Bramall was made General Officer Commanding the 1st Division on 6 January 1972, with the substantive rank of major general from 6 April 1972, Commander of British Forces in Hong Kong with the rank of lieutenant general on 1 December 1973 and appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the 1974 New Year Honours. He went on to be Commander-in-Chief, UK Land Forces on 15 May 1976 and was promoted to full general on 25 June 1976.