Army Council (1904) practice, however, a huge amount of influence was retained by the exceedingly conservative C-in-C Field Marshal Prince George, 2nd Duke of Cambridge, who held the post between 1856–1895. His resistance to reform caused military efficiency to lag well behind Britain's rivals, a problem which became painfully obvious during the Second Boer War. The situation was only remedied in 1904 when the post of Commander-in-Chief was abolished and replaced with that of the Chief of the General Staff. An Army Council was created along similar lines to the Board of Admiralty, chaired by the Secretary of State for War, and an
Recruitment in the British Army of any corps or regiment in the Army, although this did not affect the Gurkhas. The cap was debated, as some feared the army's "Britishness" was being diluted, and employing too many could make the army seem as employing too many mercenaries. In 2008, Commonwealth origin volunteers comprised approximately 6.7% of the Army's total strength. In total, 6,600 foreign soldiers from 42 countries were represented in the Army, not including Gurkhas, i.e. Nepalis. After Nepal, the nation with most citizens in the British Army was Fiji, with 1,900, followed by Jamaica and Ghana with 600 each; soldiers also came from