Major general (United Kingdom)
Major-general | |
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Service branch | ![]() ![]() |
Abbreviation | Maj Gen |
Rank | Two-star rank |
NATO rank code | OF-7 |
Next higher rank | Lieutenant general |
Next lower rank | Brigadier |
Equivalent ranks | Rear admiral (Royal Navy) Air vice-marshal (Royal Air Force) |
Major-general (Maj Gen), is a "two-star" rank in the British Army[1] and Royal Marines. The rank was also briefly used by the Royal Air Force for a year and a half, from its creation to August 1919. In the British Army, a major general is the customary rank for the appointment of division commander. In the Royal Marines, the rank of major general is held by the Commandant General.
A major general is senior to a brigadier but subordinate to lieutenant general. The rank is OF-7 on the NATO rank scale, equivalent to a rear admiral in the Royal Navy or an air vice-marshal in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many Commonwealth countries.
The rank insignia is the star (or 'pip') of the Order of the Bath, over a crossed sword and baton.
In terms of orthography, compound ranks were invariably hyphenated, prior to about 1980. Nowadays the rank is almost equally invariably non-hyphenated.[a] When written as a title, especially before a person's name, both words of the rank are always capitalised, whether using the "traditional" hyphenated style of, say, the two World Wars, or the modern un-hyphenated style. When used as common nouns, they might be written in lower-case: "Major-General Montgomery was one of several major-generals to be promoted at this time."
British Army usage
In the British Army, a division is commanded by a major general. However, other appointments may also be held by major generals. For example, the Commandant of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst is a major general.
Until around the 1980s, the heads of each branch of service, such as the Royal Armoured Corps, the Royal Artillery and the Corps of Infantry, were major-generals. Other, administrative, commands were also appointments for a major-general. In addition, in wartime, the senior officer of the Royal Army Chaplains Department, the Chaplain-General, and similar appointments, were accorded 'the relative precedence' - that is to say the equivalence rather than the full powers and authority - of the rank of major-general.
Royal Marines usage
The Commandant General Royal Marines has held the rank of major general since 1996, when the post was downgraded from lieutenant general. As in the British Army, a Royal Marine major general ranks below lieutenant general and above brigadier.
Royal Air Force usage
From its foundation on 1 April 1918 to 31 July 1919, the Royal Air Force (RAF) briefly maintained the rank of major-general. The service was a wartime amalgamation of the Army's Royal Flying Corps and the Navy's Royal Naval Air Service, so the Third Service ranks were a compromise between these two traditions. The insignia of the rank was derived from that of a Royal Navy rear-admiral and featured a broad gold stripe on the cuff below one narrow gold stripe. The two stripes were surmounted by an eagle (volant and affronty) under a king's crown. The RAF replaced the rank of major-general with the rank of air vice-marshal on 1 August 1919.
Despite the short duration, the significance of the RAF to modern warfare was indicated by the number of senior officers who did wear the rank of major-general in the RAF:
- Edward Ashmore[2]
- Sefton Brancker
- George Cayley[3]
- Edward Ellington
- Philip Game
- The Honorable Sir Frederick Gordon[4]
- Frederick Heath-Caldwell[5]
- John Higgins
- Mark Kerr
- Charles Lambe
- Charles Longcroft
- Godfrey Paine
- Geoffrey Salmond
- John Salmond
- Ernest Swinton[6]
- Frederick Sykes
- Hugh Trenchard
See also
- British and U.S. military ranks compared
- British Army Other Ranks rank insignia
- British Army officer rank insignia
Notes
- ^ e.g. in London Gazette, compare the entries in these two editions from 1979: firstly: "No. 47869". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 June 1979. p. 2. and then:"No. 48015". The London Gazette (Supplement). 27 November 1979. p. 14929.
References
- ^ British Army Website Archived 2009-12-14 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Ashmore.htm
- ^ "G C Cayley_P". www.rafweb.org. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
- ^ "F Gordon_P". www.rafweb.org. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
- ^ "F C Heath-Caldwell_P". www.rafweb.org. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
- ^ "E D Swinton_P". www.rafweb.org. Archived from the original on 1 July 2017. Retrieved 16 March 2018.