Introduction

A garrison Sergeant Major (GSM) in the British Army is the senior warrant officer of a garrison and holds the rank of Warrant Officer Class 1 (WO1).

London District

The GSM London District, always a guardsman, holds one of the four most senior WO1 appointments in the British Army, and has military ceremonial responsibility for important state occasions such as Trooping the Colour.

The post of GSM London District was established in the early 1940s with specific responsibilities as State Ceremonial Sergeant Major. The first task of the new GSM was to organise the funeral of King George VI in 1952 and the coronation of Her Majesty The Queen in 1953.

Traditionally the GSM London District wore the same badge of rank as a regimental sergeant major of Foot Guards, the large Royal Coat of Arms on the right upper sleeve. However, on 28 April 2011, the day before the wedding of The Duke & Duchess of Cambridge, the Ministry of Defence announced that, in recognition of the work done by garrison sergeant majors on behalf of the Royal Household, Her Majesty the Queen had approved the revival of the original insignia made for sergeant majors appointed to the Court of King William IV in the early 19th century. It incorporates the large Royal Coat of Arms worn by selected WO1’s of The Household Division, placed over four chevrons sewn in gold thread, the traditional badge of the sergeant major, originally worn on both arms of their tunics.

No.	Name	Took Office	Left Office	Time in Office	Background
1	Thomas Courtney	1940	1950	9-10 Years	Coldstream Guards
2	George Howe	1950	1951	0-1 Years	Irish Guards
3	Frederick Thomas Aylen	1951	1952	0-1 Years	Coldstream Guards
4	George Stone (MVO, MBE)	1952	1965	12-13 Years	Irish Guards
5	Tom Taylor (MVO, MBE)	1965	1977	11-12 Years	Grenadier Guards
6	Alex Dumon (MVO, MBE)	1977	1987	9-10 Years	Coldstream Guards
7	Alan G ‘Perry’ Mason	1987	2002	14-15 Years	Coldstream Guards
8	Bill Mott (OBE, MVO)	2002	2015	12-13 Years	Welsh Guards
9	Andrew ‘Vern’ Stokes	2015	Present		Coldstream Guards

Plural of GSM

Note that in the British Army, the plural is “garrison sergeant majors” and not “garrison sergeants major”.

The earliest usage of “sergeant majors” in The Times is in 1822. The last of the (very occasional) usages of “sergeants major”, except when referring to American NCOs, is in 1938.