Chief of the General Staff (United Kingdom) in the context of "British Army"

Field Marshal John Standish Surtees Prendergast Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort (10 July 1886 – 31 March 1946), was a senior British Army officer. As a young officer during the First World War, he was decorated with the Victoria Cross for his actions during the Battle of the Canal du Nord. During the 1930s he served as Chief of the Imperial General Staff (the professional head of the British Army). He is best known for commanding the British Expeditionary Force that was sent to France in the first year of the Second World War, only to be evacuated from Dunkirk the following year. Gort later served as Governor of Gibraltar and Malta, and High Commissioner for Palestine and Transjordan.

Field Marshal John Denton Pinkstone French, 1st Earl of Ypres, KP, GCB, OM, GCVO, KCMG, PC, PC (Ire) (28 September 1852 – 22 May 1925), known as Sir John French from 1901 to 1916, and as The Viscount French between 1916 and 1922, was a senior British Army officer.

Born in Kent, he saw brief service as a midshipman in the Royal Navy, before becoming a cavalry officer. He achieved rapid promotion and distinguished himself on the Gordon Relief Expedition. He became a national hero during the Second Boer War. He commanded I Corps at Aldershot, then served as Inspector-General of the Forces, before becoming Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS, the professional head of the British Army) in 1912. He helped to prepare the British Army for a possible European war, and was among those who insisted that cavalry still be trained to charge with sabre and lance. During the Curragh incident he had to resign as CIGS.

Field Marshal William Edmund Ironside, 1st Baron Ironside, GCB, CMG, DSO (6 May 1880 – 22 September 1959) was a senior officer of the British Army who served as Chief of the Imperial General Staff during the first year of the Second World War.

Ironside joined the Royal Artillery in 1899, and served throughout the Second Boer War. This was followed by a brief period spying on the German colonial forces in German South West Africa. Returning to regular duty, he served on the staff of the 6th Infantry Division during the first two years of the First World War, before being appointed to a position on the staff of the newly raised 4th Canadian Division in 1916. In 1918, he was given command of a brigade on the Western Front. In 1919, he was promoted to command the Allied intervention force in northern Russia. Ironside was then assigned to an Allied force occupying Turkey, and then to the British forces based in Persia in 1921. He was offered the post of the commander of British forces in Iraq, but was unable to take up the role due to injuries in a flying accident.

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, 143 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).

General Sir Archibald James Murray, GCB, GCMG, CVO, DSO (23 April 1860 – 21 January 1945) was a British Army officer who served in the Second Boer War and the First World War. He was chief of staff to the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in August 1914 but appears to have suffered a physical breakdown in the retreat from Mons, and was required to step down from that position in January 1915. After serving as Deputy Chief of the Imperial General Staff for much of 1915, he was briefly Chief of the Imperial General Staff from September to December 1915. He was subsequently Commander-in-Chief of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force from January 1916 to June 1917, in which role he laid the military foundation for the defeat and destruction of the Ottoman Empire in the Arabian Peninsula and the Levant.

The Chiefs of Staff Committee (CSC) is composed of the most senior military personnel in the British Armed Forces, who advise on operational military matters and the preparation and conduct of military operations. The committee consists of the chief of the defence staff, who is the chairman and professional head of the armed forces, and the vice-chief of the defence staff, who is the vice-chairman and deputy professional head of the armed forces. The committee also includes the heads of the three branches of the armed forces – the first sea lord and chief of the naval staff, the chief of the general staff and the chief of the air staff.

Field Marshal Alan Francis Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke (23 July 1883 – 17 June 1963), was a senior officer of the British Army. He was Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS), the professional head of the British Army, during the Second World War, and was promoted to field marshal on 1 January 1944.

Brooke trained as an artillery officer and became Commandant of the School of Artillery, Larkhill in 1929. He held various divisional and corps level commands before the Second World War and became C-in-C Home Forces in 1940.