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
Arthur Roberts (British Army officer) Arthur Roberts (British Army officer) Brigadier General Arthur Colin Roberts CMG DSO (1870-1917) was a senior British Army officer during the First World War. Born in 1870, Arthur Roberts was educated at Bedford School. He received his first commission as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Fusiliers in 1890, and served during the Second Boer War, taking part in operations in the Transvaal, the Orange Free State and the Cape Colony. He served with the Royal West African Frontier Force, between 1902 and 1904, and was promoted to the rank of Major in 1907. He served during the First World