A key distinction was between Commissioned Officers and Other Ranks (enlisted soldiers and non-commissioned officers or ‘NCOs’). Commissioned Officers were often referred to as ‘officers’ and Other Ranks as ‘men’ (the latter sometimes did not include NCOs).
Sometimes this was split three ways, e.g. many locations in the Great War had three ‘messes’ (dining and social areas) for officers, NCOs and enlisted soldiers.
The army hierarchy was typically as follows (in ascending order):
Other Ranks
- Enlisted soldiers
- Private
- Non-commissioned officers
- Lance-Corporal (sometimes an appointment, not a rank)
- Corporal
- Sergeant (spelled ‘Serjeant’ in some regiments)
- Warrant Officer Class 2, including Sergeant-Major, Company Sergeant-Major (‘CSM’) and Quartermaster Sergeant (‘QSM’, replacing the earlier rank of ‘colour sergeant’)
- Warrant Officer Class 1, including Regimental Sergeant-Major
Commissioned Officers
- Second Lieutenant (sometimes also referred to as a ‘subaltern’)
- Lieutenant (sometimes also referred to as a ‘subaltern’)
- Captain
- Major
- Lieutenant Colonel
- Colonel
- Major General
- Lieutenant General
- General
- Field Marshal (ceremonial: there were five in 1915)
Roles
Some infantry privates were described by their roles, without changing their rank, e.g. ‘Piper’, ‘Bugler’, ‘Cyclist’.
In addition, some non-infantry services made broad use of roles as descriptors for privates, e.g. ‘Gunner’ in the Royal Artillery and ‘Sapper’ in the Royal Engineers.
Navy
The navy had a separate rank hierarchy: see here.
Aviation
The Royal Flying Corps was part of the army and used army ranks. The Royal Naval Air Service used naval ranks as its basis but also developed specialist ranks such as Aircraftman, Flight Lieutenant and Wing Commander. The Royal Air Force was not created until April 1918.
Etymology
Much of the etymology of army military ranks is from Latin and French.
| Term | Likely Origin | Meaning and Context |
|---|---|---|
| Private | Latin privatus | Ordinary citizen; not a public leader |
| Corporal | Latin corpus | Body |
| Sergeant | French sergent | Servant |
| Warrant | Old French warant | Protector; the term ‘warrant officer’ is derived from former junior naval positions created by a warrant rather than by a commission |
| Lieutenant | French lieu and tenant | Lieu place and tenant holding, i.e. taking the place of a more senior officer |
| Captain | Latin caput | Head |
| Major | Latin maior | Greater, senior |
| Colonel | Italian colonello and French coronel | Column officer, a ‘column’ being a military formation |
| General | Latin generalis | Overall, prevailing |
| Marshal | Old German marh-scalc | Horse servant, which took on much grander connotations in the military over time |
For further information on etymology, see here and here.
The etymology of selected naval ranks is given below.
| Term | Likely Origin | Meaning and Context |
|---|---|---|
| Rating | ||
| Seaman | ||
| Petty officer | ||
| Midshipman | ||
| Commander | ||
| Commodore | ||
| Admiral |
< Medals