Lieut-General Sir James Parlane Baird


1915 - 2007

Director-General of the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC). Born in Moray, the son of a clergyman, Baird was educated at Bathgate Academy and the University of Edinburgh. He was recruited into the RAMC in 1939 and served in Scotland, the Middle East and North Africa. After the war he specialised in tropical diseases and gained a reputation as an excellent lecturer involved in training army doctors. In 1953, he became a Fellow of the College of Physicians of Edinburgh and rose to become Professor of Military Medicine at the Army Medical College (London). Appointed Director-General of the RAMC in 1973, he fought to protect and reform the army medical service in a time of cuts and is credited with restoring its morale. He brought acceptance for female doctors and promoted the use of physicians from the Territorial Army to meet short-term demands. He was knighted in the same year. Following his retirement in 1977, Baird continued his interests in education serving as Deputy Director of the British Postgraduate Medical Centre until 1984.

Baird died in Sussex (England).


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