George Braund

George Braund (13 July 1866–4 May 1915) was an Australian soldier and politician.

Life

Braund was born in Bideford, Devon, England and was educated at Bideford Grammar School and migrated with his family to New South Wales, when he was 15. In 1889 his family moved to Armidale.

In 1893, Braund was commissioned second lieutenant in the Armidale company, 4th Australian Infantry Regiment and promoted to captain in 1899, major in 1912 and lieutenant-colonel in 1914. He was a magistrate and for many years was president of the Armidale Chamber of Commerce.cite web
first=Jim
last=Belshaw
title =Braund, George Frederick (1866 - 1915)
publisher =Australian National University
work=Australian Dictionary of Biography
url =http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A070400b.htm
accessdate = 2007-04-04] Braund was elected as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in 1913, representing Armidale for the Liberal Party.cite web
title =Lieutenant-Colonel George Frederick Braund (1866 - 1915)
work =Members of Parliament
publisher =Parliament of New South Wales
url =http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/members.nsf/1fb6ebed995667c2ca256ea100825164/dac936e28250fb26ca256e20007f7768!OpenDocument
accessdate = 2007-04-04 ]

War service

With the outbreak of World War I and the establishment of the Australian Imperial Force, Braund was appointed to raise and train the 2nd Battalion and he became its commander in August 1914. He was the first member of an Australian parliament to enlist in the war. On 25 April 1915, the first day of the Gallipoli landing, he landed with his troops and under sustained fire took and held a vital but isolated position. After midnight of 4 April, while returning to brigade headquarters, he took a short cut through scrub and apparently failed to hear a challenge from a sentry, who then shot him dead. He was the second Australian member of parliament to die in the war.

Braund was survived by a wife, two sons and a daughter.

Honours

He was mentioned in dispatches posthumously.

Notes

Persondata
NAME=Braund, George Frederick
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Australian soldier and politician
DATE OF BIRTH=13 July 1866
PLACE OF BIRTH=Bideford, Devon, England
DATE OF DEATH= 4 May 1915
PLACE OF DEATH=Gallipoli, Turkey