[1] Baird was commissioned on the unattached list of the Indian Army on 20 January 1897.

[2] In March 1912 he was appointed as an aide-de-camp to Lieutenant General Sir Douglas Haig.

[3] He served on the Western Front in World War I becoming commanding officer of the 1st/8th Battalion the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in 1916 and then, after a promotion to brevet lieutenant colonel in January 1917,[4] as a general staff officer, grade 2 (GSO2) first with 51st (Highland) Division[5] and then with the Cavalry Corps before becoming commander of the 75th Infantry Brigade in 1916.

[6] After the war Baird became a General Staff Officer at 4th Indian Infantry Division in India, Brigadier-General on the General Staff with the Baluchistan Force and then commanding officer of the 28th Punjabis.

[6] Baird went on to be Deputy Adjutant and Quartermaster-General in India in July 1929 and General Officer Commanding the Kohat District in December 1930.