John Bruce Baird was born in Winton, Otago, New Zealand, on 29 July 1885, son of James Baird, a Presbyterian minister, and Elizabeth Stephen. Bruce was the youngest of seven children, five of whom became doctors; of these, two were girls: Helen and Agnes; they were among the earliest women medical students at Glasgow University. Bruce attended Winton High School and then Dunedin University, where he obtained a BSc. He then did some surveying work for the County to enable him to get a passage home to Scotland. He studied at Glasgow University from 1905 to 1910, and afterwards held appointments at the Victoria Infirmary and the Western Infirmary, Glasgow. He was a great admirer of Sir William Macewen, and throughout his career was also much influenced by the teachings of Sir Robert Jones. He returned to New Zealand in 1912 where he married Margaret Bowman, a Scotswoman, whose eldest brother Archibald became Professor of Moral Philosophy at Glasgow University. Her younger brother Alex graduated in medicine at Glasgow, practised in the USA for some years where he was physician to the Princeton Hospital, and with the advent of the National Health Service became Senior Administrative Officer for the Western Regional Hospital Board for Scotland. During the first world war Bruce Baird served in the 24th General Hospital with the BEF. He gained the MC at the Battle of Loos and was mentioned in the despatches of General French. In 1916 he was medical officer with the Black Watch, rose to the rank of Captain, and was demobilised in 1918. After the War he took the FRCS Eng in 1919. He returned to New Zealand and engaged in a diverse practice, where the duties might include an all-day journey on horse-back over flooded rivers and camping-out overnight. For ten years he was in charge of the Westland Hospital, which was in a remote part of the country and afforded him greater general experience in medicine and surgery. In 1932 he came back to England and held the appointment of general surgeon at Selly Oak Hospital, Birmingham, until his retirement in 1951 at the age of 66. As he could not divorce himself entirely from medicine he obtained a special post of surgeon to the Austin Motor Company, where he remained until he was forcibly retired at the age of 80. His great aim here was the rapid rehabilitation and return to work of employees, and recurring maxim in the recovery of limb injuries was 'active movement'. His other interests were tennis and, later, gardening; but his great love was surgery. Mr and Mrs Baird had three children, a son and two daughters. The elder daughter, Audrey, was in Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service and served abroad during the 1939-45 war; his younger daughter, Muriel, qualified in medicine at Birmingham University. Baird died on 6 October 1970 aged 85, survived by his wife and two daughters.