British theater command before modern combatant commands

Did the British Empire use a system similar to modern U.S. combatant commanders?

It had regional and functional senior commanders, but command was more often tailored to a station or operation than organized into today's permanent joint combatant commands.

British appointments often reflected the operation or situation, with the commander-in-chief in India offered as one example of a senior regional post. On a distant station, the naval commander could be the senior authority present. Land and sea forces established a chain of command when they joined for an operation. Modern communications and continuous joint operations demand more routine coordination than those arrangements provided.