Michael Walker, Baron Walker of Aldringham
Field Marshal Michael John Dawson Walker, Baron Walker of Aldringham, is a retired British Army officer. Commissioned in 1966, he served in Cyprus, Northern Ireland, and in a variety of staff posts in the United Kingdom until 1984. After being given command of a battalion, he was mentioned in despatches for his service during a second tour of duty in Northern Ireland, this time in Derry, and subsequently served a tour on Gibraltar. He was promoted to brigadier, unusually having never held the rank of colonel, and took command of 20th Armoured Brigade in Germany before becoming I Corps chief of staff.
Michael Walker in 2020
Walker in June 2005
Walker with Prime Minister John Major at the Ilidza Compound in Sarajevo, Bosnia, during Operation Joint Endeavor
Walker served as commander of the land component of the NATO-led Implementation Force in Bosnia
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