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
James Baird (British Army officer) College in 1965. From 1967 to 1969, he was based in West Germany as a consultant physician with the British Army of the Rhine. He was granted the acting rank of major-general on 7 January 1969. He served as Director of Medicine from 1969 to 1971. He returned to the Royal Army Medical College on 9 July 1971 as Commandant and Director of Studies. On 5 April 1973, he was appointed Director General Army Medical Services and granted the acting rank of lieutenant-general. He was promoted to lieutenant-general on 29 May 1973. He retired from the British Army on 30