Marshal of the Air Force

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This article is about air force officers who rank as Marshals. For the similarly named but lesser air force rank, see Air Marshal.

Marshal of the Air Force is both a generic term for the most senior rank in an air force, equivalent to Field Marshal or Fleet Admiral and, in some air forces, a rank title.

Contents 1 Generic use 2 Use as a rank title 3 List of air force marshals 3.1 Australia 3.2 Egypt 3.3 Germany 3.4 India 3.5 Iraq 3.6 Italy 3.7 Jordan 3.8 New Zealand 3.9 Portugal 3.10 Soviet Union 3.11 United Kingdom 4 Other Countries

[edit] Generic use

Marshal of the Air Force corresponds to several different rank titles. The oldest such rank is the British Marshal of the Royal Air Force. The United States Air Force uses General of the Air Force instead. The Luftwaffe used the same rank as the German Army, namely Generalfeldmarschall.

[edit] Use as a rank title

In some Commonwealth countries which use an air force rank structure derived from the Royal Air Force, Marshal of the Air Force is not only the most senior rank (in a generic sense), but also a rank title. The rank is usually conferred as an honour and has an identical or similar insignia to that of Marshal of the Royal Air Force.

[edit] List of air force marshals

[edit] Australia

• 1939 - George VI of the United Kingdom (1895-1952)
• 1954 - Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (b.1921)

[edit] Egypt

• HM King Farouk (1920-1965)
• 26 July 1952 - HM King Fuad II (b.1952)

[edit] Germany

• 4 February 1938 - Hermann Göring (1893-1945)
• 19 July 1940 - Albert Kesselring (1885-1960)
• 19 July 1940 - Erhard Milch (1892-1972)
• 19 July 1940 - Hugo Sperrle (1885-1953)
• 16 February 1943 - Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen (1895-1945)
• 25 April 1945 - Robert Ritter von Greim (1892-1945)

[edit] India

• 26 January 2002 - Arjan Singh (b.1919)

[edit] Iraq

• 8 September 1933 - HM King Ghazi (1912-1939)
• 6 April 1939 - HRH Prince Abdul Illah (1913-1958)
• 2 May 1953 - HM King Faisal II (1935-1958)

[edit] Italy

• August 1933 - Maresciallo dell'Aria Italo Balbo (1896-1940)

[edit] Jordan

• HM King Hussein of Jordan (1935-1999)
• 7 February 1999 - HM King Abdullah II (b.1962)

[edit] New Zealand

• 1977 - Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (b.1921)

[edit] Portugal

• 1990 - Humberto Delgado (1906-1965) (posthumous promotion)

[edit] Soviet Union

• Alexander Alexandrovich Novikov (1900-1976)
• Alexander Evgenievich Golovanov (1904-1975)
• Pavel Fedorovich Zhigarev (1900-1963)
• Konstantin Andreevich Vershinin (1900-1973)
• Pavel Stepanovich Kutakhov (1914-1984)
• Boris Pavlovich Bugaev (1923-2007)
• Alexander Ivanovich Koldunov (1923-1992)
• Evgeni Ivanovich Shaposhnikov (1942-)

[edit] United Kingdom

• List of Marshals of the Royal Air Force

[edit] Other Countries

The rank also exists or has existed (on paper) in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Brunei, Indonesia, Iran, South Korea, Malaysia, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Turkey and South Vietnam, but not all of these countries have ever actually used it.