Quartermaster-General to the Forces

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The Quartermaster-General to the Forces, commonly just referred to as the Quartermaster-General (QMG), was a senior general in the British Army. Latterly, up until 2016, the office was held by a senior General Officer in the army with responsibility for logistics. The post was superseded by that of "Chief of Materiel (Land) Defence Equipment and Support".

A Quartermaster-General first appears in English Army records in 1667; as a permanently established post it dates from 1686.^[1]

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.^[1]

In 1888, the Quartermaster-General took over responsibility for the transport and supply of equipment, provisions and munitions,^[2] formerly overseen by the Commissariat and Transport Department and the Surveyor-General of the Ordnance.^[1] From 1904 the Quartermaster-General to the Forces was the Third Military Member of the Army Council (1904) and its successor, the Army Board.^[3][4]

The appointment of a Deputy Quartermaster-General dates from 1710 and Assistant Quartermasters-General are recorded from as early as 1692.^[1]

In January 2007, following the formation of Defence Equipment and Support, Lieutenant General Richard Applegate assumed the appointment of 'Chief of Materiel (Land), Defence Equipment and Support Organisation';^[5] the following month, he was appointed to the office of Quartermaster General.^[6] His two immediate successors were also gazetted as holding 'the appointment of Chief of Materiel (Land) Defence Equipment and Support and the office of Quartermaster General',^[7] but when Paul Jaques was appointed in 2016 it was simply as 'Chief of Materiel (Land) Defence Equipment and Support'.^[8] (The Ministry of Defence organisation charts have not used the term "Quartermaster-General" since 2011.)^[9][10][11]

In June 2020, the post of Chief of Materiel (Land) (CoM(L)) was renamed Director General Land (DG(L)), 'to bring DE&S in line with other Civil Service departments and better reflect our business focus'.^[12]

Holders of the post have included:^[13]

• 1712–1742 Major-General John Armstrong
• 1742–1763 Lieutenant-General Humphrey Bland
• 1763–1796 Lieutenant-General George Morrison
• 1796–1803 Lieutenant-General Sir David Dundas
• 1803–1811 Lieutenant-General Sir Robert Brownrigg
• 1811–1851 General Sir James Gordon
• 1851–1855 Lieutenant-General Sir James Freeth
• 1855–1865 Lieutenant-General Sir Richard Airey
• 1865–1870 Lieutenant-General Sir Hope Grant
• 1870–1871 General Sir Frederick Haines
• 1871–1876 General Sir Charles Ellice
• 1876–1880 General Sir Daniel Lysons
• 1880–1882 Lieutenant-General Sir Garnet Wolseley
• 1882–1887 General Sir Arthur Herbert
• 1887–1890 Major-General Sir Redvers Buller
• 1890–1893 Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Baker
• 1893 General Sir Robert Biddulph
• 1893–1897 General Sir Evelyn Wood
• 1897–1898 General Sir Richard Harrison
• 1898–1899 General Sir George Stuart White
• 1899–1903 General Sir Charles Clarke
• 1903–1904 General Sir Ian Hamilton
• 1904–1905 General Sir Herbert Plumer
• 1905–1908 General Sir William Nicholson
• 1908–1912 Lieutenant-General Sir Herbert Miles
• 1912–1919 General Sir John Cowans
• 1919–1923 Lieutenant-General Sir Travers Clarke
• 1923–1927 Lieutenant-General Sir Walter Campbell
• 1927–1930 Lieutenant-General Sir Hastings Anderson
• 1931–1934 General Sir Felix Ready
• 1935–1939 General Sir Reginald May
• 1939–1942 General Sir Walter Venning
• 1942–1946 General Sir Thomas Riddell-Webster
• 1946–1947 General Sir Daril Watson
• 1947–1950 General Sir Sidney Kirkman
• 1950–1952 General Sir Ivor Thomas
• 1952–1955 General Sir Ouvry Roberts
• 1955–1956 Lieutenant-General Maurice Chilton
• 1956–1958 General Sir Nevil Brownjohn
• 1958–1961 General Sir Cecil Sugden
• 1961–1965 General Sir Gerald Lathbury
• 1965–1966 General Sir Charles Richardson
• 1966–1969 General Sir Alan Jolly
• 1969–1973 General Sir Anthony Read
• 1973–1977 General Sir William Jackson
• 1977–1979 General Sir Patrick Howard-Dobson
• 1979–1982 General Sir Richard Worsley
• 1982–1983 Lieutenant-General Sir Paul Travers
• 1983–1986 General Sir Richard Trant
• 1986–1988 General Sir Charles Huxtable
• 1988–1991 General Sir Edward Jones
• 1991–1994 General Sir John Learmont
• 1994–1996 Lieutenant General Sir William Rous
• 1996–1998 Lieutenant General Sir Samuel Cowan
• 1998–2000 Lieutenant General Sir Scott Grant
• 2000–2002 Major-General David Judd
• 2002–2006 Major-General Anthony Raper
• 2006–2007 Major-General Timothy Tyler
• 2007–2009 Lieutenant General Dick Applegate^[14]
• 2009–2012 Lieutenant General Gary Coward^[15]
• 2012–2016 Lieutenant General Sir Christopher Deverell^[7]

• 2007–2009 Lieutenant General Dick Applegate^[16]
• 2009–2012 Lieutenant General Gary Coward^[17]
• 2012–2016 Lieutenant General Sir Christopher Deverell^[7]
• 2016–2019 Lieutenant General Paul Jaques^[8][18]
• 2019–2020 Christopher Bushell^[19]

• 2020–2024 Christopher Bushell^[20]
• 2024–Present Lieutenant General Simon Hamilton^[20]