Field marshal ( Australia ) Field marshal is the highest rank of the Australian Army and was created as a direct equivalent of the British military rank of field marshal . A five - star rank , the equivalent ranks in the other armed services are admiral of the fleet and marshal of the Royal Australian Air Force . The subordinate army rank is general . Lord Birdwood , 1925 . Field Marshal Sir William Birdwood ( later created The 1st Baron Birdwood ) was a British Army officer who commanded the First Australian Imperial Force ( 1st AIF ) in World War I . As such , he was made a general in the AIF in 1917 , and in the Australian Army in 1920 . Despite his British origins , " Birdy " , as he was known to the Australian soldiers , was a popular and respected commander and his promotion was seen as reward for his effective command of the AIF . When he was promoted to the rank of field marshal in the British Army in 1925 , Birdwood was also made a field marshal in the Australian Army . His baton is kept in the Australian War Memorial , but is not on display . Sir Thomas Blamey , 1951 . Sir Thomas Blamey was the first and is the only Australian - born field marshal . He was promoted to the rank on the insistence of the then Australian Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies in 1951 . Blamey served in World War I in the First Australian Imperial Force ( AIF ) , from the horrors of trench warfare at the ANZAC positions at Gallipoli to duties as chief of staff to Lieutenant General Sir John Monash , Commander of the Australian Corps in France and Belgium . Blamey attained the rank of brigadier general by the war ' s end . During the inter - war years he served as chief commissioner of the Victoria Police . During the 1920s and 1930s he expressed public concern over the state of the Australian Military Forces due to financial restrictions brought about by the Great Depression . Later , during World War II he commanded the 2nd AIF . He was promoted to general in 1941 and became Commander - in - Chief of the Australian Military Forces and Commander of Allied Land Forces in the South West Pacific Area under the overall command of United States General Douglas MacArthur . Blamey attended Japan ' s ceremonial surrender in Tokyo Bay on 3 September 1945 and signed the Instrument of Surrender on behalf of Australia . He later personally accepted the Japanese surrender at Morotai . In his address to the surrendering Japanese commander , Blamey declared : " " . . . in accepting your surrender , I do not recognise you as an honourable foe . . . " " . This speech is also on display in the Australian War Memorial , Canberra . The then British Chief of the Imperial General Staff ( CIGS ) , Sir William Slim , himself a field marshal ( and later Governor - General of Australia ) , resisted Menzies ' recommendation for Blamey ' s promotion , on the grounds that Dominion generals could not be made field marshals . At the time the CIGS was the final authority in the then British Commonwealth for such promotions . Menzies pointed out that Field Marshal Jan Smuts was a Dominion general . Slim countered by saying ( untruthfully ) that Blamey was a retired officer , and retired officers could not be promoted to field marshal . Menzies got around this restriction by recalling Blamey from retirement . Blamey was , at the time of his promotion , seriously ill and mostly bed - ridden in the Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital . He was presented with his field marshal ' s baton at a ceremoney held in the sunroom at the Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital by the then Governor - General , William McKell . Blamey died three months later . Blamey ' s field marshal ' s baton is on display in the Second World War galleries at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra . It is about 40 centimetres ( 16 inches ) long and at its top has a golden mount with two rings of rose s , thistle s and shamrocks surmounted by a miniature figure of Saint George mounted on his horse and battling a dragon with his lance . The miniature is about 8 centimetres ( 3 inches ) high . The shaft of the baton is covered in scarlet velvet inlaid with a succession of golden lions passant along its length and around its circumference . The pommel ( bottom end ) of the baton is ornate solid gold with the details of the presentation to Blamey engraved on the base . It is identical to those of all field marshals of the United Kingdom since Arthur Wellesley , 1st Duke of Wellington in 1813 , all of which have been made by the same firm , R . & S . Garrard & Co , Crown Jewellers , of London . The design is based upon that of the Marshal of France , the baton of Marshal Jean - Baptiste Jourdan captured by Wellington at Battle of Vitoria being used as a model . Blamey also appears in the list of field marshals of the British Army . Duke of Edinburgh , 1954 . Currently , the only living Australian field marshal is HRH Prince Philip , Duke of Edinburgh , who was promoted to the rank of field marshal in the Australian Army on 1 April 1954 — over a year after he attained that rank in the British Army on 15 January 1953 . However , as consort of Queen Elizabeth II , the duke ' s rank is purely ceremonial — he has no command or control role in the Australian Defence Force ( ADF ) , and is not part of the ADF ' s operational structure . Prince Philip first paraded in Australia in field marshal ' s uniform , complete with baton , in Canberra on 17 February 1954 when he and the Queen attended a meeting of 4 , 000 Australian ex - servicemen in front of ( Old ) Parliament House . At the base of the memorial statue of King George V , the Queen and Prince Philip were greeted by presidents of ex - service organisations , after which they talked to 100 disabled men and proceeded to slowly drive through the ranks . Later the same day , the prince wore the uniform when he attended the presentation of new colours ceremony at the Royal Military College Duntroon , conducted by Her Majesty the Queen . During the proceedings , described in contemporary accounts as " poignant " and " spectacular " , the new colours replaced those presented to the Royal Military College on the same parade ground by her late father King George VI in 1927 . Current protocol . Only the Governor - General of Australia , on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of Australia , can appoint officers to the rank of field marshal . The badge of rank is St . Edward ' s Crown mounted above a two crossed batons that are circled by a wreath of oak leaves . After the Duke of Edinburgh , currently the most senior rank held in the Australian Army is lieutenant general , which is held by the Chief of Army . Other three - star positions available to Australian Army Officers are Vice Chief of the Defence Force ( VCDF ) , Chief of Joint Operations ( CJOPS ) , and Chief of Capability Development ( CCDG ) . The rank of general in the Australian Army is reserved for times when an army officer is appointed as Chief of the Defence Force ( CDF ) . In recent years this rank has been held by General Peter Cosgrove , who retired in 2005 , and incumbent CDF General David Hurley .