Were the ranks of Field Marshal in the other armies equivalent to the American four-star general? Or were they the equal of the one and only General of the Army? And what about the Japanese rank system? Was it modeled after the American one? I never heard of a Japanese Field Marshal.
From Wiki but very accurate, Comparative military ranks of World War II - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Actually there were two Generals of the Army in the US, however Pershing never wore his sixth star, to which he was promoted before his retirement. In 1921 Pershing became U.S. Army Chief of Staff. He then retired from active duty in 1924 at the age of 64, having been awarded the title ‘General of the Armies’ by Congress, a post previously held only by George Washington. This would have allowed Pershing to wear six stars, but he never even bothered to wear any more than his four stars, but now in gold. Pershing was awarded the title of General of the Armies of the United States; September 3, 1919. As there was no prescribed insignia for this rank, General Pershing chose the four stars of a full general, except in gold instead of brass or silver. The rank has been argued to be equivalent to "6-star" general. According to the biography When the Last Trumpet Sounds by Gene Smith, Neither Washington nor Pershing ever wore the six-star rank on their uniform to the best of my knowledge.
