Following the
First World War, the rank of Brigadier General was briefly
abolished in favour of a rank called "Colonel Commandant" in
1922. This rank was renamed as Brigadier in 1928.
Insignia
The crossed baton and sabre was removed from the rank insignia
and changed instead to a crown and three rank stars. These stars
were often of a smaller size than that normally worn by lesser
ranking officers, in order that they would fit, grouped as shown
below, onto the shoulder straps of a uniform. The familiar staff
gorgets were also abolished from all ranks below Colonel.1
Gorget patches were also worn by Brigadiers with silk gimp cord;
the tabs were done in red, with the exception of officers
serving in certain Corps as identified below.2
Brigadiers now
also wore the same pattern cap badge as a Colonel rather than
that of a General Officer.
 |
 |
|
1928-1952
(King's Crown) |
1952-1968
(Queen's Crown) |
Responsibilities
It was extremely common for an officer to be promoted directly
from Lieutenant Colonel to Brigadier in field formations, and
the intervening rank of Colonel was not associated with any
field command appointments and was also relatively rare among
staff positions in the overseas army.
Post
Unification
After Unification of the Armed Forces in 1968, the rank of
Brigadier was once again replaced with that of Brigadier
General.
Notes
-
Holmes,
Richard. TOMMY: The British Soldier On The Western
Front 1914-1918 (Harper Collins Publishers Inc.,
2004) p.226.
Thanks also to Commander Brian
E. Nelson, CD, for supplying information for this section.
