Background
Raymond Brutinel was born in Alet-les-Bains, Aude, France.
- Photos
- Works
- Photos
- Works
Raymond Brutinel
Edit ProfileCareer
He immigrated to Western Canada in 1904 where he helped survey the route for the Grand Trunk Railway. He went on to edit Le Courrier de l"Ouest in Edmonton, Alberta, the first French-language newspaper west of Winnipeg, Manitoba. In August 1914, Major Raymond Brutinel enrolled the first recruits for the Canadian Machine Gun Corps in the Château Laurier Hotel in Ottawa, Ontario.
His brigade played a significant part in halting the major German offensive of March 1918.
From October 1916 until March 1918, Brutinel was Corps MG Officer of the Canadian Corps and, in addition to his decorations, he was seven times Mentioned in Dispatches. He pioneered the virtues of mobility and concentration of firepower and developed the concept of indirect machine-gun fire.
In 1920 Brutinel returned to Europe, where he was a Creusot sales representative in the Balkans, but he retained many Canadian ties. Major-General Georges Vanier, Canadian ambassador to France and future Governor General of Canada, recorded the "considerable help" Brutinel provided in evacuating embassy staff from Paris in June 1940 in advance of the German occupation of France in World World War World War II Raymond Brutinel died in 1964 at Couloumé-Mondebat, Gers, France.
Membership
A member of the Canadian army in World War I, Brutinel initiated and commanded the Canadian Automobile Machine Gun Brigade, the first fully mechanized unit of the British Empire. A memorial plaque with a circular "bas relief" of Brigadier-General Brutinel bust, and a "bas relief" of machine gunners on Vimy ridge are dedicated to the memory of Brigadier-General R. Brutinel, C.B. Companion of St. Michael and St. George Doctorate.S.O. who commanded the Canadian Automobile Machine Gun Brigade and the members of the Canadian Machine Gun Brigade who died on active service and in honour of those who served. In 1961 he became a member of the Canadian Institute of Mines and Metallurgy Fifty-Year Club.
-
Born
-
Died
September 21, 1964 (aged 92) -
Nationality
Canadian