of 91, while a further twenty-three officers were promoted to field marshal in their eighties. Wellington was also the only field marshal to become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
No officer whose career was spent in the British Army has ever reached the rank of field marshal without having served in the cavalry, infantry, Royal Armoured Corps, Royal Artillery, or Royal Engineers. One non-British officer has been appointed field marshal in the British Army; Ferdinand Foch of France, in recognition of his contributions in the First World War, while one, Sir William Robertson, held every rank in the British Army, from private soldier to field marshal.
Field Marshals of the British Army :
| Name and style | Regiment | Born | Promotion date | Died |
| George Hamilton, 1st Earl of Orkney | Royal Regiment of Foot | 1666 | 12 January 1736 | 1737 |
| John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll | Earl of Argyll's Regiment of Foot | 1680 | 14 January 1736 | 1743 |
| Richard Boyle, 2nd Viscount Shannon | Horse Guards Regiment | 1674 | 2 July 1739 | 1740 |
| François de La Rochefoucauld, Marquis de Montandre | | 1672 | 2 July 1739 | 1739 |
| John Dalrymple, 2nd Earl of Stair | 26th (Cameronian) Regiment of Foot | 1673 | 18 March 1742 | 1747 |
| Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham | 6th Regiment of Foot | 1669 | 14 December 1742 | 1749 |
| George Wade | Earl of Bath's Regiment | 1673 | 14 December 1742 | 1748 |
| Sir Robert Rich, 4th Baronet | Grenadier Guards (1st Foot Guards) | 1685 | 28 November 1757 | 1768 |
| Richard Molesworth, 3rd Viscount Molesworth | Royal Scots | 1680 | 29 November 1757 | 1758 |
| John Ligonier, 1st Earl Ligonier | 10th Regiment of Foot | 1680 | 30 November 1757 | 1770 |
| James O'Hara, 2nd Baron Tyrawley | 39th (Dorsetshire) Regiment of Foot | 1690 | 1 June 1763 | 1773 |
| Henry Seymour Conway | 5th Royal Irish Lancers | 1721 | 12 October 1793 | 1794 |
| Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh | 13th Regiment of Foot | 1743 | 12 October 1793 | 1805 |
| Sir George Howard | 24th Regiment of Foot | 1720 | 12 October 1793 | 1796 |
| Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany | Grenadier Guards | 1763 | 10 February 1795 | 1827 |
| John Campbell, 5th Duke of Argyll | Royal Scots Fusiliers | 1723 | 30 July 1796 | 1806 |
| Jeffery Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst | Grenadier Guards | 1717 | 30 July 1796 | 1797 |
| John Griffin, 4th Baron Howard de Walden | Scots Guards | 1719 | 30 July 1796 | 1797 |
| Studholme Hodgson | Grenadier Guards | 1708 | 30 July 1796 | 1798 |
| George Townshend, 1st Marquess Townshend | 7th Queen's Own Hussars | 1724 | 30 July 1796 | 1807 |
| Lord Frederick Cavendish | Coldstream Guards | 1729 | 30 July 1796 | 1803 |
| Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond | Coldstream Guards | 1735 | 30 July 1796 | 1806 |
| Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn | Royal Fusiliers | 1767 | 5 September 1805 | 1820 |
| Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington | 33rd Regiment of Foot | 1769 | 21 June 1813 | 1852 |
| Prince Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale | — (Royal Family; afterwards King of Hanover) | 1771 | 6 November 1813 | 1851 |
| Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge | Hanoverian Guards | 1774 | 26 November 1813 | 1850 |
| Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh | Scots Guards | 1776 | 24 May 1816 | 1834 |
| Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha | — (Royal Family; afterwards King of the Belgians) | 1790 | 24 May 1816 | 1865 |
| Charles Moore, 1st Marquess of Drogheda | 12th Dragoons | 1730 | 19 July 1821 | 1821 |
| William Harcourt, 3rd Earl Harcourt | Grenadier Guards | 1743 | 19 July 1821 | 1830 |
| Sir Alured Clarke | 50th (Queen's Own) Regiment of Foot | 1745 | 22 July 1830 | 1832 |
| Sir Samuel Hulse | Grenadier Guards | 1747 or 1748 | 22 July 1830 | 1837 |
| Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha | — (Royal Family) | 1819 | 8 February 1840 | 1861 |
| William II | — (King of the Netherlands) | 1792 | 28 July 1845 | 1849 |
| Sir George Nugent, 1st Baronet | 39th (Dorsetshire) Regiment of Foot | 1757 | 9 November 1846 | 1849 |
| Thomas Grosvenor | Grenadier Guards | 1764 | 9 November 1846 | 1851 |
| Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey | 80th Regiment of Foot (Staffordshire Volunteers) | 1768 | 9 November 1846 | 1854 |
| FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan | 4th Light Dragoons | 1788 | 5 November 1854 | 1855 |
| Stapleton Cotton, 1st Viscount Combermere | 23rd Regiment of Foot | 1773 | 2 October 1855 | 1865 |
| John Byng, 1st Earl of Strafford | 33rd Regiment of Foot | 1772 | 2 October 1855 | 1860 |
| Henry Hardinge, 1st Viscount Hardinge | Queen's Rangers | 1785 | 2 October 1855 | 1856 |
| John Colborne, 1st Baron Seaton | East Devonshire Regiment | 1779 | 1 April 1860 | 1863 |
| Sir Edward Blakeney | 99th Regiment of Foot | 1778 | 9 November 1862 | 1868 |
| Hugh Gough, 1st Viscount Gough | Seaforth Highlanders | 1779 | 9 November 1862 | 1869 |
| Prince George, Duke of Cambridge | 12th Royal Lancers | 1819 | 9 November 1862 | 1904 |
| Colin Campbell, 1st Baron Clyde | 9th (East Norfolk) Regiment of Foot | 1792 | 9 November 1862 | 1863 |
| Sir Alexander Woodford | 9th (East Norfolk) Regiment of Foot | 1782 | 1 January 1868 | 1870 |
| Sir William Gomm | 9th (East Norfolk) Regiment of Foot | 1784 | 1 January 1868 | 1875 |
| Sir Hew Ross | Royal Artillery | 1779 | 1 January 1868 | 1868 |
| Sir John Burgoyne | Royal Engineers | 1782 | 1 January 1868 | 1871 |
| Sir George Pollock, 1st Baronet | Bengal Artillery | 1786 | 24 May 1870 | 1872 |
| Sir John FitzGerald | — (retired) | 1785 | 29 May 1875 | 1877 |
| George Hay, 8th Marquess of Tweeddale | Grenadier Guards | 1787 | 29 May 1875 | 1876 |
| King Edward VII | — (Royal Family) | 1841 | 29 May 1875 | 1910 |
| Sir William Rowan | 52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot | 1789 | 2 June 1877 | 1879 |
| Sir Charles Yorke | 35th (Royal Sussex) Regiment of Foot | 1790 | 2 June 1877 | 1880 |
| Hugh Rose, 1st Baron Strathnairn | 93rd (Sutherland Highlanders) Regiment of Foot | 1801 | 2 June 1877 | 1885 |
| Robert Napier, 1st Baron Napier of Magdala | Bengal Engineer Group | 1810 | 1 January 1883 | 1890 |
| Sir Patrick Grant | 11th Bengal Native Infantry | 1804 | 24 June 1883 | 1895 |
| Sir John Michel | 64th (2nd Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot | 1804 | 27 March 1886 | 1886 |
| Sir Richard Dacres | Royal Artillery | 1799 | 27 March 1886 | 1886 |
| Lord William Paulet | 85th Regiment of Foot (Bucks Volunteers) | 1804 | 10 July 1886 | 1893 |
| George Bingham, 3rd Earl of Lucan | 6th Regiment of Foot | 1800 | 21 June 1887 | 1888 |
| Sir Lintorn Simmons | Royal Engineers | 1821 | 21 May 1890 | 1903 |
| Sir Frederick Haines | 4th Regiment of Foot | 1818 | 21 May 1890 | 1909 |
| Sir Donald Stewart, 1st Baronet | 9th Bengal Native Infantry | 1824 | 24 May 1894 | 1900 |
| Garnet Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley | 12th Regiment of Foot | 1833 | 24 May 1894 | 1913 |
| Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts, VC | Bengal Artillery | 1832 | 25 May 1895 | 1914 |
| Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar | 67th (South Hampshire) Regiment of Foot | 1823 | 22 June 1897 | 1902 |
| Sir Neville Bowles Chamberlain | 55th Bengal Native Infantry | 1820 | 25 April 1900 | 1902 |
| Wilhelm II, German Emperor | — (German Emperor; King of Prussia) | 1859 | 27 January 1901 | 1941 |
| Sir Henry Norman | 1st Bengal Native Infantry | 1826 | 26 June 1902 | 1904 |
| Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn | Royal Engineers | 1850 | 26 June 1902 | 1942 |
| Sir Evelyn Wood, VC | 13th Light Dragoons | 1838 | 8 April 1903 | 1919 |
| Sir George White, VC | 27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot | 1835 | 8 April 1903 | 1912 |
| Franz Joseph I of Austria | — (Emperor of Austria; King of Hungary) | 1830 | 1 September 1903 | 1916 |
| Francis Grenfell, 1st Baron Grenfell | King's Royal Rifle Corps | 1841 | 11 April 1908 | 1925 |
| Sir Charles Brownlow | 51st Sikhs (Frontier Force) | 1831 | 20 June 1908 | 1916 |
| Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener | Royal Engineers | 1850 | 10 September 1909 | 1916 |
| King George V | Royal Welsh Fusiliers Ex officio — (Royal Family) | 1865 | 7 May 1910 | 1936 |
| Paul Methuen, 3rd Baron Methuen | Scots Guards | 1845 | 19 June 1911 | 1932 |
| William Nicholson, 1st Baron Nicholson | Royal Engineers | 1845 | 19 June 1911 | 1918 |
| John French, 1st Earl of Ypres | 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars | 1852 | 3 June 1913 | 1925 |
| Nicholas II of Russia | — (Emperor of Russia) | 1868 | 1 January 1916 | 1918 |
| Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig | 7th Queen's Own Hussars | 1861 | 1 January 1917 | 1928 |
| Sir Charles Egerton | 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot | 1848 | 16 March 1917 | 1921 |
| Emperor Taishō (Yoshihito) | — (Emperor of Japan) | 1879 | 1 January 1918 | 1926 |
| Ferdinand Foch | 35th Artillery Regiment – (French Army) | 1851 | 19 July 1919 | 1929 |
| Herbert Plumer, 1st Viscount Plumer | York and Lancaster Regiment | 1857 | 31 July 1919 | 1932 |
| Edmund Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby | 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons | 1861 | 31 July 1919 | 1936 |
| Sir Henry Wilson, 1st Baronet | Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own) | 1864 | 31 July 1919 | 1922 |
| Sir William Robertson, 1st Baronet | 3rd Dragoon Guards | 1860 | 29 March 1920 | 1933 |
| Sir Arthur Barrett | 44th (East Essex) Regiment of Foot | 1857 | 12 April 1921 | 1926 |
| Albert I of Belgium | — (King of the Belgians) | 1875 | 4 May 1921 | 1934 |
| William Birdwood, 1st Baron Birdwood | Royal Scots Fusiliers | 1865 | 20 March 1925 | 1951 |
| Sir Claud Jacob | Worcestershire Regiment | 1863 | 30 November 1926 | 1948 |
| George Milne, 1st Baron Milne | Royal Artillery | 1866 | 30 January 1928 | 1948 |
| Alfonso XIII of Spain | — (King of Spain) | 1886 | 3 June 1928 | 1941 |
| Hirohito (Emperor Shōwa) | — (Emperor of Japan) | 1901 | 26 June 1928 | 1989 |
| Julian Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy | King's Royal Rifle Corps | 1861 | 17 July 1932 | 1935 |
| Rudolph Lambart, 10th Earl of Cavan | Grenadier Guards | 1865 | 31 October 1932 | 1946 |
| Philip Chetwode, 1st Baron Chetwode | Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry | 1869 | 13 February 1933 | 1950 |
| Sir Archibald Montgomery-Massingberd | Royal Artillery | 1871 | 7 June 1935 | 1947 |
| King Edward VIII | Ex officio— (Royal Family) | 1894 | 21 January 1936 | 1972 |
| Sir Cyril Deverell | West Yorkshire Regiment | 1874 | 15 May 1936 | 1947 |
| King George VI | Ex officio— (Royal Family) | 1895 | 12 December 1936 | 1952 |
| Edmund Ironside, 1st Baron Ironside | Royal Artillery | 1880 | 20 July 1940 | 1959 |
| Jan Smuts | — (South African Army) | 1870 | 24 May 1941 | 1950 |
| Sir John Dill | Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment | 1881 | 18 November 1941 | 1944 |
| John Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort, VC | Grenadier Guards | 1886 | 1 January 1943 | 1946 |
| Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell | Black Watch | 1883 | 1 January 1943 | 1950 |
| Alan Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke | Royal Artillery | 1883 | 1 January 1944 | 1963 |
| Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis | Irish Guards | 1891 | 4 June 1944 | 1969 |
| Bernard Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein | Royal Warwickshire Regiment | 1887 | 1 September 1944 | 1976 |
| Henry Maitland Wilson, 1st Baron Wilson | Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own) | 1881 | 29 December 1944 | 1964 |
| Sir Claude Auchinleck | 62nd Punjabis (Indian Army) | 1884 | 1 June 1946 | 1981 |
| William 'Bill' Slim, 1st Viscount Slim | Royal Warwickshire Regiment | 1891 | 4 January 1948 | 1970 |
| Sir Thomas Blamey | — (Australian Army) | 1884 | 8 June 1950 | 1951 |
| Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh | Royal Navy – (Royal Family) | 1921 | 15 January 1953 | 2021 |
| John Harding, 1st Baron Harding of Petherton | Somerset Light Infantry | 1896 | 21 July 1953 | 1989 |
| Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester | King's Royal Rifle Corps | 1900 | 31 March 1955 | 1974 |
| Sir Gerald Templer | Royal Irish Fusiliers | 1898 | 27 November 1956 | 1979 |
| Sir Francis Festing | Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) | 1902 | 1 September 1960 | 1976 |
| Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah | — (King of Nepal) | 1920 | 17 October 1962 | 1972 |
| Haile Selassie | — (Emperor of Ethiopia) | 1892 | 20 January 1965 | 1975 |
| Sir Richard Hull | 17th/21st Lancers | 1907 | 8 February 1965 | 1989 |
| Sir James Cassels | Seaforth Highlanders | 1907 | 29 February 1968 | 1996 |
| Sir Geoffrey Baker | Royal Artillery | 1912 | 31 January 1971 | 1980 |
| Michael Carver, Baron Carver | Royal Tank Corps | 1915 | 18 July 1973 | 2001 |
| Sir Roland Gibbs | King's Royal Rifle Corps | 1921 | 13 July 1979 | 2004 |
| Birendra Bir Bikram Shah | — (King of Nepal) | 1945 | 18 November 1980 | 2001 |
| Edwin Bramall, Baron Bramall | King's Royal Rifle Corps | 1923 | 1 January 1982 | 2019 |
| Sir John Stanier | 7th Queen's Own Hussars | 1925 | 10 July 1985 | 2007 |
| Sir Nigel Bagnall | Green Howards | 1927 | 9 September 1988 | 2002 |
| Richard Vincent, Baron Vincent of Coleshill | Royal Artillery | 1931 | 2 April 1991 | 2018 |
| Sir John Chapple | 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles) | 1931 | 14 February 1992 | 2022 |
| Prince Edward, Duke of Kent | Royal Scots Greys – (Royal Family) | 1935 | 11 June 1993 | living |
| Peter Inge, Baron Inge | Green Howards | 1935 | 15 March 1994 | 2022 |
| King Charles III | Welsh Guards, Royal Navy, and Royal Air Force Ex officio – (Royal Family) | 1948 | 16 June 2012 | living |
| Charles Guthrie, Baron Guthrie of Craigiebank | Welsh Guards | 1938 | 16 June 2012 | living |
| Michael Walker, Baron Walker of Aldringham | Royal Anglian Regiment | 1944 | 13 June 2014 | living |