John Brind

Sir John Brind
Born	9 February 1878
Died	14 October 1954 (aged 76)
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1897 - 1941
Rank	General
Commands held	4th Division International Forces in the Saar Southern Command, India
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George Distinguished Service Order

General Sir John Edward Spencer Brind KCB KBE CMG DSO (9 February 1878 – 14 October 1954) was a British Army officer who commanded the 4th Division.

Military career

Brind was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Royal Artillery in 1897.^[1] He served in the Second Boer War in South Africa 1899-1900, where he took part in operations in the Orange Free State, including engagements near Vet River and Sand River, and was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant on 23 December 1900. After the war, he was promoted to the rank of Captain on 11 April 1902,^[2] and served with the Native Mountain Artillery in India.

Following the outbreak of World War I, Brind was sent to France as a captain with the Royal Garrison Artillery on 16 August 1914^[3] and then served as a general staff officer with 56th (London) Division from 6 February 1916 to 31 October 1916.^[4] He then became a brigadier on the general staff of XI Corps, part of Fifth Army.^[5]

After the War Brind became Deputy Director at the War Office in 1923, colonel Royal Artillery at Aldershot Command in 1925 and brigadier on the general staff at Aldershot Command in 1927.^[1] After becoming major-general, Royal Artillery in India in 1930, he went on to be Deputy Chief of the General Staff at Army Headquarters, India in 1931 and then General Officer Commanding 4th Division in 1933.^[1] His final appointments were as Commander-in-Chief, International Force in the Saar in 1934, Adjutant-General, India in 1936 and General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Command in October 1937, serving in that role in the early years of World War II before retiring in 1941.^[1]

Retirement

In retirement Brind became Deputy Regional Commissioner for the North Eastern Region of England.^[6] He also wrote a Brind family history.^[7]

References

1. Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
2. The London Gazette: no. 27436. p. 3381. 23 May 1902.
3. J.E.S. Brind's WWI Medal Index Card, The National Archive, Kew, Surrey, England.
4. Dudley-Ward, C.H., 'The 56th Division' (Pub. John Murray (1921), P.315.
5. Official History 1918 Volume V, p 125 and Appendix I.
6. Deputy Regional Commissioners Hansard, 24 July 1941
7. The history of the Brinds

Sources

• Official History 1918: Brigadier-General Sir James E. Edmonds, Military Operations France and Belgium, 1918 Volume V: 26 September – 11 November: The Advance to Victory 1947 (reprint Imperial War Museum, 1992) (ISBN 1-870423-06-2).