List of senior female officers of the British Armed Forces

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Three senior female officers in 2019: Cdre , Air Cdre Maria Byford, and AVM Chris Elliot

The following is a list of women who have reached general, flag or air officer rank in the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force, not including those given honorary ranks. An air commodore is considered an air officer rank.[citation needed] Though not considered flag[1] or general officers by the United Kingdom, those who have reached the rank of brigadier or commodore and above are included in this list.

Royal Navy[]

Name Image Rank Date of promotion Active/retired
Jude Terry
Commodore Jude Terry (2021-05-25).jpg
Rear Admiral Pending, August 2022[2] Active
Carolyn Stait Commodore 22 June 2004[3] Retired
Inga Kennedy
Royal Navy tricorn (Kennedy cropped).jpg
Commodore 9 February 2015[4] Active
Eleanor L. Ablett
RAF and RN Times Top 50 Employer (Ablett cropped).jpg
Commodore 28 August 2018[5] Active
Fleur Marshall Surgeon Commodore 26 February 2019[6] Active
Melanie S. Robinson
Commodores Robinson and Quinn (Robinson cropped 2).jpg
Commodore RNR 4 February 2020[7][8] Active
Alison J. Hofman Commodore 17 August 2020[9][10] Active

British Army[]

Name Image Rank Date of promotion Active/retired
Susan Ridge
Susan Ridge.jpg
Major General 20 September 2015[11] Retired[12]
Sharon Nesmith
Sharon Nesmith (cropped).jpg
Major General 14 March 2019[13] Active
Celia J. Harvey
First UK female reservist general (Celia Harvey cropped).jpg
Major General 11 March 2020[14] Active (reservist)
Patricia Purves Brigadier 30 June 1999[15] Retired
Nicky Moffat Brigadier 30 June 2009[16] Retired
Fiona H. Gardner Brigadier 30 June 2015[17] Retired[18]
Suzanne Anderson Brigadier 31 December 2015[19] Active
Caroline L. Hull Brigadier 30 June 2020[20] Active
Sara L. Sharkey
Brigadier Sara Sharkey.jpg
Brigadier 30 June 2017[21] Active
Ingrid A. Rolland Brigadier 4 December 2017[22] Active (Reservist)
Anna Clare Luedicke Brigadier 30 June 2017[23] Active
Vivienne Wendy Buck
MPs talk international interoperability training (cropped).jpg
Brigadier 30 June 2019[24] Active
Janice A. Cook Brigadier 30 June 2019[25] Deceased[26]
Anna-Lee Reilly
New £55 million pound contract for Harris T7 bomb disposal robots (cropped).jpg
Brigadier 30 June 2019[27][28] Active
Lisa C. Keetley Brigadier 31 December 2019[29] Active
Elizabeth J. Faithfull-Davies Brigadier 30 June 2020[30] Active

Royal Air Force[]

Name Image Rank Date of promotion Active/retired
Sue Gray
AVM Sue Gray (cropped).jpg
Air Marshal 29 March 2019[31] Active
Elaine West
111111-F-FW394-055 Air Commodore Elaine West, Air Officer Assistant Chief of Staff and Air Officer Commanding Directly Administered Units, Headquarters Air Command speaks during a ceremony (cropped).jpg
Air Vice-Marshal 1 August 2013[32] Active (reservist)
Christina Elliot
RAF and RN Times Top 50 Employer (Chris Elliot cropped).jpg
Air Vice-Marshal 1 July 2016[33] Retired
Alison Mardell
Alison Mardell (cropped).jpg
Air Vice-Marshal 29 April 2017[34] Retired
Tamara Jennings
Women of the Year RAF2 (Tamara Jennings cropped).jpg
Air Vice-Marshal 29 September 2018[35][36] Active
Maria Byford
Women of the Year RAF (Maria Byford cropped).jpg
Air Vice-Marshal 24 February 2020[37][38] Active
Clare S. Walton
RAF medics Op Trenton (Clare Walton cropped 2).jpg
Air Vice-Marshal 24 February 2020[39][40] Active
Barbara Cooper
AirCmdrCooper (cropped).JPG
Air Commodore 1 January 2008[41] Retired
Jayne Millington Air Commodore 2012 Deceased[42]
Dawn McCafferty
Air Marshall Julian Young with Dawn McCafferty and Carol Vorderman (McCafferty cropped).jpg
Air Commodore 17 August 2012[43] Retired[44]
Suzanne N. Perkins Air Commodore 21 August 2017[45][46] Active
Catherine C. Coton Air Commodore 4 September 2017[47] Active
Wendy Rothery
Women of the Year RAF (Wendy Rothery cropped).jpg
Air Commodore 2 April 2018[48][49] Active
Suraya A. Marshall
Air Commodore Suraya Marshall (cropped).jpg
Air Commodore 10 December 2019[50] Active

References[]

  1. ^ "BRd 2 THE QUEEN'S REGULATIONS FOR THE ROYAL NAVY Version 5" (PDF). royalnavy.mod.uk. UK Defence Council. 1 April 2017. Retrieved 9 November 2020. Flag Officer. An officer of the rank of Rear-Admiral or above.
  2. ^ BBC Jersey, BBC Jersey (May 22, 2021). "Royal Navy appoints Jersey woman as first female admiral". BBC News. BBC Jersey. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
  3. ^ "No. 57333". The London Gazette (Supplement). 21 June 2004. p. 7745.
  4. ^ "No. 61144". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 February 2015. p. 2726.
  5. ^ "No. 62433". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 October 2018. p. 18040.
  6. ^ "No. 62648". The London Gazette (Supplement). 20 May 2019. p. 9041.
  7. ^ "NEW COMMANDER OF MARITIME RESERVES ASSUMES COMMAND". Royal Navy. Portsmouth. 4 February 2020. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  8. ^ "No. 62979". The London Gazette (Supplement). 21 April 2020. p. 7762.
  9. ^ @QARNNS (28 May 2020). "Congratulations to Captain @AlisonHofman1 on her selection for promotion to Commodore