List of the field marshals of united kingdom
The vast majority of officers to hold the rank of field marshal were professional soldiers in the British Army, though eleven served as officers in the British Indian Army.
Four field marshals—Sir Evelyn Wood, Sir George White, Earl Roberts, and Lord Gort—had previously received the Victoria Cross (VC), the United Kingdom's highest and most prestigious award for gallantry "in the face of the enemy". Wood, a famously injuryprone officer, was awarded the VC for two actions in 1858 in which he first attacked a group of rebels in India and later rescued an informant from another group of rebels. White, a cavalry officer, led two charges on enemy guns in Afghanistan in 1879, while Gort, of the Grenadier Guards, commanded a series of attacks while severely wounded during the First World War in 1918. Roberts received his VC for actions during the Indian Mutiny.

Wellington, 44 at the time of his promotion, was the youngest nonroyal officer to earn the rank of field marshal. Charles Moore, 1st Marquess of Drogheda was the oldest, promoted at the age of 91, while a further twentythree officers were promoted to field marshal in their eighties. Wellington was also the only field marshal to become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.