John Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort
Field Marshal John Standish Surtees Prendergast Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort, 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. 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.
John Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort
The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, Lord Gort and Lady Gort, with staff officers at the Staff College, Camberley, prior to the departure of Lord Gort and his staff to France, November 1939
General Alphonse Joseph Georges of the French Army, accompanied by General Lord Gort, Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of the BEF, inspecting men of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, 5th Division, at Bethune, France, 23 April 1940.
Lord Gort with Avraham Krinitzi mayor of Ramat Gan, April 1945.
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. After the Second World War, it became standard practice to appoint the Chief of the Imperial 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.
The Earl Roberts painted 1906 in the full dress uniform of a Field Marshal in the British Army
Field Marshal's uniform and baton (pertaining to the late Sir John Stanier) on display in the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Museum, Edinburgh Castle.
Image: 1st Earl Of Orkney
Image: John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll and Duke of Greenwich by William Aikman