Quartermaster-General to the Forces

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The Quartermaster-General to the Forces (QMG) is a senior general in the British Army. The post has become symbolic: the Ministry of Defence organisation charts since 2011 have not used the term "Quartermaster-General to the Forces"; they simply refer to "Chief of Materiel (Land)".[1][2][3]

History[edit]

A Quartermaster-General first appears in English Army records in 1667; as a permanently established post it dates from 1686.[4]

Responsibilities[edit]

The Quartermaster-General was (like the Adjutant-General) a senior staff officer of the Commander-in-Chief of the Forces, responsible for the movement and quartering of troops. From the 1680s to the 1880s, the QMG periodically had responsibility for military intelligence in addition.[4]

In 1888, the Quartermaster-General took over responsibility for the transport and supply of equipment, provisions and munitions,[5] formerly overseen by the Commissariat and Transport Department and the Surveyor-General of the Ordnance.[4] From 1904 the Quartermaster-General to the Forces was the Third Military Member of the Army Council (1904) and its successor, the Army Board.[6][7]

The appointment of a Deputy Quartermaster-General dates from 1710 and Assistant Quartermasters-General are recorded from as early as 1692.[4]

Present day[edit]

In modern use, the QMG is the senior General Officer in the army holding a logistics appointment and is currently the Lieutenant General holding the post of Chief of Materiel (Land) (CoM(L)) within Defence Equipment and Support. The CoM(L) sits upon the highest committee within the army, the Army Board.

Recent holders of the post[edit]

Holders of the post have included:[8]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Defence Equipment and Support Senior, as of September 2011". Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  2. ^ "Defence Equipment and Support senior, as of March 2012". Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  3. ^ "Defence Equipment and Support senior, as of September 2013". Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  4. ^ a b c d Roper, Michael (1998). The Records of the War Office and Related Departments, 1660-1964. Kew, Surrey: Public Record Office.
  5. ^ "Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives". Kcl.ac.uk. 8 August 2005. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
  6. ^ The Army in 1906: A Policy and a Vindication By Hugh Oakeley Arnold-Forster, Page 481 Bibliobazaar, 2008, ISBN 978-0-559-66499-1
  7. ^ "Defence Equipment and Support senior, as of March 2014". Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  8. ^ "Army Commands" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 July 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
  9. ^ Defence View points June 2011
  10. ^ "MOD and Royal Mail sign new agreement to keep personnel connected". Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  11. ^ "No. 62850". The London Gazette (Supplement). 10 December 2019. p. 22294.