Since when he Francis Wallace Grenfell's rank in the British Army been the highest rank?
Field marshal (United Kingdom) Field Marshal 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 St Edward's Crown. Like Marshals of the RAF and Admirals of the Fleet, Field Marshals traditionally remain officers for life, though on half-pay when not in an appointment. The rank has been used sporadically throughout its history and was vacant during parts of the 18th and 19th centuries (when all former holders of the rank were deceased). After the Second World War, it became standard practice to appoint the Chief of the Imperial General Staff (later renamed Chief of the 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.
Cecil Maynard Gordon-Ives Cecil Maynard Gordon-Ives (died 23 July 1923) was a British aristocrat and military figure. He was Captain in the Scots Guards in the Great War, promoted from Lieutenant. The son of Colonel Gordon Maynard Gordon-Ives and brother of Victor Maynard Gordon Gordon-Ives, he resided at Bentworth Hall in Bentworth, East Hampshire.