Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers from 1951 to 1961. He hoped that he would follow in his father's footsteps and become CIGS and achieve the rank of field marshal. The CIGS, Field Marshal Sir William Slim nominated Robertson and General Sir John Harding. Montgomery argued for the latter, counselling Slim that "you cannot in these days have a CIGS who has never won a battle". Slim was not convinced, but the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, chose Harding. Later life On 5 August 1953 Robertson received a telegram from Churchill asking him if he would be interested in becoming the Chairman of the British Transport Commission. He accepted, and his appointment was announced on 22 September. He held the position until 1961, when he was succeeded by Dr Richard Beeching. In the end, the task of modernising the railway system proved to be beyond even his talents. BR Western Region locomotive no. D800 (new in 1958) was named Sir Brian Robertson. In the 1961 Birthday Honours, he was raised to the peerage as Baron Robertson of Oakridge, of Oakridge in the County of Gloucester. After leaving the British Transport Commission, Robertson became a member of the board of Dunlop. He was also on the board of the Wagon-lits Sleeping Car company, and once a month on a Thursday evening would take the overnight train to Paris for its board meeting. He was also a member of the General Advisory Committee of Independent Television. His maiden speech in the House of Lords in December 1961 was about the Berlin Crisis of 1961. He visited the city again in November as a guest of the American government at the invitation of Clay, who was the special representative of President John F. Kennedy there. He was Chairman of the Gloucester Association of Boys Clubs, and a member of the Council of the National Association of Boys' Clubs. In 1965 and 1968 he was involved in debates in the House of Lords about youth policy. In 1965, he was elected a master of the Salters' Company's Institute of Industrial Chemistry. He also became a Deputy Lieutenant of Gloucestershire on 24 August 1965. In December 1970, Robertson suffered a series of strokes, which left him debilitated. Another stroke in May 1972 left him able to move about the house only with difficulty. He died on 29 April 1974. A family funeral service was held in Far