The Commander British Forces in Hong Kong (CBF) was a senior British Army officer who acted as Military Advisor to the Governor of Hong Kong and was in charge of the Hong Kong British Forces. The officeholder of this post concurrently assumed the office of the Lieutenant Governor of Hong Kong before the abolition of the position.

Structure

The Governor of Hong Kong, being a representative of the British sovereign, was the Commander-in-Chief of the British Forces and Vice Admiral in the Crown colony (then British Dependent Territories).

The Governor was advised by the Commander British Forces in Hong Kong (CBF) on all military actions. During the 1980s and 1990s, the CBF was normally a career Major General or Lieutenant General from the British Army. Until 1966, the CBF was an ex officio member of the Legislative Council.^[1]

Commanders

Commanders have included:^[2][3]

Commander British Forces in Hong Kong

• 1843–1848 Major-General George d'Aguilar
• 1848–1851 Major-General William Staveley
• 1851–1854 Major-General William Jervois

Commander British Troops in China and Hong Kong

• 1854–1857 Major-General Sir Robert Garrett
• 1857–1858 Major-General Thomas Ashburnham
• 1858–1859 Major-General Sir Charles van Straubenzee
• 1860–1861 Major-General Sir James Grant
• 1861–1862 Major-General Sir John Michel
• 1862–1863 Major-General Sir Charles Staveley
• 1863–1864 Major-General William Brown
• 1864–1867 Major-General Sir Philip Guy
• 1867–1869 Major-General James Brunker

Commander British Troops in China, Hong Kong, and the Straits Settlements

• 1869–1874 Major-General Henry Whitfield
• 1874–1878 Lieutenant General Sir Francis Colborne
• 1878–1882 Lieutenant General Edward Donovan
• 1882–1885 Lieutenant General John Sargent
• 1885–1889 Lieutenant General Sir William Cameron

Commander British Troops in China and Hong Kong

• 1889–1890 Major-General Sir James Edwards
• 1890–1895 Major-General Sir George Barker
• 1895–1898 Major-General Sir Wilsone Black
• 1898–1903 Major-General Sir William Gascoigne

Commander British Forces in China

• 1915–1921 Major-General Francis Ventris
• 1921–1922 Major-General George Kirkpatrick
• 1922–1925 Major-General Sir John Fowler

Commander British Troops in China

• 1932–1935 Lieutenant-General Oswald Borrett
• 1935–1938 Major-General Arthur Bartholomew
• 1938–1941 Major-General Edward Grasett
• Aug–Dec 1941 Major-General Christopher Maltby

Note from 1941 to 1945 Hong Kong was under Japanese occupation

Commander British Forces in Hong Kong

• 1945–1946 Major-General Sir Francis Festing
• 1946–1948 Major-General Sir George Erskine
• 1948–1949 Major-General Francis Matthews
• Jun–Sep 1949 Lieutenant-General Sir Francis Festing
• 1949–1951 Lieutenant-General Sir Robert Mansergh
• 1951–1952 Major-General Geoffrey Evans
• 1952–1954 Major-General Terence Airey
• 1954–1955 Lieutenant-General Cecil Sugden
• 1955–1957 Lieutenant-General Sir William Stratton
• 1957–1960 Lieutenant-General Sir Edric Bastyan
• 1960–1961 Lieutenant-General Sir Roderick McLeod
• 1961–1963 Lieutenant-General Sir Reginald Hewetson
• 1963–1964 Lieutenant-General Sir Richard Craddock
• 1964–1966 Lieutenant-General Sir Denis O'Connor
• 1966–1968 Lieutenant-General Sir John Worsley
• 1968–1970 Lieutenant-General Sir Basil Eugster
• 1970–1973 Lieutenant-General Sir Richard Ward
• 1973–1976 Lieutenant-General Sir Edwin Bramall
• 1976–1978 Lieutenant-General Sir John Archer
• 1978–1980 Major-General Sir Roy Redgrave
• 1980–1982 Major-General John Chapple
• 1982–1985 Major-General Derek Boorman
• 1985–1987 Major-General Anthony Boam
• 1987–1989 Major-General Garry Johnson
• 1989–1992 Major General Peter Duffell
• 1992–1994 Major-General John Foley
• 1994–1997 Major-General Bryan Dutton

Residences

• Flagstaff House, 1840s–1978
• Headquarters House, 1978–1997