The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) has been the title of the professional head of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

since 1964. The CGS is a member of both the

Chiefs of Staff Committee 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 ...

and the

Army Board The Army Board is the top single-service management committee of the British Army, and has always been staffed by senior politicians and soldiers. Until 1964 it was known as the Army Council. Membership of the Board The composition is as follo ...

. Prior to 1964, the title was Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS). Since 1959, the post has been immediately subordinate to the Chief of the Defence Staff, the post held by the professional head of the

British Armed Forces The British Armed Forces, also known as His Majesty's Armed Forces, are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, s ...

. The current Chief of the General Staff is General Sir

Patrick Sanders Patrick Elliot Sanders (born August 27, 1985) is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for Club Ferro Carril Oeste of the Argentine Liga Nacional de Básquet. He played college basketball for UC-Irvine. College career ...

, who succeeded his predecessor, General Sir Mark Carleton-Smith, in June 2022.

Background

The title was also used for five years between the demise of the Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in 1904 and the introduction of Chief of the Imperial General Staff in 1909. The post was then held by General Sir

Neville Lyttelton General The Honourable Sir Neville Gerald Lyttelton, (28 October 1845 – 6 July 1931) was a British Army officer from the Lyttelton family who served against the Fenian Raids, and in the Anglo-Egyptian War, the Mahdist War and the Second Boer ...

and, briefly, by Field Marshal Sir William Nicholson. Throughout the existence of the post the Chief of the General Staff has been the First Military Member of the

Roles

The Chief was responsible for commanding the entire British Army. During the Second World War, General Brooke focused on grand strategy, and his relationships, through the Combined Chiefs of Staff with his American counterparts. He was also responsible for the appointment and evaluation of senior commanders, allocation of manpower and equipment, and the organisation of tactical air forces in support of land operations of field commanders; he also had primary responsibility for supervising the military operations of the Free French, Polish, Dutch, Belgian, and Czech units reporting to their governments in exile in London. Brooke vigorously allocated responsibilities to his deputies, and despite the traditional historical distrust that had existed between the military and the political side of the War Office, he got along quite well with his counterpart, the Secretary of State for War, first David Margesson and later, Sir James Grigg.

Appointees

The following table lists all those who have held the post of Chief of the General Staff or its preceding positions. Ranks and honours are as at the completion of their tenure: , -style="text-align:center;" !colspan=7, Chiefs of the General Staff , -style="text-align:center;" !colspan=7, Chiefs of the Imperial General Staff , -style="text-align:center;" !colspan=7, Chiefs of the General Staff

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{Chief of the army by country Senior appointments of the British Army

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...