Air Marshal Sir John Baird
Aviation medic hailed as ‘the most able and distinguished Surgeon-general of the late 20th century’
AIR MARSHAL SIR JOHN BAIRD, who has died aged 83, was an RAF doctor with a special interest in aviation medicine; he rose to the top of his profession in the RAF before becoming the Surgeon-general of the Defence Medical Services.
During his early service, Baird was a medical officer on two of the RAF’S busiest bases, and this stimulated an interest in medical aspects of highperformance flying, including the effect of G-forces, decompression, anoxia, and the specialist clothing needed. In 1967 he took No 1 Course at the RAF Institute of Aviation Medicine at Farnborough, gaining the Diploma in Aviation Medicine.
In 1970 he was selected to join a small group of RAF officers engaged on what was then a top-secret programme at Edwards Air Force Base in California. These officers were assigned to an American unit operating the Lockheed U2 “Dragon Lady” reconnaissance aircraft.
Baird was one of the flight surgeons who supported the global role of the entire unit. His special interest was in the life support equipment worn by the pilots on the very high altitude flights, often of long duration. He closely observed all his RAF charges and became expert in this field, establishing an excellent reputation with all personnel on the unit, based on his professional knowledge, sympathetic approach and engaging personality.
One of the pilots serving on the unit commented that “as a flight surgeon, medical practitioner and representative of his parent service, he was highly respected and admired by all who worked with him, none of whom were surprised by the trajectory of his subsequent career. “
John Alexander Baird was born on July 25 1937 in Blantyre, Nyasaland Protectorate, where his father was a doctor at the Church of Scotland Mission. After schooling in Southern Rhodesia, he attended Merchiston Castle School in Edinburgh. He started medical school at the university there in 1955 and graduated MB CHB in 1961.
After residencies at the Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, he did a six-month tour of longhouses along the Baram River in Sarawak, and while he was upriver the rebellion in Brunei broke out. He became involved in setting up a casualty clearing station in the town of Marudi, organising 600 Kenyah and Kayan Dyaks into a force to bring in the fleeing rebels along the jungle tributaries of the Baram.
Later in his tour, he was involved in the rescue of patients from severe floods after a typhoon along the Sarawak coast. During each of these incidents, he was flown in RAF light transport aircraft and helicopters, experiences that convinced him to join the Royal Air Force as a medical officer.
In 1973, having returned from the US, Baird served as the senior medical officer on two “fast jet” stations. He enjoyed the close work with the aircrew, and regarded his ability to keep them flying safely as his highest priority. On many occasions he stuck his neck out at medical boards to avoid grounding aircrew, often in defiance of medical colleagues. Because of these views, he was held in highest trust by aircrew. He flew with them whenever he could and used to say he had the best of everything – medicine and flying.
He next went to the HQ Strike Command as the Command Flight Medical Officer. During this time he became deeply involved in aircrew issues on the long-range missions of the Falklands war. For this work he was awarded the Richard Fox-linton Memorial Prize.
In 1987 Baird assumed command of the RAF Hospital at Ely, renamed the Princess of Wales RAF Hospital after a visit by the Princess.
On promotion to air commodore he went to RAF Germany as the Principal Medical Officer, and three years later, on further promotion, he filled the same post at Strike Command. This was followed by three years as the Director General RAF Medical Services. He was dismayed over the closure of the RAF Institute of Aviation Medicine and the planned closure of RAF hospitals instigated as a result of “Options for Change”.
He became the Surgeon-general Defence Medical Services in 1997, with responsibility for the health of all service personnel.
The ramifications of the defence reviews of the post-cold War era remained a concern, and he now had to address this difficult situation across the whole defence medical arena. He was required to implement the cutbacks, with reduction in medical personnel, final closures of military hospitals and the effect on recruitment and retention in the service.
Baird worked closely with senior staff officers, civil servants and ministers and was never afraid to talk tough. Unfortunately his words often fell on deaf ears. He had a mountain to climb in restoring morale in medical services, but fought all the battles with great resolve.
In his Centenary History of the Royal Army Medical Corps J S G Blair writes: “Air Marshal Sir John Baird came over as without doubt the most able and distinguished Surgeon General of the late 20th century – his arrival saw a sea change in our general situation – cessation of flannel and denial, and acceptance of problems with a clear effort to work to correct them.
“As we in the Armed Forces Committee discovered, he alone was prepared to admit that things were badly wrong. Not for him the pretence that all was well for fear of compromising his career … His courage, in telling politicians that their Defence Medical Services had problems so serious that safe cover for a major enterprise abroad could not be provided, continued until the end of his time in post.”
Baird was an Honorary Physician to the Queen from 1991 to 2000, when he retired to his home near Ely. He continued to be active in voluntary work, and was a Deputy Lieutenant in Cambridgeshire, patron of the Far East Prisoners of War Association, and served on the Royal Society of Medicine’s United Services Committee and the Royal Aeronautical Society Aviation Medicine Group. He was a Fellow of numerous learned bodies.
He was appointed KBE in 1999, and was a Commander Brother of the Order of St John.
John Baird travelled the world birdwatching – “never twitching” – and was for many years President of the RAF Ornithological Society.
He married Mary Clews in 1963; she survives him.
John Baird, born July 25 1937, died November 11 2020