Raymond Brutinel

Raymond Brutinel began his military service in France in 1901, having enlisted with the 53rd Regiment d’Infantrie de Tarbes. In 1904 he was promoted to an officer candidacy, but left the country the following year and emigrated to Canada. With the outbreak of war in 1914 he planned to return to France to serve in the French Army but was given permission by the French government to remain in Canada and assist with the fledgling Canadian war effort. A man knowledgeable in machine guns, he was responsible for recruiting and training Canada’s first machine gun and motorised machine gun units. He served as an advisor and instructor on machine guns in England until mid-1916 when he deployed to France to organise the Canadian Machine Gun Corps (CMGC). Brutinel was appointed Corps Machine Gun Officer, and was later promoted to Brigadier-General in March 1918, commanding the CMGC until the end of the war.