James Baird (British Army officer)

Baird was born on 12 May 1915 in Morayshire, Scotland. His father, the Rev David Baird, was a minister of the United Free Church of Scotland.[3] He was educated at Bathgate Academy, a school in Bathgate, West Lothian.[3] He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh.[4] He graduated in 1937 Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MB ChB).[3]

Baird had originally hoped to join the Royal Navy (RN) but with the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939 he joined the British Army instead.[3] He was commissioned into the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) on 12 December 1939 with the rank of lieutenant,[5] with his service number being 115469. He was initially posted to a field ambulance unit in Scotland,[4] and was promoted to captain on 12 December 1940.[5] In 1941, he was posted to the Middle East as a regimental medical officer with No. 11 (Scottish) Commando, part of the Layforce.[3] The unit was disbanded later that year after taking heavy casualties in Lebanon.[4] He then joined the Eighth Army, serving in field medical units during the Western Desert campaign.[3] He transferred from a short service to a regular commission on 12 December 1944.[6] He spent the later part of the war serving in military base hospitals; specifically in Suez, Cairo and Malta.[3]

Following the war he specialised in tropical medicine.[3] He became a Member of the Royal College of Physicians of London in 1946 and a Member of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh in 1947.[2] He was promoted to major on 12 December 1947.[7] From 1947 to 1948, he was Officer-in-Charge of the medical division of Cambridge Military Hospital, Aldershot Garrison.[8] He served in Austria from 1948 to 1949 and in 1950 he was on exchange to the Medical Corps of the US Army based in Texas.[8] In 1952, he was elected Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.[2] On 4 September 1958, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel.[9] He completed his Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from the University of Edinburgh in 1958.[2][10] In 1959, he was elected Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London.[2] He was promoted to colonel on 12 December 1962.[11]

He was appointed Professor of Military Medicine at the Royal Army Medical College in 1965.[1] From 1967 to 1969, he was based in West Germany as a consultant physician with the British Army of the Rhine.[1] He was granted the acting rank of major-general on 7 January 1969.[12] He served as Director of Medicine from 1969 to 1971.[1] He returned to the Royal Army Medical College on 9 July 1971 as Commandant and Director of Studies.[1][13] On 5 April 1973, he was appointed Director General Army Medical Services and granted the acting rank of lieutenant-general.[14] He was promoted to lieutenant-general on 29 May 1973.[15]

He retired from the British Army on 30 March 1977.[16]

Following his retirement from the military, Baird continued his involvement in postgraduate medical education. He was a medical adviser to the Council for Postgraduate Medical Education and deputy director of the British Postgraduate Medical Centre. He retired in 1984.[3]

He died on 26 May 2007.[2] His funeral was held at St Stephen's Church, South Dulwich, London on 6 June 2007.[17]

He is survived by his daughter, Fiona, and his son, Alastair. His grandson, named James after him, is also a doctor.

Baird was mentioned in dispatches on 13 January 1944 'in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in the Middle East'.[18]

In June 1966, he was appointed Officer of the Venerable Order of Saint John (OStJ).[19] In April 1972, he was promoted to Commander of the Venerable Order of Saint John (CStJ).[20] In the 1973 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE).[21]