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. Charles Moore, 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 	Image 	Born 	Promotion date	Died
 	Royal Regiment of Foot 	 	1666 	 	1737
 	Earl of Argyll's Regiment of Foot 	 	1680 	 	1743
 	Horse Guards Regiment 	 	1674 	 	1740
 	 	 	1672 	 	1739
 	26th (Cameronian) Regiment of Foot 	 	1673 	 	1747
 	6th Regiment of Foot 	 	1669 	 	1749
 	Earl of Bath's Regiment 	 	1673 	 	1748
 	Grenadier Guards (1st Foot Guards) 	 	1685 	 	1768
 	Royal Scots 	 	1680 	 	1758
 	10th Regiment of Foot 	 	1680 	 	1770
 	39th (Dorsetshire) Regiment of Foot 	 	1690 	 	1773
 	5th Royal Irish Lancers 	 	1721 	 	1794
 	13th Regiment of Foot 	 	1743 	 	1805
 	24th Regiment of Foot 	 	1720 	 	1796
 	Grenadier Guards 	 	1763 	 	1827
 	Royal Scots Fusiliers 	 	1723 	 	1806
 	Grenadier Guards 	 	1717 	 	1797
 	Scots Guards 	 	1719 	 	1797
 	Grenadier Guards 	 	1708 	 	1798
 	7th Queen's Own Hussars 	 	1724 	 	1807
 	Coldstream Guards 	 	1729 	 	1803
 	Coldstream Guards 	 	1735 	 	1806
 	Royal Fusiliers 	 	1767 	 	1820
 	33rd Regiment of Foot 	 	1769 	 	1852
 	— (Royal Family;afterwards King of Hanover) 	 	1771 	 	1851
 	Hanoverian Guards 	 	1774 	 	1850
 	Scots Guards 	 	1776 	 	1834
 	— (Royal Family;afterwards King of the Belgians) 	 	1790 	 	1865
 	12th Dragoons 	 	1730 	 	1821
 	Grenadier Guards 	 	1743 	 	1830
 	50th (Queen's Own) Regiment of Foot 	 	1745 	 	1832
 	Grenadier Guards 	 	1747 or 1748	 	1837
 	— (Royal Family) 	 	1819 	 	1861
William II 	— (King of the Netherlands) 	 	1792 	 	1849
 	39th (Dorsetshire) Regiment of Foot 	 	1757 	 	1849
 	Grenadier Guards 	 	1764 	 	1851
 	80th Regiment of Foot (Staffordshire Volunteers) 	 	1768 	 	1854
 	4th Light Dragoons 	 	1788 	 	1855
 	23rd Regiment of Foot 	 	1773 	 	1865
 	33rd Regiment of Foot 	 	1772 	 	1860
 	Queen's Rangers 	 	1785 	 	1856
 	East Devonshire Regiment 	 	1779 	 	1863
 	99th Regiment of Foot 	 	1778 	 	1868
 	Seaforth Highlanders 	 	1779 	 	1869
 	12th Royal Lancers 	 	1819 	 	1904
 	9th (East Norfolk) Regiment of Foot 	 	1792 	 	1863
 	9th (East Norfolk) Regiment of Foot 	 	1782 	 	1870
 	9th (East Norfolk) Regiment of Foot 	 	1784 	 	1875
 	Royal Artillery 	 	1779 	 	1868
 	Royal Engineers 	 	1782 	 	1871
 	Bengal Artillery 	 	1786 	 	1872
 	— (retired) 	 	1785 	 	1877
 	Grenadier Guards 	 	1787 	 	1876
King Edward VII 	— (Royal Family) 	 	1841 	 	1910
 	52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot 	 	1789 	 	1879
 	35th (Royal Sussex) Regiment of Foot 	 	1790 	 	1880
 	93rd (Sutherland Highlanders) Regiment of Foot 	 	1801 	 	1885
 	Bengal Engineer Group 	 	1810 	 	1890
 	11th Bengal Native Infantry 	 	1804 	 	1895
 	64th (2nd Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot 	 	1804 	 	1886
 	Royal Artillery 	 	1799 	 	1886
 	85th Regiment of Foot (Bucks Volunteers) 	 	1804 	 	1893
 	6th Regiment of Foot 	 	1800 	 	1888
 	Royal Engineers 	 	1821 	 	1903
 	4th Regiment of Foot 	 	1818 	 	1909
 	9th Bengal Native Infantry 	 	1824 	 	1900
 	12th Regiment of Foot 	 	1833 	 	1913
 	Bengal Artillery 	 	1832 	 	1914
 	67th (South Hampshire) Regiment of Foot 	 	1823 	 	1902
 	55th Bengal Native Infantry 	 	1820 	 	1902
Wilhelm II, German Emperor	— (German Emperor; King of Prussia) 	 	1859 	 	1941
 	1st Bengal Native Infantry 	 	1826 	 	1904
 	Royal Engineers 	 	1850 	 	1942
 	13th Light Dragoons 	 	1838 	 	1919
 	27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot 	 	1835 	 	1912
Franz Joseph I of Austria 	— (Emperor of Austria; King of Hungary) 	 	1830 	 	1916
 	King's Royal Rifle Corps 	 	1841 	 	1925
 	51st Sikhs (Frontier Force) 	 	1831 	 	1916
 	Royal Engineers 	 	1850 	 	1916
King George V 	Royal Welsh FusiliersEx officio — (Royal Family) 	 	1865 	 	1936
 	Scots Guards 	 	1845 	 	1932
 	Royal Engineers 	 	1845 	 	1918
 	8th King's Royal Irish Hussars 	 	1852 	 	1925
Nicholas II of Russia 	— (Emperor of Russia) 	 	1868 	 	1918
 	7th Queen's Own Hussars 	 	1861 	 	1928
 	31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot 	 	1848 	 	1921
 	— (Emperor of Japan) 	 	1879 	 	1926
 	35th Artillery Regiment – (French Army) 	 	1851 	 	1929
 	York and Lancaster Regiment 	 	1857 	 	1932
 	6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons 	 	1861 	 	1936
 	Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own) 	 	1864 	 	1922
 	3rd Dragoon Guards 	 	1860 	 	1933
 	44th (East Essex) Regiment of Foot 	 	1857 	 	1926
Albert I of Belgium 	— (King of the Belgians) 	 	1875 	 	1934
 	Royal Scots Fusiliers 	 	1865 	 	1951
 	Worcestershire Regiment 	 	1863 	 	1948
 	Royal Artillery 	 	1866 	 	1948
Alfonso XIII of Spain 	— (King of Spain) 	 	1886 	 	1941
Hirohito (Emperor Shōwa) 	— (Emperor of Japan) 	 	1901 	 	1989
 	King's Royal Rifle Corps 	 	1861 	 	1935
 	Grenadier Guards 	 	1865 	 	1946
 	Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry 	 	1869 	 	1950
 	Royal Artillery 	 	1871 	 	1947
King Edward VIII 	Ex officio— (Royal Family) 	 	1894 	 	1972
 	West Yorkshire Regiment 	 	1874 	 	1947
King George VI 	Ex officio— (Royal Family) 	 	1895 	 	1952
 	Royal Artillery 	 	1880 	 	1959
 	— (South African Army) 	 	1870 	 	1950
 	Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment 	 	1881 	 	1944
 	Grenadier Guards 	 	1886 	 	1946
 	Black Watch 	 	1883 	 	1950
 	Royal Artillery 	 	1883 	 	1963
 	Irish Guards 	 	1891 	 	1969
 	Royal Warwickshire Regiment 	 	1887 	 	1976
 	Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own) 	 	1881 	 	1964
 	62nd Punjabis (Indian Army) 	 	1884 	 	1981
 	Royal Warwickshire Regiment 	 	1891 	 	1970
 	— (Australian Army) 	 	1884 	 	1951
 	Royal Navy – (Royal Family) 	 	1921 	 	2021
 	Somerset Light Infantry 	 	1896 	 	1989
 	King's Royal Rifle Corps 	 	1900 	 	1974
 	Royal Irish Fusiliers 	 	1898 	 	1979
 	Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) 	 	1902 	 	1976
 	— (King of Nepal) 	 	1920 	 	1972
Haile Selassie 	— (Emperor of Ethiopia) 	 	1892 	 	1975
 	17th/21st Lancers 	 	1907 	 	1989
 	Seaforth Highlanders 	 	1907 	 	1996
 	Royal Artillery 	 	1912 	 	1980
 	Royal Tank Corps 	 	1915 	 	2001
 	King's Royal Rifle Corps 	 	1921 	 	2004
 	— (King of Nepal) 	 	1945 	 	2001
 	King's Royal Rifle Corps 	 	1923 	 	2019
 	7th Queen's Own Hussars 	 	1925 	 	2007
 	Green Howards 	 	1927 	 	2002
 	Royal Artillery 	 	1931 	 	2018
 	2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles) 	 	1931 	 	2022
 	Royal Scots Greys – (Royal Family) 	 	1935 	 	living
 	Green Howards 	alt=Peter Inge	1935 	 	2022
 	Welsh Guards, Royal Navy, and Royal Air ForceEx officio – (Royal Family)	 	1948 	 	living
 	Welsh Guards 	 	1938 	 	living
 	Royal Anglian Regiment 	 	1944 	 	living
==See also==
*British Army Other Ranks rank insignia
**Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy)
**Marshal of the Royal Air Force
*British Army officer rank insignia
*British and U.S. military ranks compared
==Notes==
==References==
Footnotes
Works cited
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Category:Military ranks of the British Army