Please see "lieutenant general

Lieutenant General

Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....

" for other countries which use this rank

Lieutenant-general (Lt-Gen) is a senior rank in the British Army

British Army

The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

 and the Royal Marines

Royal Marines

The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...

, although the highest ranking officer in the Royal Marines at present is major general. It has a NATO code of OF-8, and is the equivalent of a multinational three-star rank; some British lieutenant-generals sometimes wear three-star insignia, in addition to their standard insignia, when on multinational operations.

Lieutenant-general is a superior rank to major-general

Major-General (United Kingdom)

Major general is a senior rank in the British Army. Since 1996 the highest position within the Royal Marines is the Commandant General Royal Marines who holds the rank of major general...

, but subordinate to a full general

General (United Kingdom)

General is currently the highest peace-time rank in the British Army and Royal Marines. It is subordinate to the Army rank of Field Marshal, has a NATO-code of OF-9, and is a four-star rank....

. The rank has a NATO rank code of OF-8, equivalent to a vice-admiral

Vice Admiral (Royal Navy)

Vice admiral is a flag officer rank of the British Royal Navy. It equates to the NATO rank code OF-8 and is immediately superior to rear admiral and is subordinate to the full admiral rank.The Royal Navy has had vice admirals since at least the 16th century...

 in the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 and an air marshal

Air Marshal

Air marshal is a three-star air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force...

 in the Royal Air Force

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

 (RAF) and the air forces of many Commonwealth

Commonwealth of Nations

The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...

 countries.

The rank insignia for both the Army and the Royal Marines is a crown over a crossed sabre and baton. Since the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II

Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...

, the St Edward's Crown, commonly known as the Queen's Crown, has been depicted. Prior to 1953, the Tudor Crown

Tudor Crown

The Tudor Crown, also known as the King's Crown or Imperial Crown, was a symbol used from 1902 to 1953 representing not only the British monarch personally, but also "The Crown", meaning the sovereign source of governmental authority...

, commonly known as the King's Crown was used.

British Army usage

Ordinarily, lieutenant-general is the rank held by the officer in command of an entire battlefield corps

Corps

A corps is either a large formation, or an administrative grouping of troops within an armed force with a common function such as Artillery or Signals representing an arm of service...

. The General Officer Commanding

General Officer Commanding

General Officer Commanding is the usual title given in the armies of Commonwealth nations to a general officer who holds a command appointment. Thus, a general might be the GOC II Corps or GOC 7th Armoured Division...

 NATO's Allied Rapid Reaction Corps is a British lieutenant-general. Historically, I Corps and II Corps were commanded by British lieutenant-generals. Additionally, two lieutenant-general appointments also exist within the extant British Army's HQ Land Forces. They are the commander of the Field Army

Commander Field Army (United Kingdom)

The Commander Field Army was a senior British Army officer who had command over the Deployable Divisions of the British Army i.e. those divisions on full strength...

 and the commander of Regional Forces

Commander Regional Forces (United Kingdom)

The Commander Regional Forces was a senior British Army officer who had command over the Regenerative Divisions of the British Army i.e. those divisions that are not on full strength and would only be mobilised in a national emergency. The post was held by a Lieutenant General and was based at HQ...

. The current Adjutant-General to the Forces

Adjutant-General to the Forces

The Adjutant-General to the Forces, commonly just referred to as the Adjutant-General , is one of the most senior officers in the British Army. He is in charge of administration, personnel and organisational matters. The Adjutant-General usually holds the rank of General or Lieutenant-General...

 and the Chief of Materiel (Land) in Defence Equipment and Support (double-hatted as the Quartermaster-General to the Forces

Quartermaster-General to the Forces

In the United Kingdom, the Quartermaster-General to the Forces is a senior general in the British Army.From 1904 the Quartermaster-General to the Forces was the Third Military Member of the Army Board.-Responsibilities:...

) also hold the rank.

Royal Marines usage

Although the senior appointment in the Royal Marines, the Commandant General

Commandant General Royal Marines

The Commandant General Royal Marines is the professional head of the Royal Marines. The title has existed since 1945...

, has held the lower rank of major-general since 1996, prior to this date the Commandant General was a lieutenant-general or full general. However, as a few more senior positions in the British Armed Forces are open to officers from different services, Royal Marines officers can and do still sometime reach the rank of lieutenant-general. Lieutenant-General Sir Robert Fry

Robert Fry

Lieutenant General Sir Robert Alan Fry KCB, CBE is Executive Chairman of the McKinney Rogers Group of companies. Before joining McKinney Rogers, Fry served over 30 years on military operations from Kosovo, the Gulf and Iraq and was later a Vice President of Hewlett Packard...

 was such an example.

Royal Air Force usage

From 1 April 1918 to 31 July 1919, the Royal Air Force maintained the rank of Lieutenant-General. It was superseded by the rank of Air Marshal on the following day. Although Sir David Henderson was an RAF Lieutenant-General, the then RAF Chief-of-Staff, Sir Hugh Trenchard

Hugh Trenchard, 1st Viscount Trenchard

Marshal of the Royal Air Force Hugh Montague Trenchard, 1st Viscount Trenchard GCB OM GCVO DSO was a British officer who was instrumental in establishing the Royal Air Force...

 never held this rank. Additionally, the retired Royal Navy admiral, John de Mestre Hutchison

John de Mestre Hutchison

Admiral John de Mestre Hutchison CVO CMG AdC was a Royal Navy officer who held senior posts during the early part of the 20th century....

, held an honorary RAF commission in the rank of lieutenant-general.

The RAF lieutenant-general rank insignia was similar to the naval rank insignia for a vice-admiral, with a broad band of gold being worn on the cuff with two narrower bands above it. Unlike the naval insignia the RAF lieutenant-general insignia did not have an executive curl.