List of senior officers of the British Army
Encyclopedia
This is a list of senior officers of the British Army. See also Commander in Chief of the Forces, Chief of the General Staff
, and Chief of the Imperial General Staff.
Chief of the General Staff (United Kingdom)
Chief of the General Staff has been the title of the professional head of the British Army since 1964. The CGS is a member of both the Chiefs of Staff Committee and the Army Board...
, and Chief of the Imperial General Staff.
Captains-General of the British Army, 1707-1809
- John Churchill, 1st Duke of MarlboroughJohn Churchill, 1st Duke of MarlboroughJohn Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, Prince of Mindelheim, KG, PC , was an English soldier and statesman whose career spanned the reigns of five monarchs through the late 17th and early 18th centuries...
1707-1711 - James Butler, 2nd Duke of OrmondeJames Butler, 2nd Duke of OrmondeJames Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde KG KT was an Irish statesman and soldier. He was the third of the Kilcash branch of the family to inherit the earldom of Ormonde...
1711-1714 - John Churchill, 1st Duke of MarlboroughJohn Churchill, 1st Duke of MarlboroughJohn Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, Prince of Mindelheim, KG, PC , was an English soldier and statesman whose career spanned the reigns of five monarchs through the late 17th and early 18th centuries...
1714-1717 - office vacant 1717-1744
- Prince William Augustus, Duke of CumberlandPrince William Augustus, Duke of CumberlandPrince William , was a younger son of George II of Great Britain and Caroline of Ansbach, and Duke of Cumberland from 1726. He is generally best remembered for his role in putting down the Jacobite Rising at the Battle of Culloden in 1746, and as such is also known as "Butcher" Cumberland...
1744-1757 - office vacant 1757-1799
- Prince Frederick, Duke of York 1799-1809
Chiefs of the Imperial General Staff 1908-1964
See article on Chief of the General Staff (United Kingdom)Chief of the General Staff (United Kingdom)
Chief of the General Staff has been the title of the professional head of the British Army since 1964. The CGS is a member of both the Chiefs of Staff Committee and the Army Board...
Chiefs of the General Staff, 1964-
See article on Chief of the General Staff (United Kingdom)Chief of the General Staff (United Kingdom)
Chief of the General Staff has been the title of the professional head of the British Army since 1964. The CGS is a member of both the Chiefs of Staff Committee and the Army Board...
Vice Chiefs of the Imperial General Staff
The Vice Chiefs were as follows:- Lieutenant-General Sir John DillJohn DillField Marshal Sir John Greer Dill, GCB, CMG, DSO was a British commander in World War I and World War II. From May 1940 to December 1941 he was the Chief of the Imperial General Staff, the professional head of the British Army, and subsequently in Washington, as Chief of the British Joint Staff...
April 1940 - 27 May 1940 - Lieutenant-General Sir Robert HainingRobert HainingGeneral Sir Robert Hadden Haining KCB DSO was a British General who served during World War II.-Military career:Robert Haining was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1901...
27 May 1940 - 19 May 1941 - Lieutenant-General Sir Henry PownallHenry Royds PownallLieutenant General Sir Henry Royds Pownall KCB, KBE, DSO was a British general, who held several important command and Staff appointments during World War II. In particular, he was Chief of Staff to the British Expeditionary Force in France and Belgium until the fall of France in May 1940...
19 May 1941 - 5 December 1941 - Lieutenant-General Sir Archibald NyeArchibald NyeLieutenant-General Sir Archibald Edward Nye, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, KCB, KBE, MC was a British Army officer who served in both World War I and World War II...
5 December 1941 - 1945 - Lieutenant-General Sir Frank SimpsonFrank Simpson (British Army officer)General Sir Frank Ernest Wallace Simpson GBE KCB DSO was a British Army General during the 1940s.-Military career:Educated at Bishop Cotton Boys' School, Frank Simpson was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in 1916...
1946 - 1948 - Lieutenant-General Sir Gerald TemplerGerald TemplerField Marshal Sir Gerald Walter Robert Templer KG, GCB, GCMG, KBE was a British military commander. He is best known for his defeat of the guerrilla rebels in Malaya between 1952 and 1954...
1948 - 1950 - Lieutenant-General Sir Nevil BrownjohnNevil BrownjohnGeneral Sir Nevil Charles Dowell Brownjohn GBE KCB CMG MC was Quartermaster-General to the Forces.-Military career:Brownjohn was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in 1915: he served in World War I...
1950 - 1952 - Lieutenant-General Sir Harold RedmanHarold RedmanLieutenant General Sir Harold Redman, KCB, CBE was an officer in the British Indian Army during World War II and the post-war era.-Military career:...
1952 - 1955 - Lieutenant-General Sir William OliverWilliam Oliver (British Army officer)Lieutenant General Sir William Pasfield Oliver GBE KCB KCMG was Vice Chief of the Imperial General Staff.-Military career:Oliver was commissioned into the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment in 1920. He became Adjutant of his Regiment in 1927 and went on to be an Instructor at the Army School of...
1955 - 1957 - Lieutenant-General Sir William StrattonWilliam Stratton (British Army officer)Lieutenant General Sir William Stratton KCB CVO CBE DSO was Commander of British Forces in Hong Kong.-Military career:Stratton was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in 1924...
1957 - 1960 - Lieutenant-General Sir William Pike 1960 - 1963
- Lieutenant-General Sir Geoffrey BakerGeoffrey BakerField Marshal Sir Geoffrey Harding Baker GCB, CMG, CBE, MC was Chief of the General Staff, the professional head of the British Army.-Army career:...
1963 - 1966 - Lieutenant-General Sir Desmond FitzpatrickDesmond FitzpatrickGeneral Sir Geoffrey Richard Desmond Fitzpatrick, GCB, GCVO, DSO, MBE, MC was a senior British Army officer who served as commander of the British Army of the Rhine and Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe...
1966 - 1968 - Lieutenant-General Sir Victor FitzGeorge-Balfour 1968 - 1970
- Lieutenant-General Sir Cecil BlackerCecil BlackerGeneral Sir Cecil Hugh Blacker GCB OBE MC was a senior British Army officer and a former Adjutant-General to the Forces.-Military career:...
1970 - 1973 - Lieutenant-General Sir David FraserDavid William FraserGeneral Sir David William Fraser, GCB, OBE is a retired British Army officer who became Commandant of the Royal College of Defence Studies.-Military career:...
1973 - 1975 - Lieutenant-General Sir William ScotterWilliam ScotterGeneral Sir William Norman Roy Scotter, KCB, OBE, MC was Commander-in-Chief, British Army of the Rhine, from September 1978 until October 1980.-Early years:...
1975 - 1978 - Lieutenant-General Sir John Stanier 1978 - 1980
- Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas MoronyThomas MoronyGeneral Sir Thomas Lovett Morony KCB OBE was a British Army General who reached high office in the 1980s.-Military career:...
1980 - 1983 - Lieutenant-General Sir James GloverJames Glover (British Army officer)General Sir James Malcolm Glover KCB DL was a former Commander in Chief, UK Land Forces.-Army career:Educated at Wellington College, Jimmy Glover, as he was generally known, was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1949. He transferred to the Rifle Brigade in 1956 and served with the Brigade...
1983 - 1985
Deputy Chiefs of the Imperial General Staff
The Deputy Chiefs were as follows:- Major-General Sir Henry LawsonHenry Merrick LawsonLieutenant General Sir Henry Merrick Lawson KCB was a British Army General during World War I.-Military career:...
November 1914 - January 1915 - Lieutenant-General Sir Archibald MurrayArchibald MurrayGeneral Sir Archibald James Murray, GCMG, KCB, CVO, DSO was a British Army officer during World War I, most famous for his commanding the Egyptian Expeditionary Force from 1916 to 1917.-Army career:...
February 1915 - September 1915 - Major-General Sir Launcelot KiggellLauncelot KiggellLieutenant General Sir Launcelot Edward Kiggell KCB KCMG was a British Army officer who became Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey.-Military career:Kiggell was commissioned into the Royal Warwickshire Regiment in 1882...
November 1915 - December 1915 - Major-General Robert WhighamRobert WhighamGeneral Sir Robert Dundas Whigham GCB KCMG DSO is a former Adjutant-General to the Forces.-Military career:Educated at Fettes College in Edinburgh and at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Robert Whigham was commissioned into the 1st Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment in 1885.He becam...
December 1915 - April 1918 - Major-General Sir Charles HaringtonCharles Harington HaringtonGeneral Sir Charles Harington Harington GCB, GBE, DSO, DCL , was a British Army officer most noted for his service during the First World War and Chanak crisis...
1918 - 1920 - Lieutenant-General Sir Philip ChetwodePhilip Chetwode, 1st Baron ChetwodeField Marshal Philip Walhouse Chetwode, 1st Baron Chetwode, 7th Baronet of Oakley, GCB, OM, GCSI, KCMG, DSO was a British cavalry officer who became Commander in Chief in India.-Early life and education:...
, 1920-1922 - Lieutenant-General Sir Ronald AdamRonald AdamGeneral Sir Ronald Forbes Adam, 2nd Baronet, GCB, DSO, OBE was a British Army officer whose career spanned World War I and World War II...
1938 - 1939 - Major-General Hugh MassyHugh MassyLieutenant General Hugh Royds Stokes Massy CB DSO MC was a British Army General during World War II.-Military career:...
1939 - 1940 - Lieutenant-General Sir Ronald WeeksRonald Weeks, 1st Baron WeeksLieutenant-General Ronald Morce Weeks, 1st Baron Weeks KCB, CBE, DSO, MC, TD was a British Army General during the Second World War.-Military career:...
15 June 1942 - 29 May 1945 - Lieutenant-General Sir Sidney KirkmanSidney KirkmanGeneral Sir Sidney Chevalier Kirkman GCB, KBE, MC was a general in the British Armed Forces from 1944 to 1950 and Director General of Civil Defence in the Civil Defence Department from 1954 to 1960.-Biography:...
1945 - 1947 - Lieutenant-General Sir Kenneth CrawfordKenneth CrawfordGeneral Sir Kenneth Noel Crawford KCB MC was a British Army General who reached high office in the 1940s.-Military career:Crawford was commissioned into the Royal Engineers and went on to serve in World War I being awarded the MC in 1919....
1947 - 1949 - Lieutenant-General Sir John Whiteley 1949 - 1953
- Lieutenant-General Sir Dudley WardAlfred Dudley WardGeneral Sir Alfred Dudley Ward, GCB, KBE, DSO , was a British Army officer during the Second World War and later Governor of Gibraltar. He served as an ordinary soldier for three years before being sent for officer training in 1926...
1953 - 1956 - Lieutenant-General Sir Richard Hull 1956 - 1958
- Lieutenant-General Sir Harold PymanHarold PymanGeneral Sir Harold English Pyman GBE KCB DSO was a British Army General who achieved high office in the 1960s. He was the eldest son of Harold English Pyman and Christian Jane Scott, and the great-grandson of George Pyman....
1958 - 1961 - Lieutenant-General Sir John AndersonJohn Anderson (British Army officer)General Sir John D'Arcy Anderson GBE KCB DSO was a British Army General who reached high office in the 1960s.-Military career:Anderson was commissioned into the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards in 1929...
1961 - 1963 - Lieutenant-General Sir John Hackett 1963 - 1966
- General Sir Charles HaringtonCharles Henry Pepys HaringtonGeneral Sir Charles Henry Pepys Harington GCB, CBE, DSO, MC was an officer in the British Army. He served in the British Expeditionary Force and in Normandy in the Second World War. He was later Commander-in-Chief of the three-service Middle East Command from 1963 to 1965, based at Aden...
1966 - 1968 - Lieutenant-General Sir Ian FreelandIan FreelandLieutenant-General Sir Ian Henry Freeland GBE KCB DSO DL was a British Army officer, who most notably served as Army General Officer Commanding and Director of Operations in security matters in Northern Ireland in the aftermath of rioting in 1969, and the beginning of the Troubles.-Early career...
April 1968 - December 1968
Assistant Chiefs of the General Staff
See article on Assistant Chief of the General Staff (United Kingdom)Assistant Chief of the General Staff (United Kingdom)
-Responsibilities:The Assistant Chief of the General Staff supports the Chief of the General Staff in his responsibilities, sets the conditions for the British Army to contribute to success on operations, ensures coherence across the 'Defence Lines of Development' and develops the Army of the...